Siracusa U20

2 Jan 2027
Saturday
Process
22 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

8 matches without a win for Siracusa

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Siracusa are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Bryan Bonucci: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Siracusa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

Siracusa cannot find the net

5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Nicola Valente was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for Siracusa against Cavese

0‑2 to Cavese, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

No hiding place for Gianni Manfrin

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gianni Manfrin, and the manager let it.

Squad

Carmelo Limonelli falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Boardroom

113% of the income goes out in wages at Siracusa

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Player ratings

The chances came and went for Gianluca Contini

9 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.

In brief

Back issues
21 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Siracusa

7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match

The goals have deserted Siracusa

4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Siracusa can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Martín Suárez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for Siracusa against Sorrento

0‑1 to Sorrento, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

No hiding place for Federico Pacciardi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Pacciardi, and the manager let it.

Squad

A promise honoured for Enrico Di Gesù

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Siracusa told Enrico Di Gesù something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

20 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Every point is an argument now for Siracusa

Position 19 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Match

6 matches without a win for Siracusa

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Siracusa are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alessandro Farroni

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Diego Arce says Siracusa went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Martín Suárez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Siracusa cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

In brief

19 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Siracusa

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Siracusa is running low.

Match

5 matches without a win for Siracusa

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Siracusa are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Martín Suárez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Emerson Catarina for 18 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Siracusa will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Squad

Gianluca Contini gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Words at Siracusa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emerson Catarina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

18 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Siracusa taken apart

0‑3 to Altamura, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Match

No end in sight to Siracusa's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Siracusa has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Martín Suárez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Martín Suárez gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Emerson Catarina falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Boardroom

107% of the income goes out in wages at Siracusa

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Siracusa

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Orazio Pannitteri

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Emerson Catarina turns it into his own net

Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Siracusa deserved better, and so did he.

In brief

17 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Alessandro Sbaffo keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Siracusa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Martín Suárez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Cosenza take the points off Siracusa

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

16 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Siracusa are in real trouble now

Position 17, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Nicola Valente was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Emerson Catarina falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

15 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Gianluca Contini scores twice — 8.30

Two goals and a mark of 8.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Nicola Valente in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Siracusa come up short against Benevento

Benevento left with the points after a 3‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Match

7 goals as Siracusa and Benevento go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Siracusa and Benevento, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

Gianni Manfrin gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Words at Siracusa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emerson Catarina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

14 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Bassidy Sanogo: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Siracusa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Martín Suárez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Gianluca Contini sends Siracusa past Catania

It finished 1‑0, and it was Gianluca Contini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Siracusa.

Boardroom

107% of the income goes out in wages at Siracusa

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Martín Suárez

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Emerson Catarina dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

13 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Siracusa

9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Martín Suárez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Latina take the points off Siracusa

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Words at Siracusa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emerson Catarina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

A promise honoured for Martín Suárez

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Siracusa told Martín Suárez something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

Squad

Costly mistake from Alessandro Farroni

An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Alessandro Farroni knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.

In brief

12 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Siracusa

8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alessandro Farroni

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Maiko Candiano yet — 7.92

At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.92 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Martín Suárez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Emerson Catarina falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Siracusa and Crotone take a point apiece

It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

11 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Siracusa

7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Martín Suárez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Real improvement from Daniel Theiner at Siracusa

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Daniel Theiner is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Match

The goals have deserted Siracusa

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Siracusa can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

No hiding place for Maiko Candiano

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maiko Candiano, and the manager let it.

Match

Casarano take the points off Siracusa

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

10 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Siracusa

6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Martín Suárez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Alioune Sylla is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Boardroom

Wages eat 138% of everything Siracusa earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nicola Valente

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Emerson Catarina falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

Siracusa and Nicola Valente are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

Match

Siracusa draw a blank against Audace Cerignola

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Audace Cerignola defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

Market

The Gianluca Contini question follows Siracusa around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gianluca Contini’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

9 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Siracusa out of the cup

Cosenza ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Squad

Alessandro Farroni keeps Siracusa in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

5 matches without a win for Siracusa

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Siracusa are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Real improvement from Bryan Bonucci at Siracusa

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Bryan Bonucci is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Nicola Valente in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Martín Suárez gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

8 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Nicola Valente was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

No hiding place for Christian Bonacchi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christian Bonacchi, and the manager let it.

Squad

Emerson Catarina still has not settled

A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Siracusa would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.

In brief

7 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Martín Suárez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Gianluca Contini gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Words at Siracusa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emerson Catarina is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Giulio Frisenna dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Match

Siracusa and Foggia cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Foggia came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Player ratings

Nicola Valente runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

6 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Alessandro Farroni keeps Siracusa in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Martín Suárez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Gianni Manfrin

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gianni Manfrin, and the manager let it.

Squad

6 new faces, and Siracusa are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Match

Gianluca Contini rescues a point for Siracusa

It needed Gianluca Contini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Trapani, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Market

The Gianluca Contini question follows Siracusa around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gianluca Contini’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

5 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Federico Pacciardi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Siracusa and Casertana take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

Giulio Frisenna dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

4 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Alioune Sylla hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Siracusa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Nicola Valente was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Siracusa

3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.

Market

One of our own: Valerio Fabbri joins the Siracusa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Valerio Fabbri is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

One of our own: Valerio Bertolini joins the Siracusa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Valerio Bertolini is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

One of our own: Ignazio Colombo joins the Siracusa first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ignazio Colombo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

In brief

3 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Nicola Valente in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

This league is too small for Gianni Manfrin

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Siracusa will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

Market

Gianni Manfrin brings the grey hairs Siracusa lacked

At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.

In brief

2 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Simone Iob signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Simone Iob commits to Siracusa for another 4 years.

Squad

Nicola Valente in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siracusa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Simone Iob gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

Still no ink between Siracusa and Carmelo Limonelli

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Siracusa, another week without a signature from Carmelo Limonelli.

Market

The clock runs on Filippo Damian's contract

36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.

Market

No place for Alioune Sylla in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alioune Sylla has his answer from Siracusa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

1 Edition

The Siracusa Courier

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Nicola Valente has been here 8 seasons

419 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.

Squad

Maiko Candiano stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Maiko Candiano and Siracusa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Siracusa

Nicola Valente was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

In brief