Livorno Tickets

Livorno
Popularly known as Amaranto for its deep red/ maroon color as emblem of vigor, Associazione Sportiva Livorno Calcio is a football club based in Livorno, Tuscany. The club was formed in 1915 and currently plays in Italian Series A, having returned there in 2004 after last playing in Italy's top division in 1949. The best placement in Italian Series A was second place in 1942/1943 season, during which the amaranto gave life to a head-to-head competition with Torino. The team features in their home fixtures at the 18,200 seater Stadio Armando Picchi.

Livorno's supporters are known for their left-wing politics and their fierce, often violent, rivalries with several right wing team supporters, especially those of S.S. Lazio, Internazionale, Hellas Verona, A.C. Milan and with some elements of A.S. Roma's support. The notorious right-wing Lazio striker Paolo Di Canio gave a fascist salute to his own fans during a match between his side and Livorno, where tensions were running particularly high due to the political contrasts of each club's respective ultra groups. Although Livorno ultras are far left in political stances, the political stance of the ultras does not represent the entire fan base, as with all clubs.

Founded in 1915 as U.S. Livorno, the club ended the Italian Football Championship 1919-20 in second place, losing the final to Inter. One year later they were defeated in the semi-final by arch-rivals Pisa. In 1933 the club moved to the current stadium. Successively Livorno ended as Series A runners-up in the 1942-43 season. Livorno left Series A in 1949 after seven consecutive seasons. They relegated to Series C soon after, making a return to Serie B in 1955 for a single season and again from 1964 to 1972. The club was promoted to Serie C1 in 1997 and was acquired by Aldo Spinelli two years later. Under the new property, Livorno was able to return to Serie B in 2001.

Livorno were promoted to Serie A after finishing third in the Serie B 2003-04, one of six clubs to be promoted that season. There were spells of struggle during the season, but there were many more good performances shown, and Livorno finished a surprise and creditable ninth place in the league for the Serie A 2004-05, a great credit goes to the goals by striker Cristiano Lucarelli, who won the Serie A top scorer award that season outscoring even the likes of Shevchenko and Adriano.

The Serie A 2005-06 saw Livorno in sixth place after the first half of the season the team, being involved for qualification to the next UEFA Cup. In the Serie A 2006-07, Livorno took part to the UEFA Cup for their first time ever. The Tuscan sides were drawn to face Austrian team SV Pasching in the first round, beating them comfortably 3-0 on aggregate. They thus qualified for the group stages being drawn in Group A, along with Rangers, Auxerre, Partizan Belgrade and Maccabi Haifa. After a home loss to Rangers (2-3) the Tuscan side gained a 1-0 victory over Auxerre in the last game played in France, thus earning a spot in the round of 32 of the competition. However, Spanish team Espanyol knocked out Livorno from the UEFA Cup by winning 4-1 on aggregate.