Red-hot form had seen FC Pompei explode through Italy’s 5th tier and claim an unlikely promotion to Serie D. However, manager Robí Sulpicius faced the significant challenge of his entire first-team squad being out of contract and a worrying financial situation overshadowing his need to rebuild.
Indeed, Pompei came into the second season with minus £230k in the bank and with the board making 0% of sales available to the manager. And, while the financial projection made for very grim reading, they did at least offer an improved transfer budget of £2.9k and weekly wage spend of £7.4k. But the manager wasn’t short of interest from other parties, as 12 teams offered him job interviews over the summer and Serie C side Ancona offered an interview in March, but he remained committed to the Pompei cause.
As soon as the season ended, Sulpicius managed to agree new contracts with his better players on lower wages than they’d been on last season. However, top scorer Fabrizio Guarracino decided to retire aged 32. He then turned to his limited scouting network to draft in a mass of trialists, most of whom chose other clubs that miraculously made bids despite previously showing no interest, often in lower divisions and on less money than they’d offered. However, he did eventually manage to just about put a squad together.
The pick of the new signings was probably goalkeeper Damiano Campisi along with centre back Simone Signorini, left back Vincenzo Panaro and attacker Antonio Orefice. And he eventually turned to loans to draft in striker Massimo Grasso and midfielder Matteo Rosauri.
Facing A Tough Serie D Task
Serie D is formed of 9 regional divisions, in which Pompei stepped up to Serie D Girone H. Again, only the winner gets promoted to Serie C, but this time they had 2 relegation places and 4 relegation playoff places to worry about. And the bookies didn’t fancy their chances, predicting Pompei to finish 19th with title odds of 100/1.
Pompei began their first-ever season in tier 4 with a threadbare and nowhere near match-ready squad making the trip to Martina. And they unsurprisingly got well and truly whipped 5-1. Their first home game started with an unlucky break through a nonsense penalty but Orefice fired them level before the break to earn their first Serie D point.
Their next away day showed some improvement, with just a 1-0 defeat, before they got their first win in Serie D as an Orefice double and Grasso’s goal on his full debut led an impressive 4-1 victory over Canosa. A first away point followed as they missed a mass of chances at Lavello before thrashing early leaders Molfetta 4-1.
It took two months for the players to reach match sharpness, which helped them come from 2-0 down to gain a point at Rotonda and hold leaders Manfredonia to a 0-0 and 4th-place Gravina 1-1 away, courtesy of a new more defensive take on their 4-3-3 approach. However, Pompei went on a 7-game winless streak that had fans on the manager’s back, but was snapped with a 4-2 win over Santa Maria in late November. Their form continued to be a little patchy but captain Vincenzo Caso Naturale came off the bench to nick a 3-2 victory.
Serie D Struggles Continue
Despite that, Pompei headed into 2025 sitting in the bottom six and stayed there as they lost their first game of the new year 2-1 at home to 2nd-place Martina. But right winger Alfredo Varsi scored twice to earn a 3-0 win over 18th-place Gelbison then got the second in an even more important 2-0 win at 14th-place Canosa, which saw Pompei keep consecutive clean sheets for the first time in Serie D.
A five-game unbeaten streak ended with a heavy 5-2 beating at league favourites Paganese, which began a four-game winless streak before Orefice’s brace downed Gravina 3-0, which moved Pompei six points clear of the bottom six with seven games remaining. They only lost 2-1 at leaders Barletta then 1-0 to 8th-place Fidelis Andrea before a few crucial games.
Pompei were dreadful in a 2-1 loss at Santa Maria, in which Campisi also pulled off 12 saves to keep it respectable. But next up was already-relegated Nola, in which they had the better of a poor game but struggled to put their chances away until Varsi won a penalty that Orifice converted. Elsewhere, their nearest challengers Altamura lost so Pompei opened up a five-point gap and then secured survival with two games remaining.
Pompei finished in 13th place, avoiding the bottom six by five points on 41 points after 10 wins, 11 draws and 15 defeats, scoring 50 and conceding 53.
The signing of Orefice had been a success as the attacker led the way with 18 goals, from just 6.02 xG, followed by Varsi (7), Vincenzo Carrotta (5) and Grasso (4). He also topped the club’s assists with 7 alongside Varsi followed by Vincenzo Pesarin and Carrotta (5) and Panaro (4).
So Pompei had defied all expectations in the first-ever season in Serie D, but could they continue to improve and again avoid the drop with another campaign of struggle predicted? Join us next Friday to find out!
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