Ascoli

Ascoli were founded on 1 November 1898 by twelve young men of Ascoli Piceno, who named the club after Candido Augusto Vecchi, a Garibaldian colonel. It became Ascoli Vigor in 1905, and in the mid-1950s publisher Cino Del Duca rescued the club, which took the name Del Duca Ascoli. The team play in black and white and are nicknamed Il Picchio, the Woodpecker. Home is the Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Duca, opened in 1962 and named after the publisher and his brother.

Ascoli's best years came under president Costantino Rozzi, from 1968 to 1994. Carlo Mazzone's team won Serie C in 1972 and two years later made Ascoli the first club from the Marche to reach Serie A. The club have spent 16 seasons in the top flight, finishing fourth in 1979-80, and won Serie B in 1977-78, with 61 points, a record for a 20-team league with two points for a win, and again in 1985-86. The 1987 Mitropa Cup and the 2002 Supercoppa di Serie C followed.