Monday 17 August 2020

THE SARTORIAL ELEGANCE OF SERIE A: PESCARA CALCIO, 1992-93 [PIENNE]







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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