US Città di Pontedera
Unione Sportiva Città di Pontedera is an Italian association football club located in Pontedera, Tuscany. Currently, it plays in Serie C, the third tier of Italian football.
History
Founded in 1912, Pontedera, a team from a city in the Pisa neighbourhood, played Serie C for several years without ever gaining a single promotion to Serie B. In 1993/1994, a second place in Serie C2/B allowed Pontedera to be promoted to Serie C1: during that season, the team was known for having longily been the only undefeated team in all Italian professional leagues, and for having incredibly won 2–1 to the Italy national football team coached by Arrigo Sacchi in a friendly match played in April 1994. Pontedera played Serie C1 just in 1994/1995, and was relegated to Serie D in 2001, and even to Eccellenza in 2002. Pontedera returned to Serie D in 2005, after having won its Eccellenza round.In 2006, Maurizio Mian's Gunther Corporation briefly held a controlling interest in Pontedera. Pornographic film actor Ilona Staller was installed as the club "godmother", while another pornographic actress Valentine Demy served as one of three club Presidents, alongside a Polish lap dancer named Karolcia and a British rapper named Prodigal1. The performance was related to Mian's left-libertarian views on reproductive rights and his upcoming appearance in the 2006 Italian general election.
Marcello Lippi, head coach of the Italy national team and World Cup champion in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, began his managerial career as head coach of Pontedera in 1985–1986.