ACR Messina

The history of Messina Football Club began when Alfredo Marangolo returned to Sicily in August 1900 from studying in London, England.

Messina Football Club were officially founded on 1 December 1900[4] by Marangolo with the help of Anglican reverend "Caulifield".

[5] At the college where Marangolo visited he had also made the acquaintance of Ignazio Majo Pagano who formed Anglo Palermitan (Palermo) on his return, only a month before Messina.

The first Sicilian derby was held between Messina and Palermo on 18 April 1901; 1,000 fans turned out to Via Notarbartolo for the match.

[6] A strong bond and a healthy rivalry had built up between the two Sicilian clubs and a competition named the Whitaker Challenge Cup was arranged to be played between them.

Messina repeated the feat the following year at San Ranieri, capturing the trophy in a 2–1 victory.

The earthquake of 1908, which killed 60,000 people in Messina, later affected the club in a large manner; deaths included Charles Bousfield Huleatt, players Frank John Carter, Walter Oates and financial backer George H. Peirce.

[7] After World War I, a club under the name US Messinese was founded and entered the following year's Coppa Federale Siciliana, an all Sicilian championship contested in Messina, Catania and Palermo.

Only two years later, in December 1924, FC Messina was melted, and the players became part of the reformed US Messinese.

[8] Finally, Messinese qualified for the semi-finals of the International League, after beating Palermo, 3–0, in the Sicilian championship of 1924–25.

Here, Messinese played against Alba Roma, Cavese and Liberty Bari, but failed to win a single match, scoring only two goals in six games.

Messina would be promoted to Serie B for the 1932–33 campaign under the presidency of Francesco Lombardo and Koenig's coaching and remained in the league for six seasons.

Both Giostra and AS Messina reached the finals of the Southern League but eventually finished fourth and fifth respectively.

For their first ever season in Serie A, the football squad for Messina included; Morelli, Brambilla, Stucchi, Pagani, Dotti, Peruvian Benitez, Ghelfi, Fascetti, Morbello, Canuti and Clerici.

They won only two games, but they managed to turn it around in the second half of the season with 7 wins, beating Juventus (1–0), Fiorentina (1–0) and Sampdoria (4–3).

The club finished 12th in Serie C1 in the 1992–93 season, but, due to financial difficulties, the FIGC cancelled all professional football activity for Messina.

The decision was thought to be unjust by the club and fans, with Messina been thrown into a footballing abyss never known before.

In the summer of 1993, A.S. Messina was founded with the president Pietro La Malfa, beginning in the amateurs national championship (C.N.D.)

Despite this impressive form, Messina were still in danger of being relegated from Serie A at the end of the season, due to a possibility of not having enough finances available to compete in the league.

Messina started the 2006–07 season with Bruno Giordano as head coach; however, he was replaced on 30 January 2007, by Alberto Cavasin because of poor results.

On 2 April, following a 2–0 away defeat to Cagliari, another team involved in the battle to avoid relegation, Cavasin was sacked, and Giordano was recalled to fill the coaching position.

With Messina second-last placed in the table five matchdays prior to the end of the season, Giordano was sacked again on 23 April, and replaced by Bruno Bolchi.

On 4 January 2011, the club was transferred to the group Martorano which on 14 August 2011, sold it to Raffaele "Lello" Manfredi.

Messina finally became champions of Group I of Serie D and were promoted to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione, the fourth level of the Italian league.

[citation needed] In the 2014–15 season, the club was relegated to Serie D, but it was readmitted to Lega Pro for involvement in sporting fraud.

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