Extreme Football Tourism: ITALY: US Cremonese

Stadio Giovanni Zini, Cremona (US Cremonese)

Italy, region: Lombardy

29 XII 2024 / US Cremonese - Brescia Calcio 1-1 / Serie B (= ITA level 2)

Timeline

1903 / Foundation of a sport club for different sports – but not football – in Cremona during a meeting at Trattoria La Varesina, Piazza Sant’Angelo. The new club is given the name Società Polisportiva (SP) Cremonese, with Emilio Faia becoming its first chairman.
1910 / As football is added to the myriad of activities developed by SP Cremonese, the club takes on a new name, Unione Sportiva (US) Cremonese. It is unclear where US Cremonese’s ground in the first nine years of the club’s existence was situated.
1912 / US Cremonese joins the Italian Football Association, FIGC (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio).
1913 / US Cremonese absorbs a younger football club from Cremona, Associazione Calcio (AC) Cremonese, without changing its name as a result. Subsequently, in the course of the 1913-14 season, the club adopts the red-and-grey colours which have made its outfits so recognisable until the present day.
1914 / Champions in Promozione Lombarda, 4 points ahead of joint runners-up Aurora (Busta Arsizio) and AC Savoia, US Cremonese wins promotion to Prima Categoria, the top level of the Italian football pyramid at that time – although it has to be pointed out that this was no nationwide competition, but a system subdivided into regional divisions. The successful coach is Giovanni Gandelli.
1915 / Following Italy’s joining the Allied side in World War I, and many players being called up to perform their armed service, US Cremonese ceases its activities for the duration of the war. One of the club’s players, goalkeeper Giovanni Zini, passes away that same year after contracting a typhus infection while serving in the Bersaglieri infantry corps in Cividale del Friuli, not far from the Isonzo front. Zini was only 21 years old.
1919 / Upon the resumption of its activities, US Cremonese absorbs another younger local club, FC Aurora (Cremona), without changing its name as a result. That same year, the club conquers the so-called Coppa delle Province Lombarde, easing past Switzerland’s FC Chiasso in the final (7-0). FC Chiasso were part of the Italian league pyramid until 1923. That same year, on November 2nd, 1919, US Cremonese’s new ground is inaugurated, the Campo di Via Persico, where it has played until the present day. In its original form, the ground only had one stand, situated on the western side of the pitch, with 500 covered seats. The inaugural match is the Prima Categoria encounter with Juventus Italia (Milan), finishing in a 3-0 defeat for the home side. In the early years, the ground is also referred to locally as the Campo Inglese (or ‘English Pitch’), due to the fact that, in 1917-18, a UK battalion had been garrisoned on the location where the stadium was to be built.
1922 / Champions in Prima Categoria Group B Lombardy, 3 points ahead of runners-up CS Trevigliese, US Cremonese qualifies for the Lombardy championship play-offs, in which it places second in a group of four, 3 points behind winners Esperia FC, which is the only of the four teams which progresses in a bid to win Italy’s nationwide title. Also in 1922, a cycling track is added to the set-up of the Campo di Via Persico, with the ground officially being renamed Motovelodromo.
1924 / The Motovelodromo, formerly the Campo di Via Persico, is renamed Stadio Giovanni Zini in honour of the club’s first goalkeeper, who had passed away while serving in the Italian army in 1915.
1926 / Runners-up in Group B of the Prima Divisione Nord, 8 points behind the eventual nationwide title winners FBC Juventus, US Cremonese qualifies for the newly formed Divisione Nazionale.
1927 / Finishing in second-last place in Divisione Nazionale Group B, US Cremonese is condemned to relegation to the second level along with bottom club SF Fortitudo Pro Roma – only to be readmitted to the top division following fascist authorities forcing two other Divisione Nazionale clubs, SG Andrea Doria and AC Sampierdarenese, to merge, resulting in the foundation of AC La Dominante (precursor of modern-day UC Sampdoria), and one extra top tier spot falling free as a result. US Cremonese was not spared of fascist meddling either, as Roberto Farinacci, originating from Cremona and one of the fascist party’s top politicians – later to prove himself one of the most gruesome antisemites in Mussolini’s regime – was named honorary chairman of the club in 1927. That same year, the Stadio Giovanni Zini was all but ravished in a cyclone; the cycling track surrounding the pitch would not be restored subsequently.
1929 / Finishing in seventh place in the Divisione Nazionale, US Cremonese qualifies for the first-ever Serie A season. Also in 1929, renovation works get underway on the Stadio Giovanni Zini, involving the construction of a new main stand, which has remained in use until the present day – and being known as the Tribuna Centrale nowadays.
1930 / Coached by Secondo Talamazzini, who had succeeded the Hungarian trainer Béla Ludwig in the course of the season, US Cremonese finishes bottom of the Serie A table, thus descending into Serie B along with the club finishing in second-last place, AC Padova.
1931 / Following the completion of the reconstruction works on the ground, which had gotten underway two years previously, the ground – which, apart from its main stand, now has grass embankments surrounding the other sides of the pitch – is renamed Campo Polisportivo. The entrance arch, constructed in 1930-31, is still in place today (cp. photo 1 below).
1933 / At the behest of fascist authorities, the Campo Polisportivo is renamed Campo Polisportivo Roberto Farinacci in honour of the club’s honorary president and mayor of Cremona.
1935 / Coached by Hungarian József Bánás, US Cremonese finishes in shared eighth place in Serie B Group B with US Foggia, meeting the club from Apulia in a relegation tie-break – necessary because Serie B would be reduced to one single division in the 1935-36 season. With the first match, held at Ancona’s Stadio Dorico, finishing in a 1-1 draw, US Foggia wins the second match, at Fano’s Polisportivo Borgo Metauro, 1-0. As a result, US Cremonese is retrograded to Serie C for the new season.
1936 / Champions in Serie C Group B, 2 points ahead of closest followers AC Reggiana, US Cremonese manages an immediate return to Serie B. The successful coach is Italo Defendi. That same year, Cremonese’s star midfielder Renato Olmi, signs a contract with local rivals AC Brescia. Four years later, as a player of AS Ambrosiana-Inter, Olmi would win three caps for the Italian national side.
1938 / Coached by Italo Defendi, who had agreed to come back to the club in the course of the season, replacing Cesare Cassanelli, US Cremonese finishes in fifteenth place in Serie B, resulting in the club dropping back to Serie C along with AC Brescia, AS Taranto, and bottom club AC Messina.
1939 / US Cremonese finishes as runners-up in Serie C Group B, 2 points behind champions AC Reggiana.
1941 / Midfielder Giacomo Mari, an US Cremonese youth academy player, makes his debut in the club’s first team. Mari would go on to play for Cremonese until 1946, when he earned himself a transfer to Atalanta BC. In the course of his career, Mari would also earn eight caps for Italy (1948-54).
1942 / Champions in Serie C Group B, 2 points ahead of runners-up Parma AS, US Cremonese qualifies for a play-off group of three, with two promotion places being available. Finishing in second place in this play-off, behind GS MATER, but ahead of AS Pro Gorizia – albeit only on goal difference – the club accedes to Serie B. The successful coach is Giuseppe Bonizzoni.
1945 / After being arrested by partisans while on the escape to the Swiss border in April 1945, US Cremonese’s honorary chairman Roberto Farinacci is executed after a summary trial. That same year, following the end of World War II hostilities in Europe, the Campo Polisportivo Roberto Farinacci has its old name reinstated, Stadio Giovanni Zini. Around this same time, the former cycling track, which had been in ruins for the best part of the last two decades, was replaced by an athletics track, but this facility is removed after a few years only.
1947 / 36-year-old forward player Piero Pasinati, who had been part of Italy’s winning team in the 1938 World Cup in France, joins US Cremonese, however only staying with the club for one season.
1951 / Coached by Guido Dossena, US Cremonese finishes in second-last place in the Serie B table, thus dropping back into Serie C along with AC Spezia, AS Bari, Seregno FBC, and bottom club US Anconitana.
1952 / Coached by Ercole Bodini, US Cremonese finishes in ninth place in Serie C Group B, resulting in the club being retrograded to the fourth tier of the Italian football pyramid, the so-called IV. Serie, due to a single-tiered Serie C being created for the new season.
1954 / Champions in IV. Serie Group C, 2 points ahead of closest rivals AC Marzoli, US Cremonese qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Finishing in first place in a play-off group, the club achieves promotion to Serie C along with Bolzano Calcio at the expense of US Aosta and Verbania Sportiva. The successful coach is Ercole Bodini. In the following decade, the club is little more than an also-ran in Serie C.
1967 / Coached by the duo Danilo Ravani and Carlo Facchini, US Cremonese finishes bottom of the table in Serie C Group A, resulting in the club suffering relegation to Serie D along with the club finishing in second-last place, US Mestrina. Also in 1967, floodlights are added to the set-up at Stadio Giovanni Zini.
1968 / Champions in Serie D Group B, 4 points ahead of Derthona FBC, US Cremonese wins promotion to Serie C. The successful coach is Manlio Bacigalupo.
1969 / Coached by Eugenio Bergonzi, who had replaced Manlio Bacigalupo in the course of the season, US Cremonese finishes in joint seventeenth place in Serie C Group A with AC Marzotto, meeting the club from Valdagno in a relegation play-off, held at Brescia’s Stadio Mario Rigamonti, which finishes in a 2-1 defeat. As a result, US Cremonese drops back into Serie D.
1971 / Champions in Serie D Group B, 5 points ahead of runners-up CS Trevigliese, US Cremonese wins promotion to Serie C. The successful coach is Battista Rota. Also in 1971, former FC Internazionale and Bologna FC defender Aristide Guarnieri, 33 years old, joins Cremonese for the last two years of his career; between 1963 and 1968, Guarnieri had also won 21 caps for Italy.
1975 / Cremonese’s 18-year-old defender Antonio Cabrini, a product of the club’s youth academy, earns himself a transfer to Atalanta BC – later moving on to Juventus FC. In the course of his career, Cabrini would earn an impressive 73 caps for Italy, being part of the squad which won the 1982 World Cup as well as taking part in the World Cups of 1978 and 1986, and the 1980 European Championship.
1976 / US Cremonese finishes as runners-up in Serie C Group A, 12 points behind champions AC Monza.
1977 / Champions in Serie C Group A, 4 points ahead of closest followers AC Udinese, US Cremonese wins promotion to Serie B after an absence of 26 years at that level. The successful coach is Stefano Angeleri. Following the success, the stadium sees a considerable enlargement, with the construction of open stands on the east and north sides of the pitch (being named the Settore Distinti and Curva Nord respectively).
1978 / Coached by Guido Settembrino, who had replaced Stefano Angeleri in the course of the season, US Cremonese finishes in eighteenth place in Serie B, just 1 point short of Rimini Calcio, which saves its skin. As such, Cremonese drops back into Serie C1 along with Como Calcio and bottom club Modena FC.
1979 / Cremonese defender Luciano Cesini hangs up his boots after a career of thirteen years, spent in its entirety in Cremona. With 436 matches in the red-and-grey shirt, Cesini is the club’s record holder. Incidentally, that same year, the club’s all-time top scorer, Emiliano Mondonico, also ends his career, in which he had two spells with Cremonese (1966-68, 1972-79), in the course of which he managed to score 88 goals.
1981 / Runners-up in Serie C1 Group A, with only one goal separating the club from champions AC Reggiana (+ 24 vs. +23), US Cremonese joins the club from Reggio-Emilia in Serie B for the new season. The successful coach is Guido Vincenzi.
1983 / Finishing in joint third place in Serie B with Calcio Catania and Como Calcio, US Cremonese meets those two clubs in a three-way tie-break for promotion. In these play-offs, of which all matches are played at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, only Catania manages to score a goal (1-0 against Como), as a result of which that club joins champions Milan AC and runners-up SS Lazio in Serie A for the new season.
1984 / Finishing in third place in Serie B, US Cremonese wins promotion to Serie A along with champions Atalanta BC and runners-up Como Calcio. It heralds the club’s return to the top flight of Italian football after an absence of 54 years. The successful coach is Emiliano Mondonico. That same year, the club’s 20-year-old star striker Gianluca Vialli, who had broken into the first team three years previously from Cremonese’s youth academy, signs a contract with UC Sampdoria, going on to have spells with Juventus FC and Chelsea FC, while also winning 59 caps (16 goals) for Italy’s national side – being part of his country’s squads in the 1986 World Cup, 1988 European Championships, and 1990 World Cup (third place). Also in 1984, US Cremonese signs Polish international defender Władysław Żmuda (91 caps, 1973-86) from New York Cosmos; Żmuda would stay with the club until 1987, being called up for the 1986 World Cup during his time in Lombardy. Still in 1984, Cremonese’s core supporters settle at the newly built Curva Sud of the stadium, abandoning the Curva Nord, which becomes the stadium’s away end. In the same round of renovations which saw the construction of the Curva Sud, two smaller covered stands are added to each side of the main stand, meaning that the entire pitch is surrounded by stands for the first time in the stadium’s history.
1985 / Still coached by Emiliano Mondonico, US Cremonese finishes bottom of the Serie A table, thus dropping back into Serie B along with ASD Ascoli and SS Lazio.
1987 / Finishing in joint third place in Serie B with AC Cesena and US Lecce, US Cremonese meets these two clubs in a tie-break competition, with the club however losing both of its encounters, played at Pescara’s Stadio Adriatico and Modena’s Stadio Alberto Braglia respectively. Tie-break winner AC Cesena joins champions AS Pescara and runners-up Pisa SC in the Serie A for the following season. Also in 1987, US Cremonese reaches the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia for the first time in its history; having finished in second place in the group stage, behind Juventus FC, but ahead of UC Sampdoria, US Lecce, AC Monza, and AC Reggiana, the club progressed further via penalty wins over AC Hellas Verona and FC Internazionale, eventually being knocked out by Atalanta BC in the semis (2-0 aggr.).
1988 / Youth academy defender Giuseppe Favalli breaks into US Cremonese’s first team; staying with Cremonese for the following four seasons, Favalli would go on to have spells with SS Lazio, FC Internazionale, and AC Milan, while also winning eight caps for Italy – being part of his country’s squad in the 2004 European Championships. Also in 1988, new floodlights are put in place at the Stadio Giovanni Zini.
1989 / Finishing in joint fourth place in Serie B with Reggina Calcio, US Cremonese, coached by Bruno Mazzia, meets the club from Reggio di Calabria in a tie-break match for promotion at Pescara’s Stadio Adriatico. Winning the tie (0-0 & penalty shoot-out), US Cremonese joins champions Genoa CFC as well as AS Bari and Udinese Calcio in Serie A for the following season. The decisive penalty was converted by midfielder Attilio Lombardo, who would leave the club for UC Sampdoria at the end of the season; Lombardo would go on to have spells with Juventus FC, Crystal Palace FC, and SS Lazio, while also winning 18 caps for Italy. Also in 1989, the return leg of the final of the Coppa Italia between UC Sampdoria and SSC Napoli is played at the Stadio Giovanni Zini because of the fact that Sampdoria’s home ground, the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa, is not available due to renovation works carried out at the ground in view of the 1990 World Cup, due to be held in Italy. For this same reason, Sampdoria had played several of its league matches as well as the Cup Winners Cup ties against IFK Norrköping (2-0) and FC Dinamo București (0-0) in Cremona as well.
1990 / Coached by Tarcisio Burgnich, US Cremonese finishes in second-last place in Serie A, thus dropping back into Serie B along with Udinese Calcio, AC Hellas Verona, and bottom club ASD Ascoli. Also in 1990, two Cremonese players, Swedish midfielder Anders Limpar and Argentinian striker Gustavo Abel Dezotti, are called up for their country’s squads in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, with Dezotti making it to the final against West Germany (1-0 defeat) – in fact, the only-ever player to make it to a World Cup final while under contract with Cremonese.
1991 / Finishing in third place in Serie B, US Cremonese wins promotion to Serie A along with champions Foggia Calcio as well as AC Hellas Verona and ASD Ascoli. The successful coach is Gustavo Giagnoni, who had replaced Tarcisio Burgnich in the course of the season. Also in or around 1991, the Curva Sud is extended, while the Settore Distinti is enlarged with tube constructions – bringing total capacity of the ground up to 22,000.
1992 / Coached by Gustavo Giagnoni, US Cremonese yet again fails to hold its own in the top flight of Italian football, finishing in second-last place in the Serie A table and thus descending into Serie B along with AS Bari, Verona FC, and bottom club ASD Ascoli.
1993 / Runners-up in Serie B, 2 points behind AC Reggiana, US Cremonese wins promotion to Serie A along with the champions as well as Piacenza FBC and US Lecce. That same season, the club clinches the most important trophy in its history, the Anglo-Italian Cup, a cup competition between second-level clubs from England and Italy. Having won the group stage, in which the club defeated West Ham United FC, Tranmere Rovers FC, Derby County FC, and managed a draw against Bristol City FC, US Cremonese knocked out AS Bari in the semis (6-3 aggr.) to qualify for the final, held at Wembley Stadium in London (att. 37,024) – defeating Derby County FC for a second time; 3-1, with Cremonese’s goals being scored by Corrado Verdelli, Riccardo Maspero, and Andrea Tentoni. Furthermore, US Cremonese’s Slovenian midfielder Matjaž Florjančič crowned himself top scorer of the tournament with seven goals. Cremonese’s coach in this historic season is Luigi Simoni.
1994 / In its best post-war season, US Cremonese manages to stay up in the Serie A, finishing in tenth place with coach Luigi Simoni. That same year, Enrico Chiesa joins the club on a one-year loan from UC Sampdoria. Chiesa would go on to win 17 caps for Italy, being part of his country’s squads in the 1996 European Championships as well as the 1998 World Cup. Another player signing for the red-and-grey club is John Aloisi of R Antwerp FC. Aloisi would stay with Cremonese for two seasons before moving on to Portsmouth FC; in the course of his career, the Australian striker won 55 caps (27 goals), being part of his country’s squad in the 2006 World Cup.
1996 / Still coached by Luigi Simoni, US Cremonese finishes in second-last place in Serie A, thus dropping back into Serie B after three seasons, along with AS Bari, Torino Calcio, and bottom club Calcio Padova. Also in 1996, the Italian national side plays its only-ever international match at the Stadio Giovanni Zini, a 2-2 draw against Belgium (Italian goals by Alessandro Del Piero & Enrico Chiesa, att. 13,247).
1997 / Coached by Nedo Sonetti, who had replaced Fausto Silipo in the course of the season, US Cremonese finishes bottom of the Serie B table, thus suffering its second relegation in a row, dropping back into Serie C1 along with AS Cosenza, AC Cesena, and USC Palermo. In this disastrous season, the club has a decent cup run, eventually being knocked out in the quarter finals by Bologna FC 1909 (5-2 aggr.).
1998 / Finishing as runners-up in Serie C1 Group A, 8 points behind champions AC Cesena, US Cremonese qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Eliminating AC Lumezzane in the semis (2-2 aggr. & away goals), US Cremonese eventually achieves promotion by edging past Pro Livorno Calcio in the final (1-0 A.E.T.), played at Perugia’s Stadio Renato Curi.
1999 / Coached by Gaetano Salvemini, in fact the fourth coach to head the club in the 1998-99 season, US Cremonese finishes bottom of the Serie B table, thus dropping back into Serie C along with AC Reggiana, AS Fidelis Andria, and AS Lucchese Libertas. Also in 1999, due to severe crowd unrest during the cup match between UC Sampdoria and Bologna FC at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa, Sampdoria is penalised with having to play six home matches away from its own ground – and, just like ten years previously during the renovation of its stadium – the Genoese club picks the Stadio Giovanni Zini as its temporary refuge.
2000 / Finishing in sixteenth place in Serie C1 Group A with coach Giuseppe Papadopulo, who had replaced Giovanni Trainini in the course of the season, US Cremonese has to play a play-off to avoid relegation. Losing the encounter with Lecco Calcio (3-2 aggr.), the club drops down into Serie C2 along with the two bottom clubs in its division, Montevarchi Calcio Aquila 1902 and Sandonà Calcio.
2002 / US Cremonese’s legendary chairman Domenico Luzzara steps down after a tenure of 33 years. Five years later, one year after Luzzara’s passing, the main stand as well as the entrance square of the Stadio Giovanni Zini would be renamed in his honour.
2004 / Runners-up in Serie C2 Group A, 4 points behind champions AC Mantova, US Cremonese qualifies for the play-offs. Defeating AS Pizzighettone in R1 (6-1 aggr.), the club finally achieves a return to Serie C1 following a 4-2 aggregate win over FC Südtirol in R2. The successful coach is Giorgio Roselli.
2005 / Champions in Serie C1 Group A, US Cremonese and coach Giorgio Roselli achieve their second promotion in a row, acceding to Serie B along with runners-up AC Mantova.
2006 / Coached by Giovanni Dellacasa, who had replaced Giorgio Roselli in the course of the season, US Cremonese finishes in second-last place in Serie B, thus dropping back into Serie C1 along with US Avellino, Ternana Calcio, and bottom club US Catanzaro.
2007 / Renovation works are carried out at the ground following the club’s takeover by Giovanni Arvedi, who steps in while Cremonese finds itself in grave financial problems. Arvedi secures a loan deal with AC Milan, which takes young defender Davide Astori to the Stadio Giovanni Zini for one year. Astori, who would go on to wear the colours of Cagliari Calcio, AS Roma, and ACF Fiorentina, while also winning 14 caps for Italy (2011-17), passed away in 2018 following a heart-attack at the age of 31. Another player lured to Cremonese for one season is future Italian international goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu (28 caps between 2010 and 2021).
2008 / Runners-up in Serie C1 Group A, 3 points behind champions US Sassuolo Calcio, US Cremonese qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Edging past US Foggia in R1 (1-1 aggr. & away goals), US Cremonese is eliminated in the final by AS Cittadella (3-2 aggr.). Thus missing out on promotion, the club is placed in the newly created Lega Pro Prima Divisione for the new season.
2009 / The Curva Sud is renamed the Curva Sud Erminio Favalli in honour of a former Cremonese player and board member who had passed away in 2008 at the age of 64.
2010 / Finishing in third place in Group A of the Lega Pro Prima Divisione, US Cremonese qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Knocking out AC Arezzo in R1 (3-2 aggr.), the club suffers defeat in the final at the hands of AS Varese 1910 (2-1 aggr.). As such, Varese joins champions Novara Calcio in Serie B for the new season.
2011 / US Cremonese’s new youth academy, the Centro Sportivo Giovanni Arvedi (four pitches), situated at the eastern outskirts of Cremona, is inaugurated.
2012 / In spite of being deducted 6 points following a betting scandal, US Cremonese manages a fifth place in Group B of the Lega Pro Prima Divisione, thus qualifying for the promotion play-offs. In those play-offs, however, the club is eliminated in the semis by Trapani Calcio (2-2 aggr. & inferior result in the regular season). Also in 2012, the Italian national team reaches the final of the European Championships in Poland & Ukraine (a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Spain) under the aegis of former US Cremonese youth academy player Cesare Prandelli. Prandelli was Italy’s head coach for four years (2010-14).
2013 / The Stadio Giovanni Zini hosts Italy’s rugby union encounter with Fiji (37-31).
2014 / Finishing in fourth place in Lega Pro Prima Divisione Group A, US Cremonese qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out UC AlbinoLeffe in R1 (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out) before losing in R2 (semi-final) against FC Südtirol (3-2 aggr.). As such, the club stays put at the third level of the Italian football pyramid, which is renamed Lega Pro for the 2014-15 season.
2015 / A commemorative plaque in honour of Vittorio Staccione is unveiled on the main stand of the Stadio Giovanni Zini. Staccione, who briefly played for Cremonese in the 1920s, was an opponent of the fascist regime and suffered deportation to Germany in 1944, where he was murdered at the Mauthausen concentration camp one year later at the age of forty. Also in 2015, the Stadio Giovanni Zini is one of the stadiums used for the 2015 World Rugby U20 Championships, with the final being played at the ground in Cremona as well.
2017 / Champions in Lega Pro Group A, with an equal number of points as runners-up US Alessandria 1912, but with a better head-to-head result, US Cremonese wins promotion to Serie B after an absence of eleven years at that level. The successful coach is Attilio Tesser. Also in 2017, several renovations are carried out at the Stadio Giovanni Zini, including the addition of a roof to the Curva Sud.
2018 / Following works which had gotten underway in the fall of 2017, the tube constructions which had formed the upper part of the Settore Distinti since 1991, are removed to make way for a proper stand, inaugurated in January 2018.
2019 / After two years of renovation works, the Stadio Giovanni Zini has been turned into an all-seater stadium, with capacity having been reduced from 20,641 to 16,003 as a result.
2022 / Runners-up in Serie B, 2 points behind US Lecce, US Cremonese wins promotion to Serie A along with the champions as well as play-off winner AC Monza. This heralds Cremonese’s return to the top flight of Italian football after an absence of 26 years. The successful coach is Fabio Pecchia. To make the ground compatible with Serie A regulations, further works are carried out, involving, among other things, the restoration of several pre-1929 design parts, the introduction of LED floodlights, an extension of press facilities on the main stand, and the addition of two small ground-floor stands in front of the main stand; following these works, total capacity is reduced from 16,003 to 14,834.
2023 / Coached by Davide Ballardini, who replaced Massimiliano Alvini in the course of the season, US Cremonese proves unable to cope with the Serie A level, finishing in second-last place and thus dropping back into Serie B along with Spezia Calcio and bottom club UC Sampdoria. On the other hand, the club managed to reach the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia for the second time in its history, suffering defeat at the hands of ACF Fiorentina (2-0 aggr.) following successive wins over Ternana Calcio, Modena FC 2018, SSC Napoli, and AS Roma.
2024 / Finishing in fourth place in Serie B, US Cremonese qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club eliminates US Catanzaro 1929 in the semis (6-3 aggr.) before suffering defeat in the final at the hands of Venezia FC (1-0 aggr.). Also in 2024, on January 7th, one year after the passing of former Cremonese youth prodigy Gianluca Vialli at the age of 58, the Settore Distinti is renamed in his honour.