Sicilian Football club series: ASD Carlentini
By Anthony Barbagallo
Club details
⚽ Full name: A.S.D. Carlentini Calcio
🗓️ Founded: 2010
📍 Location: Carlentini, Province of Siracusa
🏟️ Stadium: “Sebastiano Romano di Carlentini”
🏆 Current league: Eccellenza, Group B
Located in a prime position between the two cities of Siracusa and Catania, Carlentini is a small Sicilian town with a countryside landscape. Neighbouring Lentini, this charming town boasts a unique view of Mt Enta - the monstrous volcano staring in the distance.
With a population of around 17,500, Carlentini has a young football club called ASD Carlentini Calcio. This minnow side dons the Biancazzurri colours on their jerseys and also has the Carlentini lion on their crest - paying homage to the town’s coat of arms.
Since the club’s creation 11 years ago, Carlentini rise from the Terza Categoria (ninth division) to the Sicilian Eccellenza (fifth tier) has inspired several young football clubs in Sicily. This impressive rise has also taken Sicilian football by storm, particularly on the island’s eastern side.
Up until 2010, the town of Carlentini lived in the football shadows of their neighbours Lentini and other cities in the Province of Siracusa. But after forming a football club 11 years ago, the Carlentinesi finally had a football side representing this unique town.
Carlentini Calcio played their first football season in the Terza Categoria (Italy's ninth and lowest football division). For the 2010-11 campaign, the Biancazzurri demonstrated that they were a club that boasted decent amateur talent and well-structured ownership. In saying this, Carlentini topped Group B in Terza Categoria - made up of other sides from the Province of Siracusa - and won direct promotion to the Seconda Categoria in their first-ever football season.
After an extraordinary promotion to the eighth division, Carlentini built a significant and healthy relationship with its fans. With the likes of Siracusa acting as the primary football club to support in the province, the Carlentinesi were now starting to grow a sense of pride and hope from their hometown side’s extraordinary performance.
However, Carlentini stabilised itself in the Seconda Categoria (eighth division) for the next three seasons. The Biancazzurri recorded a decent seventh-placed finish in the 2011-12 campaign, with an impressive top-four finish the following season. It may have been frustrating for the Carlentini players to lose in the 2012-13 season playoffs, but this memory quickly faded when the Biancazzurri topped Group H with flying colours in the 2013-14 campaign.
With promotion to the Prima Categoria (seventh division) secured, Carlentini hoped to keep up this momentum. In their first season in the Prima Categoria, the Biancazzurri finished in a modest midtable position - highlighting how competitive this division and Group G was. However, Carlentini performed exceptionally well in the 2015-16 season. The Biancazzurri topped Group F with 53 points, beating some tough competition such as Megara and Misterbianco.
Having gained promotion to the Promozione (sixth tier) in six years, Carlentini was starting to gain traction in the amateur ranks of Sicilian Calcio - earning the respect of the Carlentinesi and neighbouring sides in the Province of Siracusa. A newly-promoted Carlentini settled in the sixth division for the next three seasons, spanning from 2016 to 2019. The first two seasons in the Promozione saw the Biancazzurri finish around the midtable area, demonstrating that they were still a little off the pace from the top sides like Atletico Catania, Ragusa, Marina Di Ragusa, Floridia, Sporting Priolo, Paternò, Santa Croce and Sporting Eubea.
After a couple of mediocre finishes in the sixth division, Carlentini was placed into a different group for the 2018-19 season. The Biancazzurri left the Siracusa group and joined Group C with some of the Messina and Catania-based sides. This may have still been a competitive group with AciCatena, Taormina, Sporting Pedara and Mascalucia. However, Carlentini was slightly more confident that they could seize the opportunity of playing in a less complex group than in the last couple of seasons.
Carlentini also bolstered their frontline going into the 2018-19 season, with Salvatore Sinatra and Salvatore Cunsolo offering more dynamism and attacking threats going forward. The striker duo scored 26 goals between them throughout the campaign, making them one of the highest goalscoring sides behind Sporting Pedara. Carlentini secured third place at the season’s end with a powerful front line and an occasional shaky defence. While the Carlentinesi were hopeful that their side would win the playoffs, the Biancazzurri fell short at one of the final hurdles against Real Siracusa Belvedere.
While it looked like Carlentini was going to play a fourth season in Promozione, the Biancazzurri received some exciting news off the pitch before the commencement of the 2019-20 campaign. Because of several clubs failing to meet the financial requirements to participate in the Sicilian Eccellenza, Carlentini’s third-placed finish from the previous season and stable financial situation were enough to grant them a place in the 2019-20 Sicilian Eccellenza edition - bringing elation to the Carlentini locals, club management and team players.
Carlentini entered the fifth division of Italian football in 2019, hoping to try to challenge that Serie D promotion. The Biancazzurri also signed Marco Saccullo, a talented stiker from Bronte and top goalscorer in the previous Promozione season. However, with Carlentini looking ambitious and boasting all this firepower up front, the Biancazzurri still fell short in the midfield and defensive departments. Hence, they remained a midtable side and finished in 10th before the COVID-19 pandemic struck Italy.
Finishing midtable in their first season in the fifth division was still a decent achievement for Carlentini Calcio. The Sicilian minnows even had their 2020-21 season disrupted due to COVID-19, but the Biancazzurri still finished in ninth this time around.
However, Carlentini is currently sitting inside Group B’s top-four in the 2021-22 Sicilian Eccellenza. The Biancazzurri are a more balanced side this time, especially in the attacking and defensive transitions. Carlentini might need to update their decaying stadium, but the players and team’s coach are working towards something special this season. The 2021-22 campaign still has a long way to go, but maybe the time for Carlentini to secure semi-professional status has arrived.