Pescara Calcio’s roots can be traced back to 1926
when two teams, Aternum Castellamare and Ursus Pescara, merged to form
Tito Acerbo. After just one season Tito Acerbo, who wore blue and yellow, were
kicked out of the Second Southern Division for irregular activities and quickly
reformed as Unione Sportiva Adriatico, wearing black and blue. After finishing 3rd
in the regional Third (Abruzzi) Division, Unione
Sportiva Adriatico then split up and reinvented itself as the Società Sportiva
Abruzzo, reverting to the blue and yellow colours of its forebear.
After taking a brief sabbatical, the club was re-admitted
to the Third Division, winning promotion to the Second in 1931 and the First
the year after, whereupon they became known as Associazione Calcio Pescara.
This iteration lasted an unprecedented four years before again dissolving,
possibly in reaction to the restructuring of the leagues that was taking place
at the time; the formation of Series A, B and C.
In 1936 the Società Sportiva Pescara was established, sporting
the pale-blue and white stripes worn to this day. Perhaps for this reason, this
date is recognised as the formal beginning of the club and what preceded it a
mere footnote. At any rate, Pescara appeared to be on a surer
footing, gaining promotion to Serie C in 1938, Serie B in 1940, and winning
something called the Torneo Misto Abruzzese in 1945, a tournament designed to keep footballers
active during the final years of the Second World War. Unfortunately, they were
unable to capitalise on their regional success and by 1950 had dropped down
into the newly formed Serie IV.
Discounting the club’s move into the Stadio Adriatico-Giovanni
Cornacchia in 1955, the following twenty years were fairly uneventful, spent in
and around Serie C before finally making it back into Serie B in 1974. Società
Sportiva Pescara duly registered as a public limited company, becoming Pescara
Calcio SpA in the process. This economic restructuring served them well and in
1976-77 Pescara were promoted to Serie A for the first time in their history.
They only lasted one season there but bounced straight back after defeating
Monza in a play-off. Relegated again the next season, by 1982 Pescara were back in Serie C, were promoted again the following year, and then languished
in Serie B for the following three seasons.
Pescara won Serie B in 1986-87, and so the most
successful period in their history began. At the time their shirts were
manufactured by N2 (Ennedue), a sort of subsidiary of the more
recognisable NR (Ennerre), and sponsored by Cassa di Risparmio Pescara. They
stuck with NR until being relegated in 1988-89, although were by now sponsored
by Gelati Gis. Pescara spent the next two years wearing kit manufactured by ABM
Sport before switching to Pienne in 1991-92, the same year they were promoted
back into Serie A.
The Pienne shirt wasn’t substantially different to ABM's effort. Both had collars, the width of the pale-blue and white vertical stripes
were about the same, and both companies incorporated their emblem into the fabric
of the shirt. Whereas ABM’s logo was/is a geometric representation of the
letter S, Pienne’s was/is a cartoon snake, or maybe even a worm. It looked more
like a worm but a snake seems more credible. This embroidered serpent, its
shadow repeated in the texture of the shirt, made for a distinctive and
attractive motif. Gelati Gis was printed in navy blue ink, except the dot of
the second ‘I’ which was red. The away kit was arguably more interesting but wasn’t
really much of an away kit. The top half was white, the lower dark blue, with
light blue quadrilaterals horizontally bisecting the two. Shorts were also dark
blue, as opposed to the home versions, which were white. Socks were white in
both instances. (A third option, predominantly red, was also utilised.)
Pescara acquired some decent players ahead of their
return to Serie A. The Brazilian midfielder Dunga and Italian striker Stefano Borgonovo joined from Fiorentina, Senegalese
defender Roger Mendy and Danish defender
John Sivebæk signed from Monaco, while Ottavio Palladini proved an adequate
replacement in midfield for fans’ favourite Michele Gelsi, who had left for
Perugia but would ultimately return to Pescara in 1994.
It wasn’t enough. Despite defeating Roma in their
opening game, and then narrowly losing to reigning champions AC Milan 4-5 in
their next, Pescara finished the season in 18th place and were relegated.
Gradual decline followed before bankruptcy befell them in 2009. They soon reformed
as Delfino Pescara 1936 Srl and gained entry into the Lega Pro Prima Divisione –
Serie C1 in old money – and immediately won promotion into Serie B. Since then they’ve spent two seasons in Serie A and have improved upon their stadium. Shirts
are currently made by Errea.
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