Foundation The club was founded as
U.S. Avellino on 12 December 1912 to give the town of
Avellino a footballing representative. The early history of the club is quite obscure as they only competed at a lower level against regional sides. Avellino competed in
IV Divisione from 1913 until after the Second World War; today's equivalent of that level is
Serie D.
Post-war emergence For the earlier part of their history the club did not achieve anything of note, until being placed in
Serie C for the 1945–46 post-War season. In the 1946–47 season they narrowly missed out on getting through to the interregional final, after finishing third in their group. Avellino beat out the likes of
Catania,
Reggina and
Messina to win promotion to
Serie B at the end of the 1940s. However, the club were accused of
match fixing and the federation relegated them to
Serie D. Although they were promoted to Serie C after one season, Avellino were relegated to spend six consecutive seasons at Serie D level. Eventually Avellino returned, but, in six seasons, and Avellino gained promotion to Serie C in three of them and were relegated twice.
1970s and 1980's: Ten consecutive seasons in Serie A and Torneo Estivo 1986 and
Dirceu with Avellino in 1986–87 season Avellino were promoted to
Serie B in 1973 and Serie A in 1978. A truly remarkable feat for a southern provincial side was a 10-year stay in Serie A (1978 to 1988), with the club holding a mid-table place for the majority of that period. Their best finish was 8th in 1987, with a team starring
Angelo Alessio,
Paolo Benedetti,
Franco Colomba and
Dirceu. During this decade the
Wolves of Irpinia won the
Torneo Estivo del 1986, a league-cup contested by all the
Serie A eliminated before
1985–86 Coppa Italia semifinals. Avellino won the group B defeating
SSC Napoli (5-1),
SSC Bari (1-0) and
Inter and the second semifinal group against
Udinese (5-1) and
Juventus (1-0). In the final of
LNP Torneo Estivo 1986 they played on 19 June 1986 in
Stadio Santa Colomba (
Benevento), Avellino defeated 3-2 the
il Bari with two goals scored by
Alessio and one from Paolo Benedetti
1990s and 2000s: decline, ups and downs, and bankruptcy The club tended to shift between
Serie B and
Serie C1 in the decade following relegation from
Serie A in 1988. The club marked a surprising
Serie B return after defeating neighbors and football powerhouse
Napoli in the 2004-05 Serie C1/B
play-off finals. An unsuccessful 2005–06 campaign ended in a loss on relegation playoffs to
Albinoleffe (0–2, 3–2). The 2006–07 season, with
Giuseppe Galderisi as head coach, then replaced by
Giovanni Vavassori, ended in a second place in the Serie C1/B regular season; this was then followed by a successful campaign in the promotion play-offs, in which Avellino defeated
Foggia in the finals, being therefore promoted to Serie B once again. However, this was followed by Vavassori's resignations on 16 July 2007, shortly after his confirmation as Avellino boss, being then replaced by
Maurizio Sarri two days later. Sarri himself resigned one month later, being replaced by
Guido Carboni and later
Alessandro Calori. Despite this, the club did not manage to escape relegation, ending the season in 19th place. The club was however readmitted to Serie B later on to fill a league vacancy created by
Messina's disbandment. The team finished second from bottom in
the 2008–09 season and was therefore relegated again. On 9 July 2009, the Covisoc (
Commissione di Vigilanza sulle Società Calcistiche, Vigilancy Commission on Football Clubs) organization announced that the team did not pass the financial requirements in order to be admitted to the league. The club was allowed to appeal the decision until 11 July 2009. On 11 July, Avellino failed to appeal the exclusion.
Avellino Calcio.12 S.S.D. restarts from Serie D A new club founded in the summer 2009 as
Avellino Calcio.12 S.S.D. restarts from Serie D, finishing 5th, but 4 August 2010 they were later admitted to
Lega Pro Seconda Divisione to fill vacancies. This ordeal saw them become the latest in a long line of Italian clubs that have faced severe financial difficulties, such as Napoli and Fiorentina.
From Lega Pro Seconda Divisione to Serie B In the 2010–11 season the team became
Associazione Sportiva Avellino 1912 and played in
Lega Pro Seconda Divisione finishing 4th, being defeated by
Trapani in the play-off final, but 4 August 2011 it was later admitted to
Lega Pro Prima Divisione, again, to fill vacancies. In the season 2012–13 Avellino won
Lega Pro Prima Divisione and the team obtained the promotion in
Serie B, under manager
Massimo Rastelli. In
2014–2015, Rastelli led the team to the play-off semi-finals, when they are eliminated by the more prestigious
Bologna team despite a 3–2 win away.
2018 Serie B exclusion In 2018, Avellino was excluded from Serie B due to submitting a league membership paperwork that was deemed as incomplete, due to a late bank guarantee. Due to this, a new club was re-founded within days in order to submit application to play at
Serie D instead. In 2019 Avellino won Serie D and the
Scudetto Serie D, reaching the promotion in
Serie C for the next season. In
2020–2021, they once again reached the play-off semi-finals, losing to Padova. ==Colours and badge==