Sicilian Football club series: Unitas Sciacca
By Anthony Barbagallo
Club details
⚽ Full name: Unitas Sciacca Calcio
🗓️ Founded: 1947, refounded in 2001, and again in 2018
📍 Location: Sciacca, Province of Agrigento
🏟️ Stadium: “Stadio Comunale Luigi Riccardo Gurrera”
🏆 Current league: Sicilian Eccellenza, Group A
Located around 60km from the city of Agrigento, Sciacca is a southwestern Sicilian town. With stunning views of the Mediterranean sea, this vibrant coastal town holds a population of just a little over 40,000 people. However, in this fishing village, there is an amateur football club that has experienced numerous setbacks over time and is currently back on the rise.
Unitas Sciacca is a football club that dons the Neroverdi shirt, often resembling Serie A side Sassuolo. The club had a fierce rivalry with neighbours Ribera in the past times. Sciacca also has smaller rivalries with Folgore Castelvetrano, Canicattì and Mazara.
This Sicilian club was founded in 1947 as Unione Sportiva Sciacca. From the 1960s to the 80s, the Neroverdi bounced between the Prima Categoria (seventh division) and the Promozione (sixth tier). Between the mid-1980s till 2000, Unitas Sciacca played 13 seasons in Serie D - not bad for a modest football side based in a coastal fishing town.
Despite having always played in the amateur ranks of Italian football and a little over a decade in Italy’s Serie D system, Unitas Sciacca still boasts a large stadium for one of Sicily’s smaller football sides. The Stadio Comunale Luigi Riccardo Gurrera can hold a capacity of 14,000 spectators, often showcasing incredible Neroverdi choreography from the Saccensi. This stadium was also supposed to be expanded for the 1990 Italia World Cup and serve as a training ground for one or two national teams. But that never eventuated.
After having moderate success in Serie D, including an impressive sixth-place finish in the 1997-98 campaign, Unitas Sciacca later spiralled down into the regional ranks of Sicily - relinquishing its status as a Serie D club. In 2001, Sciacca declared bankruptcy immediately after having played their last ever season in Serie D. Under a new name of Associazione Sportiva Calcio Verde Nero, the Agrigento-based club registered in the Prima Categoria (seventh division) for the 2001-02 season.
Sciacca finished second in their group during the 2001-02 Prima Categoria campaign, hence securing promotion to the sixth division. Having started from some of the lowest divisions on the Italian Football pyramid before, the Neroverdi wanted to emulate the past Sciacca football sides. But after another name change to Unione Sportiva Calcio Sciacca Terme, the Neroverdi would spend four years in the Promozione tier. During this frustrating period, Sciacca missed out on Eccellenza promotion via the play-offs on two occasions. And after a poor performance in the 2005-06 season, the Neroverdi once again succumbed to Prima Categoria relegation.
In 2006, the final blow to Sciacca’s numerous misfortunes would be falling right down to the bottom of Sicily’s regional Terza Categoria (the ninth division). Instead of playing in the seventh division, the Neroverdi plummeted to Sunday league football. This time, there was no bankruptcy, but there was another name change to Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Sciacca 04. This horrifying situation was heartbreaking for Sciacca fans to witness. Seeing their side once rub shoulders with bigger clubs in Serie D and now watching the Neroverdi play against the lowest provincial Sicilian teams was a harsh reality check for the club and supporters of Sciacca.
After enduring a long season in the 2006-07 edition of the Terza Categoria, the Sicilian Neroverdi won their group and secured promotion to the Seconda Categoria on their first attempt. But Sciacca would skip the eighth division by acquiring the title of Prima Categoria side ASD Terre Sicane - a club based in the Agrigento town of Montevago. As a result, Sciacca, now known as Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Sciacca, played their football in the seventh division for the 2007-08 season. Consequently, a reformed Sciacca side won promotion to the Promozione. It looked like the Neroverdi’s luck was starting to change.
By surviving their first season back in the sixth tier of Italian football through winning the play-outs, Sciacca eventually went down the following campaign after an inconsistent run. But the Neroverdi pulled off an incredible comeback in the 2010-11 season - immediately returning to the Promozione. Sciacca survived in the sixth Calcio tier for another three seasons before going down the Prima Categoria again in 2015. The Neroverdi fans and Sciacca football club were about to be served further bad news in the next three years.
After two modest finishes in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 Prima Categoria seasons, Sciacca fell victim to another bankruptcy. Due to ownership and financial problems, the Neroverdi were inactive for the entire 2017-2018 footballing season - a new low for Calcio in the town of Sciacca.
Imagine being a football fan and not witnessing your club play in any competition for an entire season, or having that uncertainty about when football will return to your town or city. A fine example of this situation can be used for the football fans in Milo, a town located on the outskirts of Catania. ASD Milo Calcio used to play regularly in the sixth and seventh divisions of Italian football until the club completely dissolved back in 2015. Many Calcio supporters in Sciacca would have been praying to avoid a similar fate in 2018.
Just as hope was fading away for the Sicilian Neroverdi supporters, a newly-formed Unitas Sciacca announced it would have a fresh start in the Prima Categoria for the 2018-19 season. With a new team and club president, Gaspare Bonsignore, Unitas Sciacca would win their group and gain promotion to the Promozione. And after a dominant display on their return to Promozione, the Neroverdi secured their second consecutive promotion before the season was suspended due to COVID-19. About nearly 30 years later, Unitas Sciacca was back in the Sicilian Eccellenza (fifth division).
Unitas Sciacca had another club president change last year, with Gioacchino Settecasi replacing Gaspare Bonsignore. Settecasi was looking to build on the foundations his predecessor laid out over the last couple of years. But with Italy’s worsening COVID-19 situation late last year forcing the temporary suspension of all amateur football leagues, the Sicilian Neroverdi couldn’t even enjoy their return to Eccellenza for very long. As a result, Unitas Sciacca pulled out with several other clubs when the 2020-21 Sicilian Eccellenza campaign resumed earlier this year.
While Unitas Sciacca still retained their place for the 2021-22 Sicilian Eccellenza - as last season didn’t have any relegation due to the cancellation of the lower leagues - the Neroverdi could now resume work on their Serie D ambitions. Unfortunately, this season Sciacca has had a sluggish start to their Eccellenza campaign. Although, the Neroverdi boast some talented personnel up top and some exciting playmakers. Pasquale Galluzzo is Sciacca’s star player and the key to their success in attack.
In the meantime, Unitas Sciacca is focused on stabilising itself in the Sicilian Eccellenza for the short term. But with a new organisation at the helm, passionate Saccensi back in the stands and several talented playmakers in the squad - the Neroverdi are aiming for Serie D football in the long run. Unitas Sciacca simply wants to attain semi-professional status.