Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio is more commonly known as Sassuolo. Sassuolo is a town in Italy located in the industrial center of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna.
Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio is an Italian football club based in the same region. Their colors are black and green, which is why they are often nicknamed “Neroverdi,” which literally means “black and green” in Italian.
Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio was founded in 1920 and has played in Serie A since 2013. This means that the U.S. Sassuolo Calcio is one of the few clubs which play in Serie A but do not belong to a provincial Capital City!
Basic Facts
- Full Name: Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio S.r.l.
- Nickname(s)
- I Neroverdi (The Black and Greens),
- The Watermelon Peel
- Sassuolo
- Founded: 16 July 1920
- Ground: Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore
- Capacity: 21,584
- Chairman: Carlo Rossi
- Head Coach: Alessio Dionisi
- League: Serie A
- Website: Club Website
Home Grounds
Sassuolo’s home ground is Mapei Stadium – Citta del Tricolore. It is a multi-purpose stadium located in Reggio Emilia, which A.C Reggiana of Serie B also shares.
It is common practice for stadiums to be owned by the local government rather than the teams themselves. This is why some stadiums, like Mapei, are home grounds to multiple teams.
Reggiana was the original team to use Mapei Stadium and moved in around 1995. Carpi then joined Reggiana from 2011 – 2012. Sassuolo was the last team to join the stadium in 2013, but like Reggiana, they have stayed.
The Italian National Football team has been known to host some matches in Mapei Stadium, as have Atalanta B.C. Atalanta B.C hosts their European competition matches on this pitch.
Main Trophies
Sassuolo has two main trophies; they are the Italian Serie B Champion Trophy, won in the 2012 – 2013 season, and the Italian Lega Pro Champion (A) Trophy, won in the 2007 – 2008 season.
Club History
Sassuolo Calcio’s football history started in July 1920 when the club was created by the Italian Football Federation. For the first decade, Sassuolo spent their time in the amateur ranks. They had their ups and downs, and nothing really stuck.
This all changed in the 1940s. In this era, the club began to move up rankings and landed in the Promotion League. Their opposition was the famous Emilian, Tuscan and Ligurian football teams.
In 1966 the club went through a massive change as two existing clubs joined together. Sassuolo Sportiva and Sassuolo Football club combined to make Sassuolo Sportiva Football Club!
The first president of this newly formed club was Antonio Cuoghi, a young ceramic entrepreneur.
In 1967 the new president Antonio Giovanardi drove the team to a new success, moving them out of the amateur leagues and into Serie D.
Sassuolo stayed in Serie D until 1983, where they made the leap to Serie C2. At this point in time, they were seen as real professionals. In their first season, they did more than hold their position! They managed to end the season in 6th place!
The fight to stay in Serie C2 was hard. In the 1985 – 1986 season, the team narrowly avoided relegation. By the end of the decade, Sassuolo couldn’t keep up and was relegated back to the amateur ranks.
In the 1991 – 1992 season, Gianni Gibelline became the new owner of Sassuolo. He hoped to drive some new life into the team and managed to do so.
For the next three years, they landed on the high end of the table. But it took another 8 tears for the club to return to their professional ranks.
So far in Sassuolo’s history, they have been battling to stay in Serie C2 and trying their hardest to avoid the amateur ranking, but in 2005 – 2006 they managed to go further than they had ever gone before. Sassuolo reached Serie C1.
From here, we can see Sassuolo really come into their own as it only two 2 more years for the club to be promoted again, this time to Serie B. They made this jump after winning Serie C1 A division.
Sassuolo spent 5 years in Serie B, and broke through yet another barrier in the 2012 – 2013 season to reach the highest rank, Serie A.
Since earning their spot in Serie A, Sassuolo hasn’t let go!
Club Timeline
| Season | League | League Level | Win | Draw | Lose | Goals | Points | Rank | Manager |
| 20/21 | Serie A | First Tier | 17 | 11 | 10 | 64:56 | 62 | 8 | Roberto De Zerbi |
| 19/20 | Serie A | First Tier | 14 | 9 | 15 | 69:63 | 51 | 8 | Roberto De Zerbi |
| 18/19 | Serie A | First Tier | 9 | 16 | 13 | 53:60 | 43 | 11 | Roberto De Zerbi |
| 17/18 | Serie A | First Tier | 11 | 10 | 17 | 29:59 | 43 | 11 | Giuseppe Iachini |
| 16/17 | Serie A | First Tier | 13 | 7 | 18 | 58:63 | 46 | 12 | Eusebio Di Francesco |
| 15/16 | Serie A | First Tier | 16 | 13 | 9 | 49:40 | 61 | 6 | Eusebio Di Francesco |
| 14/15 | Serie A | First Tier | 12 | 13 | 13 | 49:57 | 49 | 12 | Eusebio Di Francesco |
| 13/14 | Serie A | First Tier | 9 | 7 | 22 | 43:72 | 34 | 17 | Eusebio Di Francesco |
| 12/13 | Serie B | Second Tier | 25 | 10 | 7 | 78:40 | 85 | 1 | Eusebio Di Francesco |
| 11/12 | Serie B | Second Tier | 22 | 14 | 6 | 57:33 | 80 | 3 | Fulvio Pea |
| 10/11 | Serie B | Second Tier | 13 | 12 | 17 | 42:46 | 51 | 15 | Paolo Mandelli |
| 09/10 | Serie B | Second Tier | 18 | 15 | 9 | 60:42 | 69 | 4 | Stefano Pioli |
| 08/09 | Serie B | Second Tier | 15 | 15 | 12 | 57:50 | 60 | 7 | Andrea Mandorlini |
| 07/08 | Serie C1 – Girone A | Third Tier | 19 | 6 | 9 | 46:32 | 63 | 1 | Massimiliano Allegri |
Club Net Worth
U.S. Sassuolo’s current market value is £236.52m. That translates to US$325.48m and €277.61m.
This was accurate from August 2021, where Sassuolo had a squad size of 35, an average age of 26.7, and a current transfer record of £-2.70m. That translates to €-3.17m and US$-3.71m.
Stadium
With Reggiana gaining a promotion to Serie A in 1993, they realized that they would need a new stadium. The club gave out tickets hoping to raise enough money to build a new stadium to fit their growing fanbase.
Mapei Stadium was opened in 1995, and the first match between Reggiana and Juventus was sold out.
In 2005 Reggiana was going through a reconstitution and dissolution, which meant they lost ownership of the stadium. This didn’t mean that all their hard work to create the building was gone, though. They could still use the stadium, but they had to share it with other clubs.
This page isn’t about Reggiana though, it is about Sassuolo. Sassuolo became one of the teams to use Mapei Stadium in 2013.
At this point, the stadium was put up for a public auction and won by the Ceramic industry Mapei, hence its current name. Mapei owned Sassuolo, who had just been promoted to Serie A, so the new club’s location tied in nicely.
The new team and the new name caused outrage in Reggiana supporters, and a protest was held in 2015 during Sassuolo’s Serie A games.
The protesting group was called “Via Il Sassuolo da Reggio Emilia” which translates to “Sassuolo out of Reggio Emilia”. This rebellion marched through the city center to raise attention to their plea.
Owners
Sassuolo’s current owner is Mapei S.p.A. Mapei is an Italian company founded in 1937 that manufactures chemical products for the building industry.
Mapei owns and sponsors the men’s Sassuolo Football Club and the women’s Sassuolo Football club. They bought the club first and then purchased the Mapei stadium previously owned by Reggiana. They also opened a sports Centre called Mapei Football Centre in 2019.
Before their journey with football began, Mapei was more closely associated with cycling. It sponsored leading cyclists like Tony Rominger, Pavel Tonkov, and Andrea Tafi.
Mapei used their cycling support to build an ethical approach to their scientific research. In 1996 their new building, Mapei Sports Research Centre, was born.
Another team or sport that Mapei has sponsored is Reggiana Basketball Club, including both the men’s and the women’s teams.
Best Players
Sassuolo’s three top players are Domenico Berardi, Francesco Caputo and Gian Marco Ferrari.
Domenico Berardi
Domenico Berardi is an amazing player for Sassuolo. He is in the top 10 for the whole of Serie A for these categories;
- Goals Scored
- Big Chances
- Shots on Target
- Assists Outside the Box
- Key Passes Outside the Box
- Chance Creation
- Passes into the Box
Saying that Berardi is in the top 10 of these categories doesn’t show just how great he is. He is the 4th best player in Serie A for penalties, the 5th best for assists outside the box, and the 7th best for big chances.
Francesco Caputo
Francesco Caputo is also a great player. He is in the top 10 for the whole of Serie A for a single category – Assists inside the box. For this achievement, he is the 10th best player.
When it comes to penalties, Caputo is the 14th best player in Serie A. He is the 20th best for expected goals and the 20th best for goals scored. His expected goals were 10, but his actual goals were 11.
Gian Marco Ferrari
Gian Marco Ferrari is in the top 10 for two categories, the top 5 for another, and the 3 for one category. Between Ferrari and Berardi, it would be hard to pick out their overall best player.
Ferrari is the 3rd best Serie A player for a total number of passes with a whopping 2720. He is the 4th best player in Serie A for passing into the final third with another large number of 1938. He is the 9th best player for pass competition with a lesser 93.2 and the 9th best again for passes into the final 3rd completion rate, which is 92%.
All Time Top Scorer
Sassuolo’s all time top scorer is none other than Domenico Berardi. He has appeared 291 times for the team and has scored 105 times in total!
The second best scorer is Alessandro Noselli, who is no longer with the club. He scored 38 times, which shows you just how big the score gap is, and therefore how much Berardi should be cherished.
Captain
Sassuolo’s current team captain is Francesco Magnanelli. He currently holds the club’s record for most appearances of all time, having appeared 436 times. In that time, he has scored 8 goals.
Magnanelli has always played for Italian teams, starting his career in 2000 with Gubbio (Roma). After two years, he moved to Chievo and then continued a yearly migration to Fiorentina and Sangiovannese before settling with Sassuolo in 2005.
With Magnanelli on side, the club has climbed from Serie C2 all the way to Serie A.
In October 2019, Magnanelli was given a one-match ban for blasphemy. Italian football has a strict rule about taking their Catholic God’s name in vain during a match.
Goalkeepers
Sassuolo’s goalkeepers are Andrea Consigli, Giacomo Satalino and Gianluca Pegolo.
Andrea Consigil’s contract is due to end in June 2022. His current market value is £2.7m, which translates to €3.17m and US$3.71m.
Giacomo Satalino doesn’t have a current end date, and his market value is £180,000. That translates to US$247,644 and €211.274.
Gianluca Pegolo’s contract is due to end e 2022. His current market value is £90,000. That translates to €105,637 and US$123,835
Defenders
Sassuolo currently has 12 defenders. They are:
- Mert Muldur
- Jeremy Toljan
- Giorgos Kiriakopoulos
- Federico Peluso
- Kaan Ayhan
- Vlad Chiriches
- Gian Marco Ferrari
- Rogerio
- Stefano Piccinini
- Filippo Romagna
- Matteo Saccani
- Marco Sala
Strikers
Sassuolo currently has 7 attackers. They are:
- Nicholas Pierini
- Isaac Karamoko
- Brain Oddei
- Giacomo Raspadori
- Luigi Samele
- Francesco Caputo
- Gregoire Defrel
Managers
Sassuolo’s current manager is Alessio Dionisi. He played football from 1999 – 2014, playing for Siena, Voghera, varese, Trium, Ivrea, Tritium, Sambonifacese, Verbania and Olginatese.
Since 2014 Dionisi moved to management and has managed different clubs every year. So far his management career has included Oltese, Borgosesia, Fiorenzuola, Imolese, Venezia, Empoli and now Sassuolo.
Dionisi joined Sassuolo in 2021.
Coach
Alessio Dionisi is Sassuolo’s head coach. When he retired from playing active football in 2014, he was immediately named head coach for the Serie D club Olginatese. Oliginatse was the last club that Dionisi played for, so the turnaround was very quick.
He only stayed with them for a year before coaching other Serie D clubs like Fiorenzuola and Borgosesia. When he eventually moved to Imolese, his coaching led them to second place in the league, and they qualified to move up towards the Serie C league. After arriving in Serie C, the club made it to the semi finals, where they were defeated by Piacenza.
Venezia was impressed with Dionisi’s results and appointed him head coach of their club. This allowed Venezia to be readmitted into Serie B, where he guided them to second place.
Empoli then snapped Dionisi up, and with him on board, the club won the Serie B champions and earned themselves a promotion to Serie A.
With such an impressive history, Sassuolo bid for Dionisi in 2021 and secured two year deal in the hope that he can bring his skills forward and help Sassuolo win in Serie A
Assistant Coach
Sassuolo’s assistant coach is Paolo Cozzi. He played football from 1994 until 2010. Cozzi started his coaching career as a technical coach for US Palermo, but after one year, he became Italy U21’s assistant manager.
He then jumped from team to team until July 2021 where Cozzi joined Sassuolo for a 3 year contract.
Home Kit
Sassuolo’s home kit is mainly green and black. The shorts are 100% black, but the top is designed in stripes. The stripes have a thick line of green, a black line of half the size, and a mesh looking black line that has green underneath. The pattern then continues with a thick green line.
The shoulders are black, while the collar and sleeve cuffs are green.
Away Kit
The Away skit is also black and green, but its primary color is white. 100% of the shorts are white. The body of the shirt is also white, but on the chest, the club’s owner, Mapei, is written in large green letters.
Above the chest and towards the shoulders, there is an unusual pattern. The left hand size is green with little white stripes that grow in size. The right hand size has the same design but with black.
The shoulders are white, and the collar and sleeve cuffs are green.
Logo
Sassuolo’s logo is in the shape of a bowed shield. It is divided into four sections. The top right section is of three vertical bars, which have two followers poking out. This is the coat of arms design for the city of Sassuolo.
Along the middle of the shield is the club’s name, “U.S Sassuolo,” written in white.
The bottom part of the crest is a sports field of green and black. In the middle of the sports field is a large football.
The top left side is another variation of a sports field of black and green.
Club Academy
Sassuolo Calcio’s Primavera or youth team won the 69th edition of the Viareggio Tournament in 2017.
They are a growing team that produces many stars that eventually branch out to other clubs throughout the country.
League Titles
Serie B:
- Winners – 2012-2013
Supercoppa di Serie C:
- Winners – 2008
Other Title
| Season | Title |
| 12/13 | Promoted to 1st league |
| 12/13 | Italian Serie B champion |
| 07/08 | Italian Lega Pro Champion (A) |
| 07/08 | Promoted to 2. Liga |
| 07/08 | Supercoppa Serie C Winner |
| 05/06 | Promoted to third tier |