U.S.D. Lavagnese 1919
Unione Sportiva Dilettante Lavagnese 1919 is an Italian association football club located in Lavagna, Liguria. It currently plays in Serie D.
History
The Origins
In 1907 the Society Giovane Sport was established in Lavagna which absorbed the Committee for the celebrations of the XX Settembre with prevailing activities aimed at athletics, heavy and cycling. Shortly thereafter the Youth Club arose, between the two associations there was no good blood for parochial reasons, But in 1919 the reflexes of the war ended victoriously contributed to arouse a mutual desire to join together in order to strengthen the city sport.In 1914 and 1915, for example, some friendly matches were played against the Ruentes Rapallo and against the Ardita Juventus, First by Giovane Sport and then by an elusive Pro Lavagna born probably from the first experiments in the town union.
In 1919 more and more frequent the friendly competitions disputed by the Circolo Giovanile Lavagna: on April 27 against the 90th Chiavari Infantry, on May 4 against the Sports Star of Zoagli, on May 18 against the Ruentes Rapallo and May 25 against Entella Chiavari.
At first the date of birth of the Unione Sportiva Lavagnese seemed to be 15 July 1918, But from human testimony and in the absence of a true previous official document the date was fixed on 19 June 1919.
Regional Serie C
Unione Sportiva Dilettanti Lavagnese was founded in 1919, but it was only in 1948 that reached the first milestone: third place in Serie C North Group B. According to the Regulation, the first team in each group, then became two after this season, he was entitled to entry into the new Serie C, managed by the National League: coming third, failed to reach a spot in the new league. From that moment began a dark period for Lavagnese, which was playing in minor categories such as Promozione and Prima Categoria.Serie D
In 1999 Lavagnese played in the First Category championship, from 2002-2003 he took part in the D Series amateur championship, and the following years he was ranked 12th, 3rd, 6th, 13th and 8th.In the 2007-2008 season the Lavagnese played an excellent championship finishing in 4th place which guaranteed the qualification to the playoffs to arrive in Serie C2. The play-offs were not favorable to the Juventus team that lost the semi-final to Pro Belvedere Vercelli 1-0, thus ending its season.
The 2008-2009 season opened well for the Ligurians who, after 6 days, found themselves third in the league on equal points with Derthona and only one point from the Biella area, but turned out to be a flash in the pan as the Lavagnese failed to maintain this rhythm and had to settle for a salvation with the 10th place finish.
In the 2011-2012 season he qualified as 5th in the regular season, participating in the group play-offs and winning them thanks to a 0-1 on the field of Chieri and a 0-4 on that of Santhià, accessing the national phase for the first time in its history. The adventure in the playoffs ended in the fourth round with the historic 1-0 defeat against Cosenza Calcio.
In the following two seasons he arrived at the second stage of the playoffs while in 2014-2015 he was ranked ninth in Serie D with the Gabriele Venuti flag which at the end of the season retired from football played at the age of 37 years after 20 years of activity of which 11 to the Lavagnese. In October of the same year he announced the withdrawal of another great local football player: Paolo Livellara, a 1980 class defender with 5 seasons and 133 presences behind him and 9 goals with the Bianconeri jersey and who will be training the Bianconeri debutants. The 2015-2016 season was certainly the best in Serie D for the Lavagnese which reached the absolute third place behind Sporting Bellinzago and Caronnese losing the final play-off against the latter. Despite the fact that Lavagnese was the first of the non-eligible players and many of them did not accept the repechage, the Compagnoni team confirmed the category and competed in the 15th consecutive Serie D championship.
In the summer of 2016, after seven seasons at Juventus and the conquest of the qualification for four editions of the national playoffs, the streets of Mr. Andrea Dagnino and della Lavagnese split. The new technician for the 2016-2017 season was thus identified in Luca Tabbiani, ex-child prodigy of Genoa with a great experience as a footballer among the professionals with Genoa, Mestre, Trento, Cremonese, Bari, Triestina, Pisa, Lecco and Sestri Levante who will have the task of starting from scratch. The first goal of the season was the quiet salvation but with the passage of time and the amalgamation of the team the Juventus team will succeed in the enterprise of reaching equally the Play-Offs despite the general downsizing. Following the excellent work of Mr. Tabbiani and his staff, some important companies are interested in the former Genoa coach, so the company believes the time has come to entrust the bench to the former Captain and warrior of many battles Gabriele Venuti who in the last two seasons he first qualified for the group play-offs with the National Juniores and then assisted Andrea Dagnino as technical collaborator and Luca Tabbiani as second coach; his collaborator is Paolo Livellara who will also train the Juniors with the vice captain of the first team Giacomo Avellino. In September the team is reinforced with the arrival of the released Silvano Raggio Garibaldi and Simone Basso.
However, the 2017-2018 season will be one of the worst since the company disputed the Serie D; after a good start the Venuti team will meet again in November at the top of the standings, after a few direct clashes lost at the halfway point, Lavagnese is stationed in seventh place with 27 points in 17 races, but the second round will turn into a nightmare with good performances but disappointing results, in the end only 17 points in 17 races. In the last four days to give a signal, the company exempts Gabriele Venuti and promotes Gianni Nucera from deputy to technical manager. Accomplice to physical and mental fatigue the pro tempore mister fails to do better and the championship ends between the general bitterness at the 13th place.
11 May 2018 is announced as a new coach in the year of the company's Centenary Luca Tabbiani, welcome return after the parenthesis with Savona.
This year, Lavagnese has its 17th consecutive season in Serie D and is in 10th place. On 4 June 2019, Gianni Nucera is recalled.
Play Fields
From 1919: the first playing field of the Unione Sportiva Lavagna was the esplanade in front of the railway station, the current Piazza Torino.From November 29, 1923: Piazza Vittorio Veneto, it was from this date that the municipality granted US Lavagnese the use, not only for football matches, but also for those of tambourine, javelin throwing, discus throwing and for the performances of the Lavagnese city choir.
The '20s and' 30s: the US Lavagnese disputed friendly meetings and some local tournaments often asking for hospitality at the nearby Chiavari on the land of Corso Dante.
On October 25, 1936, an agreement was signed between the Municipality of Lavagna and a citizen benefactor who had made a fortune in Venezuela, Commendatore Edoardo Riboli for the construction of the Littorio Sports Center.
From 1 November 1939: the Lavagnese football formations performed on the Littorio Sports Field, later named after Edoardo Riboli. The official ceremony at which all the city authorities intervened together with benefactor commendator Edoardo Riboli, was followed by the opening match played between Genoa 1893 A and Genoa 1893 B and ended with a score of 10-1.
In the 1945-46 sporting season the US Lavagnese played the First Division Championship on the ground of the Municipal of Chiavari, the Riboli was in fact unusable due to the occupation suffered during the war by the Allied soldiers who used it as a rest area for their tanks.
In 1969 the stadium was equipped with a lighting system, the pedestrian crossings were paved and all the structures painted.
Since 2002, the year of the promotion in Serie D, the Riboli mantle is in synthetic.
The Super Ball Vis
The whole Lavagnese football paradox was the one that occurred in 1934 when in a Blackboard devoid of calcium and a regular field, a company, the Super Ball Vis, established itself nationally and internationally, which would supply the new official balls for Serie A, Vittorio Pozzo's national team, the International Cup and the European Club Cup; and for many more years for numerous sporting events, such as the 1952 Olympic Games in Finland and the 1960 in Rome.The "Condor" balloon had a circumference of 68 cm and a weight between 400 and 440 grams.
The Super Ball Vis, a company based in Lavagna, which during the war also produced military shoes, offered the Condor for the Sunday challenges of the Lavagnese at the Riboli when the competitive activity resumed. It is even said that the new balls were used as a bargaining chip in market negotiations with other companies: Entella asked for 7 in 1946 to pass the Consonni player to the Bianconeri cousins.
Starting in the 1970s, the simultaneous appearance on the market of multinationals in the sector forced an adaptation of the company's structures with the transition to a new corporate structure, the transfer of the headquarters to San Salvatore di Cogorno and in time more recent the sale of the brand, still existing, to a specialized company.