During the 1997–98 season, Perugia competed in Serie B, securing a historic promotion back to Serie A after winning a tense promotion tie-breaker match against Torino.
Season review Following relegation from the top flight the previous year, Perugia entered the 1997–98 Serie B campaign with the clear objective of an immediate return to Serie A. The club started the season under head coach Attilio Perotti. However, an inconsistent run of form led to a turbulent campaign characterized by multiple managerial changes: spells under Alberto Bigon and a brief return for Perotti preceded the decisive appointment of veteran coach Ilario Castagner in March 1998.
A strong, determined run in the final stretch of the season—bolstered by key winter additions such as striker Sandro Tovalieri, goalkeeper Angelo Pagotto, and midfielder Renato Olive—allowed the Grifoni to climb the table and finish in fourth place. Level on points with Torino at the end of the 38-game regular season, Perugia achieved promotion by prevailing 5–4 on penalties following a 1–1 draw in the neutral-venue promotion tie-breaker held in Reggio Emilia on 21 June 1998.
Squad
Goalkeepers Angelo Pagotto Juan Carlos Docabo Crescenzo De Vito Aleksandar Kocić Marco Storari
Defenders Gianluca Colonnello Marco Materazzi Salvatore Matrecano Massimiliano Tangorra Bratislav Mijalković Martino Traversa Gabriele Grossi Paolo Guastalvino Andrea Cottini Patrick Panucci Gianluca Esposito
Midfielders Antonino Bernardini Renato Olive Alessandro Cucciari Antonio Manicone Massimo Lombardo Pasquale Domenico Rocco Daniele Russo Pier Giovanni Rutzittu Luca Bordichini Giovanni Renna Bruno Versavel Marc Emmers Renzo Tasso
Attackers Sandro Tovalieri Milan Rapaić Stefano Guidoni Alessandro Melli Fernando Pandolfi Thomas Thorninger Emiliano Testini
Competitions
Serie B
League table
Promotion tie-breaker The 1997–98 Serie B regular season ended with Perugia and Torino locked on 62 points in the battle for the fourth and final promotion spot to Serie A. To settle the tie, a one-off play-off match was scheduled on neutral ground at the Stadio Giglio in Reggio Emilia.
The match proved to be a dramatic, high-tension affair played in front of nearly 20,000 spectators. After a tightly contested scoreless first half, Perugia broke the deadlock in the 76th minute when veteran striker Sandro Tovalieri found the back of the net. Torino reacted immediately, equalizing just three minutes later through their star forward Marco Ferrante in the 79th minute. With the score tied 1–1 after regulation time, the match went into extra time. Neither side managed to score during the additional thirty minutes, pushing the decision to a penalty shoot-out.
In the dramatic spot-kick sequence, Perugia's execution was flawless: Bernardini, Rapaić, Materazzi, Colonnello, and Tovalieri all successfully converted their penalties. For Torino, while Ferrante, Lentini, Cravero, and Carparelli scored, former England international defender Tony Dorigo missed his spot-kick, hitting the post. Winning the shoot-out 5–4, Perugia secured their triumphant return to the top flight.
A.C. Perugia promoted to 1998–99 Serie A.
Topscorers Antonino Bernardini 11 Sandro Tovalieri 11 Stefano Guidoni 7 Marco Materazzi 5 Milan Rapaić 5
References