A brief history of US Lecce
On March 15, 1908, Sporting Club Lecce was founded, active in athletics, cycling, and football. The club's first president, during that year, was Francesco Marangi. The club participated mainly at regional events and lasted until 1923 when all activity was stopped.
The fascist regime wanted to reform and reorganise Italian football, reducing the number of teams, merging them together to form stronger ones. They accomplished this through a document, the Viareggio Charter. One issue which the Viareggio Charter also took care of was the fact that a) there was the need to have stronger Central South clubs in a League where the Northern clubs dominated and b) the need to merge clubs in financial difficulty to make them more solid and with a multi-sport outreach, thus embracing the fascist values.
As a consequence on September 16, 1927, US Lecce was founded from the merger of FBC Juventus and Gladiator with Luigi Lopez y Rojo as its first president, taking the heritage from Sporting Club. The new club initially adopted black and white as its colours, which gave way to yellow and red in 1929, when they earned promotion to Serie B for the first time in their history. The symbol is a she-wolf under a holm oak tree, which is the emblem of the city of Lecce.
It achieved its first historic promotion to Serie A in 1985 under the guidance of manager Eugenio Fascetti. During this golden era, the team featured legendary world-class Uruguayan players like Waldemar Victorino and Pedro Pasculli, the latter becoming a fan idol and a World Cup champion while playing for the Salento club.
One of the highlights of the club, at least from a Lazio fan point of view, must be considered the historic win against Roma, on April 20, 1986. The giallorossi supporters were already celebrating, convinced that Roma would make short work of Lecce, who had already been relegated and had lost 13 of their previous 14 away games, drawing the other.
Roma took the lead after only a few minutes and everything seemed to be going according to plan. But Lecce fought back, equalised and then scored twice more. Roma lost 3-2 and lost the scudetto.
Over the years, Lecce earned the nickname "I Giallorossi" (The Yellow and Reds) and became famous for being a "yo-yo club," frequently bouncing between Serie A and Serie B. Despite these fluctuations, the club gained a reputation for discovering incredible young talents and launching them into stardom. World-renowned players such as Valeri Bojinov, Mirko Vučinić, Javier Chevantón, and Luis Muriel all made their names brilliant while wearing the Lecce jersey.
Top Lecce appearances all time
Michele Lorusso 418
Carmelo Miceli 331
Guillermo Giacomazzi 330
Ruggiero Cannito 280
Pedro Pablo Pasculli 249
Top five scorers
Anselmo Bislenghi 87
Franco Cardinali 67
Pietro De Santis 57
Javier Chevantón 59
Pedro Pablo Pasculli 61
The 10 greatest Lecce players of all time
1. Javier Chevantón Forward – Lecce 2001-2004; 2010-2011; 2012-2013
2. Pedro Pablo Pasculli Forward – Lecce 1985-1992
3. Mirko Vučinić Forward – Lecce 2000-2006
4. Guillermo Giacomazzi Midfielder – Lecce 2001-2013
5. Luis Muriel Forward/attacking midfielder – Lecce 2011-2012
6. Juan Cuadrado Winger/wing-back/full back – Lecce 2011-2012
7. Valeri Bojinov Striker – Lecce 2002-2005; 2012
8. Cristiano Lucarelli Forward – Lecce 1999-2001
9. Antonio Conte Midfielder – Lecce 1985-1991
10. Fabrizio Miccoli Forward – Lecce 2013-2015
Lazio-Lecce connections
There are quite a few who have played for both Lazio and Lecce, namely:
Christian Ledesma: Lecce 2001-2006, Lazio 2006-2015; Massimo Oddo: Lazio 2002-2007, Lecce 2011-2012; Sebastiano Siviglia: Lecce 2003-2004, Lazio 2004-2010; Guglielmo Stendardo: Lazio 2005-2008, Lecce 2008-2009, and Lazio again 2009-2012.
But the connections do not end with the players, even among the managers there are some famous figures who coached both clubs, such as Pietro Piselli: Lazio 1929-1930, Lecce 1930-1931; Cesare Migliorini: Lazio 1930-1931, Lecce 1949-1950; Eugenio Fascetti: Lecce 1983-1986, Lazio 1986-1988; Zdenek Zeman: Lazio 1994-1997, Lecce 2004-2005 e 2006; Giuseppe Papadopulo: Lazio 2004-2005, Lecce 2006-2008; Delio Rossi: Lecce 2002-2004, Lazio 2005-2009; Edy Reja: Lecce 1994-1995, Lazio 2010-2012 e 2014; Marco Baroni: Lecce 2021-2023, Lazio 2024-2025.
The Stadium
Lecce Stadium is the Via del Mare, officially inaugurated in 1966 to replace the old Stadio Carlo Pranzo, making its debut with a friendly match between Lecce and Spartak Moscow. Located near the coast, from which it takes its name, the stadium underwent a major renovation in 1985 following Lecce's historic first promotion to Serie A.
In 1987, the Via del Mare stadium hosted two official Milan matches, coached by Arrigo Sacchi, both with a sell-out crowd. The first was on September 30th against Sporting Gijón for the return leg of the UEFA Cup round of 64 (which ended 3-0 for the Rossoneri), and the second was on October 21st against Espanyol for the first leg of the round of 32 in the same tournament (a 2-0 win for the Spanish side). The matches were played in Lecce due to the unavailability of San Siro, which had been banned by UEFA following the crowd trouble during the match Milan-Waregem (1-2), the return leg of the 1985-1986 UEFA Cup round of 16.
On March 1st, 1988, the stadium in Lecce also hosted the quarter-final of the 1987-1988 European Cup Winners' Cup between Rovaniemi and Olympique Marseille. This time, the Finnish team's choice was due to the impossibility of playing in March in the freezing climate of the Arctic Circle.
Head to head with Lazio
Lazio have played Lecce a total of 49 times, 38 in Serie A, 10 in Serie B and once in Coppa Italia.
First game: November 23, 1980, Lazio Lecce 2-2
First Lazio home win: October 18, 1981, Lazio Lecce 4-0
First Lazio away win: December 19, 1993, Lecce Lazio 1-2
Total Lazio wins: 23 (15 home, 8 away)
Total draws: 13 (8 home, 5 away)
Total Lecce wins: 13 (2 home, 11 away)
Best win: Lazio 4-0, October 18, 1981 and January 11, 1998
Match with greater number of goals: 8 (Lecce Lazio 5-3, May 1, 2005)
Worst defeat: May 1, 2005, Lecce Lazio 5-3, and twice 2-0 (January 11, 1987 and November 1, 1987)
Last game played: January 24, 2026, Lazio Lecce 0-0
Last Lazio win away: December 21, 2024, Lecce Lazio 1-2
Last Lazio win home: November 23, 2025, Lazio Lecce 2-0
Sources
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