Carpi?s promotion to Serie A: the story of a club?s extraordinary rise
You could never quite imagine that a goalless draw with Bari could inflame such an explosive roar by 4,000 people that it would have reverberations throughout Italy and beyond. And it was fitting for Carpi, a team until recently buried deep inside the football encyclopedia, to break through the gates of Serie A after a hundred years and more wait for an end to their mesmerising fairytale.
On a day when the Bari defence seemed impenetrable even to the talents of Jerry Mbakogu, Carpi?s 22-year-old rising striker, the place among the Italian elite was actually secured at the other end of the pitch by the goalkeeper Gabriel. The Milan loanee acrobatically parried a blistering last-gasp volley which threatened to postpone the delirium until at least the weekend as the fans celebrated the chance to compete with giants such as Juventus, Milan and Roma.
It is tempting to bracket Carpi?s promotion with that of Bournemouth to the Premier League yet that would not do either club justice. Carpi, situated in the province of Modena and with a population of 67,000, has never been known for any sport-related activity apart from serving as the finishing point for the annual Enzo Ferrari memorial marathon.
The story of the newest member of Serie A began in the summer 1909 when a local student, Adolfo Fanconi, founded a side under the name of Jucunditas, translated from Latin as ?pleasantness?. Yet for the club subsequently renamed Associazione Calcio Carpi the next 100 years would be anything but delightful.
The Biancorossi struggled to battle their way up to the higher echelons, even missing a chance for promotion to Serie B after a 3-2 defeat to Monza in 1997, the season when a very young Marco Materazzi had 18 games on loan for them from Perugia. The bankruptcy that came two years later, following a relegation to Serie D, then seemed to erase Carpi from the major scene for good.
They embarked on their ride to the top at the beginning of the millennium having been re-established and then merged with the town?s second club, Dorando Pietri Carpi, to become known as Carpi FC 1909. A rejuvenation nothing short of extraordinary saw them complete a magnificent rise between 2009 and 2013 from the fifth domestic division to Serie B, which they broke into after edging Lecce in the play-off.
After a middle-table finish last season under the guidance of two head coaches, last June saw the arrival of Fabrizio Castori, for whom this was the 21st appointment ? with Cesena and Salernitana among his clubs ? in a 34-season managerial career.
Expectations would not have been high yet in some way his diverse background seemed to ideally match Carpi?s unpredictability. He signed players such as Gabriel, Mbakogu and Kevin Lasagna and extracted the best from the longest-serving Biancorossi players in Lorenzo Pascuiti, Antonio Di Gaudio and Fabrizio Poli.
With an average age of only 24, Carpi outplayed Serie B opposition week-in, week-out. Whether they will be able to get round Serie A?s demand for a 20,000-capacity stadium for next season? they have a capacity of 4,144 ? is not yet clear but even a temporary change of home will not discourage the Irriducibili ultras from following their favourites.
Their remarkable rise has not impressed everyone in the Italian game, however. In February, during a subsequently leaked phonecall, the Lazio president, Claudio Lotito, suggested that the promotion of clubs such as Carpi would be detrimental to the league?s hand when negotiating TV revenue. A club existing on a budget of around ?3m would have been inspired and delighted in equal measure at the waves they were making long before their introduction to Serie A.
Bron: theguardian.com
