Pisa getting ready for Serie A return after three-decade absence

For long-time Pisa fans, the return to the top flight will prompt welcome memories of their last spell in Serie A.

That was back in 1990, when they got promoted to the Italian top flight with some impressive names on their books.

Those included the current Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone, and his Argentina compatriot Jose Chamot, who would go on to play for Lazio, Atletico and Milan.

Success was achieved thanks to the backing of Romeo Anconetani, the club’s popular and charismatic president at the time.

Under him, Pisa went from Serie C to Serie A and reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia in 1987, where they were beaten by Diego Maradona’s Napoli.

Anconetani was also deeply superstitious and before every home game he would perform an unusual ritual.

“He would scatter kilos and kilos of coarse salt around the pitch to ward off bad luck,” Pisa-based sports journalist Andrea Martino told BBC Sport.

“He often followed the matches with the fingers of both hands crossed, while he forced his players to repeat gestures and movements if they had been performed for the first time during a victory.”

He may have briefly thought his superstitious actions had paid off as at one point Pisa sat atop Serie A, but a poor run of form led to relegation.

The financial cost of going down was significant and just three years later, they were back in Serie C and declared bankrupt.

Decades in the doldrums followed, with more financial troubles that led to them being expelled from the Italian football league in 2009, but from their lowest point would begin their rise – albeit slow – back to Serie A.