Salernitana is an Italian professional football club from the city of Salerno. The team spent most of its history in the lower divisions, this year managing only the third time in its history to reach Serie A. However, there is a small problem. The club may not be allowed to compete due to its close relationship with the president of Lazio. But first things first. 

Salernitana was founded in 1919 through the merger of two clubs from the city of Salerno. In the early years, the team competed in the Italian Regional Football Championship. In the 1920s, Salernitana won local competitions four times, after which she began to participate in the lower leagues of the Italian championship.

In 1947, the club won Serie B, and for the first time in history entered the elite division of the Italian championship. It was then that the players began to use garnet-colored T-shirts, which is why they got the nickname "pomegranate". The debut in the elite, however, turned out to be unsuccessful. The team finished 18th and flew out of Serie A. The next promotion in the class had to wait 51 years. 

In the club's museum of pomegranates there are only victories in Serie D, C and B. At the highest level, the team did not achieve success - it was eliminated in the Italian Cup in the early stages, and did not participate in European competitions.

Derby against Napoli is the most important for the fans of pomegranates. Although the club from the capital of the region was founded later, it is more titled and recognizable in Italy and abroad. Because of this, Salernitana fans hate the Neapolitans.

The team plays their home games at the Areca stadium. The arena was opened in 1990 and renovated eight years later. At the moment, its capacity is 26 thousand spectators.

Areki is an old-style stadium. The arena has no roof, and the façade is made up of huge reinforced concrete structures that offer beautiful views of the nearby hills.

Note that the Italian national team had three matches at the stadium, although it was back in the 90s.

In their most successful season in 1998, many well-known players played for the pomegranate. One of them was Davide Di Michele. For three years of performances in Salerno, he chopped 48 goals. After that, the forward went on promotion in Udinese, from where he earned his debut call to the Italian national team.

The top scorer of Salernitana in the ended Serie B season was Bosnian Milan Djurić, who scored 12 goals.

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