A.C. Mantova - History

History

Mantova was founded in 1911. They played in Serie A for 7 seasons (1961/62, 1964/65, 1966/67, 1967/68, 1971/72), being nicknamed in its initial period as Little Brazil (Piccolo Brasile). The third team shirt, green and yellow, actually remembers that period, by far the best one in the team history. Mantova also played for 8 seasons in Serie B, and won it in 1970/71.

Mantova was cancelled two times from the Italian football panorama, in 1983 and 1994, both times because of insolvency.

Former famous players include Dino Zoff, Angelo Sormani, Anton Alleman and Karl-Heinz Schnellinger.

Mantova was promoted from Serie C2 to Serie B in two consecutive seasons, in 2003–2004 season as league champions and in 2004–2005 as runners-up and playoff winners. Mantova begun the 2005/06 Serie B football campaign introducing itself as a strong potential candidate for promotion to Serie A, despite its lack of players experienced with these levels (almost the same squad which promoted to Serie B the previous season) and a coach, Domenico Di Carlo, on just his second year as first team football trainer. The team led the Serie B table for a long part of the season, gaining an unexpected interest by the media. However, Mantova was not able to maintain the head of the league in the end, and the team concluded its season in fourth place, gaining a spot in the promotion playoffs. Successively, AC Mantova won its playoff semifinal against Modena F.C. after two ties (0–0, 1–1), being qualified thanks to its best placement in the regular season. The first playoff final, against Torino, saw Mantova winning at home 4–2. However, Mantova was not able to maintain this advantage in the return match, lost 3–1 in Turin after extra time, which allowed Torino FC to be promoted in Serie A because of a better placement in the regular season.

During the 2006–07 season, they became the first team to beat Juventus F.C., La Vecchia Signora, in a Serie B match. They ended the season in eighth place, confirming themselves in the top side of the league table. Following Di Carlo's resignations, Mantova appointed Attilio Tesser as new head coach for their 2007–08 Serie B campaign. As part of an ambitious summer transfer market, Mantova signed on 23 August 2007 the former Italian international Stefano Fiore. However their campaign proved to be disappointing as the team failed to break into the promotion playoff zone, resulting in the sacking of Tesser in the mid-season. He was replaced by Giuseppe Brucato, a young manager with no previous experience in the league, who guided the club to a mid-table finish in the season.

Brucato was confirmed as head coach of Mantova for the 2008–09 season. As Fiore parted company with the club following an unimpressive season with the virgiliani, he was replaced by Tomas Locatelli. However, Mantova failed to assure themselves a place in the higher ranks of the league, causing the sacking of Brucato following a 1–3 home defeat to Parma. The club successively appointed former AC Milan defender Alessandro Costacurta as new head coach. Costacurta later resigned and was replaced by Mario Somma, who led the club to a final 13th place, only two points ahead the relegation play-off zone.

For the 2009–10 season, Mantova will be guided by former Italian international Michele Serena.

For the 2010–11 season, Mantova went bankrupt and was admitted to Serie D. Mantova came first in Girone B and gained promotion to 2011–12 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.