Benevento

Full name	Benevento Calcio S.r.l.
Nickname(s)	Gli Stregoni (The Sorcerers) I Giallorossi (The Yellow and Reds) I Sanniti (The Samnites)
Founded	1929; 95 years ago (1929) 1938 (refounded)
Ground	Stadio Ciro Vigorito, Benevento, Italy
Capacity	16,867
President	Oreste Vigorito
Manager	Gaetano Auteri
League	Serie C Group C
2023–24	Serie C Group C, 3rd of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Benevento Calcio, commonly referred to as Benevento, is an Italian professional football club based in Benevento, Campania. The club was originally founded in 1929 and then re-founded in 2005. They currently compete in Serie C, having been relegated from Serie B in the 2022–23 season.

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

The club was founded as Associazione Calcio Benevento in 1929,^[1] their original home was the Meomartini which was built by Ciccio Minocchia.^[2]

After working their way up the country's lower divisions during their early years, Benevento reached Prima Divisione, Italy's third highest professional league at the time, in the 1934–35 season. They finished above clubs such as Reggina during the club's first season within the league. Although they did not win promotion to Serie B, the team did remain in the third tier of Italian football for the 1935–36 season, re-organized to a smaller 64-team league renamed Serie C.

21st century[edit]

The club F.C. Sporting Benevento S.r.l. folded in 2005. At the same time Benevento Calcio S.p.A. was founded, using the same stadium and playing kit.

In the 2007–08 Serie C2 regular season the team finished first in Girone C, winning direct promotion to the now called Lega Pro Prima Divisione for the 2008–09 season. In the 2008–09 season, Benevento's first season in Lega Pro Prima Divisione, they finished in 2nd place. This meant Benevento would be in a two-legged play-off. They won their first two-legged play-off, but lost to Crotone 1–0 (2–1) on aggregate in the final.

Gaetano Auteri was appointed as the head manager for the 2015–16 season. In this season, Benevento won its league and reached Serie B for the first time in its history. The mathematical certainty arrived on 30 April 2016, after defeating Lecce 3–0.^[3]

On 8 June 2017, they were promoted to Serie A, for the first time in their history, after defeating Carpi in the Serie B play-offs 1–0 on aggregate, remarkably winning promotion in their inaugural season in Serie B.^[4] The club struggled in its top-flight debut in the 2017-18 season as Benevento set a record for the worst start to a season in any of Europe's top five leagues by losing their first 14 Serie A matches.^[5] This streak ended on 3 December 2017, with a 95th-minute equalising header from goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli for a 2–2 home draw against A.C. Milan.^[6][7] Benevento's time in Serie A lasted one season and they were relegated after a last-place finish, although there was a clear uptick in form after their dismal opening to the campaign, ultimately winning six of their last 23 games.

On 22 June 2019, Benevento hired Filippo Inzaghi as their new manager.^[8] In June 2020, with seven matches still left in the league season, the club won promotion back to the first-division of Italian football following an impressive Serie B campaign.^[9]

Benevento's second season in Serie A was unsuccessful, ending with another relegation, but the club was much more competitive, especially in the first half of the season. By the campaign's midway point, Benevento was 10th in Serie A, having won six matches and experienced a run of only one loss in eight matches, appearing well-set for a mid-table finish.^[10] However, a dramatic downturn in form from January until the end of the campaign, scoring only 16 goals and winning just one of the final 22 matches in that time, meant that the club again fell back into Serie B for the 2021–22 season. Curiously, the match they won was a 1–0 away victory on March 21 against Juventus, with the reverse fixture finishing in a draw. Benevento eventually finished in 18th place, with four points fewer than Torino in the final non-relegation position.^[11]

In the following season's Serie B, the team finished the regular season in 7th place, gaining access to the promotion play-offs by overcoming Ascoli. They were later eliminated by Pisa in the semifinals.

The team declined during the 2022–23 campaign. The team spent most of the season at the bottom of the table, and on the penultimate matchday, relegation to Serie C was confirmed and the team ultimately finished last in the Serie B table.^[12]

Colours and badge[edit]

The team's colours are yellow and red, and their badge features red and yellow stripes and the black image of a witch riding a broom. Benevento are nicknamed the Stregoni, Italian for sorcerers, or occasionally, the Streghe, Italian for witches, a reference to the legends dating to the 13th century of the witches of Benevento.

Stadium[edit]

Benevento plays their home matches at the Stadio Ciro Vigorito. Building on the stadium broke ground in 1976 and it was opened in 1979. It is able to hold 25,000 people.^[13][14]

The stadium was originally named Santa Colomba but was renamed to honor Ciro Vigorito who was the brother of club president Oreste Vigorito. Ciro was a successful entrepreneur and sports manager who was the managing director and oversaw the youth sector at Benevento from 2006 until his death in 2010.^[15]

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

As of 17 July 2024^[16]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ITA Alessandro Nunziante 3 DF  ITA Amedeo Benedetti 6 DF  ITA Biagio Meccariello 9 FW  ITA Alessandro Marotta 12 GK  ITA Nicolò Manfredini 14 MF  ITA Marco Pinato 17 FW  ITA Jacopo Manconi 18 MF  ITA Pier Luigi Simonetti 20 DF  ITA Filippo Berra 21 MF  ITA Davide Agazzi 24 GK  ITA Alberto Paleari 25 DF  ITA Angelo Viscardi 27 MF  ITA Ernesto Starita 30 FW  ITA Lorenzo Carfora 31 FW  ITA Filippo Nardi 38 MF  ITA Angelo Talia 58 DF  ITA Christian Pastina 96 DF  ITA Riccardo Capellini 98 FW  NED Don Bolsius

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ITA Marco Ciurleo — FW  ITA Mario Perlingieri — DF  ITA Vincenzo Avolio — GK  ITA Manuel Esposito — DF  ITA Angelo Veltri — DF  ITA Francesco Sena — DF  ITA Giuseppe Riccio — MF  ITA Ivan Altamura — MF  ITA Antonio Prisco — GK  ITA Igor Lucateli — MF  ITA Davide Lamesta — FW  ITA Samuele Sorrentino — MF  ITA Vincenzo Alfieri — MF  GRE Ilias Koutsoupias — MF  ITA Mattia Viviani — DF  ITA Gennaro Acampora — FW  ITA Eric Lanini — DF  ITA Gaetano Letizia — DF  ROU Alin Tosca

Out on loan[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  POL Krzysztof Kubica ({{at Motor Lublin until 30 June 2025}}) — DF  ITA Francesco Rillo ({{at Potenza Calcio until 30 June 2025}})

Coaching staff[edit]

Position	Name
Head coach	Gaetano Auteri
Assistant coach	Lorenzo Cassia
Goalkeeper coach	Antonio Chiavelli
Fitness coach	Andrea Molteni
Scouting First Team	Andrea Innocenti
Physiotherapist	Ernesto Galliano
Physiotherapist	Luca Lepore
Physiotherapist	Giorgio Policastri
Physiotherapist	Raffaele Marinaccio
Chief Doctor	Walter Giorgione
Club Doctor	Franco De Cicco
Club Doctor	Raffaele Fuiano
Club Doctor	Mario De Vita
Club Doctor	Luca Milano

Notable former players[edit]

World Cup players[edit]

The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup Finals, while playing for Benevento.

Notable former managers[edit]

Honours[edit]

• Serie B
  • Winners: 2019–20
  • Play-off winner: 2016–17
• Serie C
  • Winners: 2015–16
• Serie C2
  • Winners: 2007–08 (Group C)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• (in Italian) Benevento Calcio official website