Football Club Crotone is a football club based in Crotone, Calabria. The club was formed in 1923 and currently plays in Italian Lega Pro Prima Divisione. The team's colors are dark blue and red.
The first team from Crotone, Milone Crotone, was founded in 1923 and participated in several minor leagues including the so-called Prima Division, the equivalent of today's Serie C. Following World War II, a new club, Unione Sportiva Crotone replaced the previous one, playing seven seasons in Serie C. In 1963 the club was relegated to Serie D, but returned to Serie C the following year and played there for fourteen consecutive seasons, missing promotion in 1977 when finishing third behind A.S. Bari and Paganese Calcio 1926. In 1978, following the Italian football league reorganisation, Crotone was relegated to Serie C2 and the following year was declared bankrupt. A new club, Associazione Sportiva Crotone, started again in the Prima Categoria, the eighth level of Italian football. Crotone was promoted to Serie C2 in 1984/1985, but only for one season. Their name was changed to Kroton Calcio and the club was promoted again to Serie C2 after the 1986/1987 season, where it played until 1991. A second bankruptcy led to the foundation of Football Club Crotone Calcio with Raffaele Vrenna as chairman, starting in the Promozione (7th level). Crotone gained successive promotions to Serie C2 in 1997 and Serie C1 in 1998 winning in the play-offs first against Locri and then Benevento Calcio. They achieved promotion to Serie B for the first time in their history in 2000 with Antonello Cuccureddu as manager. Relegated back to Serie C1 in 2002, Crotone achieved Serie B status two years later through the play-offs (0-0 and 3-0 against A.S. Viterbese Calcio) and played there until 2006/07, where a 21st-place finish resulted in relegation back to Serie C1.
