Piacenza Calcio 1919

From Serie B to Serie D

After World War II, Piacenza competed in Serie B for the first time, competing there for two seasons before falling back down to Serie C in 1948.

The club were punished for illicit sportsmanship in 1956 and were relegated to Serie D. This proved to be quite a heavy blow for the club as they would continue to yo-yo between Serie C and D until 1964. Piacenza finally returned to Serie B in 1969, under coach Tino Molinari and president Vincenzo Romagnoli.

Piacenza's history until recent times was mostly undistinguished, with brief spells in Serie B in the 1940s and further spells in 1969–70, 1975–76, and 1987–88 to 1988–89.

Between Serie A and Serie B

Promotion in 1991 saw a rise in the side's fortunes under coach Gigi Cagni, with the club promoted to Serie A for the first time in 1993, but was immediately relegated in the next season, despite the presence of players such as midfielder Daniele Moretti, winger Francesco Turrini, and forward Giampietro Piovani. For much of the season, Piacenza had battled into mid-table and were even a few points short of a European place, but were relegated on the last day of the season in a tight scrap. The club wisely chose to retain Cagni and most of his squad, and they would achieve promotion as Serie B champions in 1995.

The following five years saw the club win many supporters with its all-Italian lineup and successful battles against relegation. This period also saw Piacenza produce a generation of talented players from its youth academy, such as future Italian international players Filippo Inzaghi, Simone Inzaghi, Alberto Gilardino, as well as Alessandro Lucarelli. In 1997 the club acquired legendary hard man defender Pietro Vierchowod. Despite his advancing years, Vierchowod proved an outstanding purchase, more than holding his own in defence and even scoring decisive goals in the relegation battle. Relegation in 2000 was followed by an instant return to Serie A for two years with outstanding form shown by players like midfielder Enzo Maresca, as the club reached as high as 12th place in the 2001-02 season.

Piacenza was relegated in 2002-03, finishing in 16th position and thus returned to Serie B. The club remained in Serie B without threatening to mount a promotion challenge.

However following a poor 2010–11 Serie B season, Piacenza found themselves in a relegation playoff against Albinoleffe which they lost due to Albinoleffe's higher league position.

2012: Final bankruptcy after relegation

On 22 March 2012 Piacenza Calcio in strong financial difficulty was declared bankrupt by the court of Piacenza.^[1] In this season it was ranked 15th and relegated from Lega Pro Prima Divisione to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione after play-out. On 19 June 2012 the club was finally declared bankrupt and the team was disbanded.^[2]