Pescara’s latest promotion to Serie A

9 June 2016: in Sicily, in the second leg of the Serie B playoffs, the last beautiful page of Pescara’s history was written. That Thursday exactly 8 years ago, in fact, the Delfino at the time led by Massimo Oddo managed to defeat the Trapani of the former Serse Cosmi in the double match of the season and thus reached Crotone and Cagliari in the top flight. That evening at the Comunale in Trapani (where two years earlier the Delfino was the locals’ opponent in the first, historic internal match of their history in the cadetteria) Pescara and their coach Oddo took revenge against a mocking and bitter fate. Exactly one year earlier, in fact, the Serie A dream was shattered on a Bologna crossbar in full injury time: the woodwork rejected a header from Melchiorri which could have earned them promotion, which instead went into the pocket of the Bologna team who had finished in the regular season ranked better in the ranking. A year later Pescara becomes a city celebrating at the final whistle of the second match against the Sicilians. The leader of that Dauphin was Gianluca Lapadula, then sold for around 10 million to Milan, who became the championship’s top scorer and dragged the Oddo gang from the first to the last day. That Pescara, thanks to a very bad decline between March and April, finished the championship in fourth place with 72 points, behind Trapani, the revelation of the championship. In the playoffs the biancazzurri won 2-0 at the “Piola” against Baroni’s Novara and 4-2 at the Adriatico again against the Piedmontese. The last act sees Pescara face Trapani. In Abruzzo two goals (by Benali and Lapadula) allowed Oddo’s team to play without anxiety at the “Comunale” in Trapani. Exactly on 9 June, 365 days after that crossbar hit by Melchiorri in Bologna, Pescara won Serie A. Citro’s goal after 5 minutes scared the Pescara fans, but a goal from 30 meters of rare beauty by Valerio Verre started a celebration that is still remembered today. Since then it has only been bitter pills for the white-blue people. In the following season, in fact, due to negative records, Pescara certified a bitter relegation very early, perhaps the worst in its history in Serie A. The following year there was salvation on the last day with Pillon on the bench, after it started with Zeman at the helm and then Epifani. The following year a happy parenthesis with Baffo da Preganziol in the saddle: B playoff semi-final, mockingly eliminated by Verona when they were already enjoying a new double final with A at stake. Then the inexorable decline. In the year of Covid, Pescara led by Zauri-Legrottaglie-Sottil was relegated on the field, but Trapani’s troubles (the Sicilians themselves!) led the biancazzurri to play the dramatic playout with Perugia. In the lottery of all-out penalties, the Delfino sent the Grifo to Serie C, but that season did not serve as a lesson to the club. The following year, 3 other coaches (Oddo, Breda and Grassadonia) and relegation without appeal to Serie C. Now with the one that is about to begin, 2024-25, there will be 4 consecutive seasons in Serie C, a negative record for Pescara in the last half century. This is why that 9th June 2016 is still so dear to the people of Pescara…