The little provincial club have ended a 100-year wait for their first appearance in Serie A, just 15 years after facing complete extinction.Carpi have secured promotion to Italy's Serie A after a 100-year wait, with their goalless draw with Bari on Tuesday ensuring the town with a population of around 70,000 will play top-flight football next season.
The city can fit its entire population into San Siro with room to spare. It’s a scenario the Comune’s inhabitants couldn’t have dared dream of some 15 years ago when bankruptcy forced the club to rebrand from A.C. Carpi to Carpi F.C. 1909. It’s been a dramatic turnaround for the team from the northern province of Modena who made Serie B for the first time in their history just two years ago, but sporting director Christian Giuntoli insists it is no fluke.
"[Our rise] is not born by chance, it is the realisation of a project that has grown and grown," Giuntoli toldGoal last week, pointing out that among the secrets of their success lies in a healthy environment based on a streamlined management structure.
"The club is solid and does not splurge or act without foresight. Above all, the chain of command is very short, and this facilitates the decision-making process of the club. I am referring directly to president Claudio Caliumi (and the textile group Gaudi) who is represented by Roberto Marani and Stefano Bonacini. I talk to them, then I talk to the coach. That’s it.”
The club’s annual budget is just €3 million, with a further €1m for staff, but they are showing that nothing in the game is impossible when conducted with passion and intelligence and equal measures.
It’s an approach typified by the appointment of the coach Fabrizio Castori, a journeyman who would likely have been managing in Ukraine if the conflict in the nation hadn’t forced him to walk out on his job at Metalurg after just a few days.
The veteran has overseen a young squad which includes a number of loans from neighbouring Atalanta and Chievo. Brazilian goalkeeper Gabriel, on loan from Milan, has kept 20 clean sheets, while at the other end 22-year-old Nigerian forward Jerry Mbakogu has starred with 14 goals and is even being linked with a move to Dortmund.
Their 25-year-old wide man Lorenzo Pasciuti is perhaps most typical of their approach, however. He joined in 2009 when the club was in Serie C1, spending €26,000 of his own money to break his contract with Biellese in order to become a free agent. He has since scored in every division.
“We will not change our philosophy,” Giuntoli added. “We will focus on young players, we will climb to Serie A with guys you have never seen.”
Few will get the chance in home fixtures, with their Sandro Cabassi Stadium holding just over 4,000. But regardless, the dream is now a reality for a club who may well consider themselves lucky to be anywhere.
This article was originally published on April 25, 2015, and has been updated to reflect Carpi's promotion to Serie A
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