Pisa Sporting Club

Pisa Sporting Club. What a badge. No hiding from it. Does exactly what you would expect of it – so let’s dig a bit deeper and see if there is anything else hiding behind this other than that tower slightly on ‘the huh’ - as they'd say in my home county.

Founded in 1909, Pisa became known as I Nerazzurri — “The Black and Blues” — because of their famous dark blue and black colours. They are also nicknamed I Torri — “The Towers” — for obvious reasons.

The club have experienced dramatic highs and lows. Pisa won the Mitropa Cup twice during the 1980s under the charismatic ownership of Romeo Anconetani and spent periods competing in Serie A before suffering financial collapse and refoundation. Yet like the city itself, Pisa has repeatedly rebuilt. Their recent return to Serie A after 34 years feels fitting for a place deeply familiar with lost greatness and revival.

So. Pisa. City on the west coast of Italy - for centuries it was famous not for that wonky tower – but being the centre of a rich, feared and powerful maritime empire. A seaborne trading power competing fiercely with Venice and Genoa for wealth, trade routes and influence.

Its football badge still carries the symbols of that forgotten empire. Their badge contains two instantly recognisable symbols.

The first is the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, originally constructed in the twelfth century as the bell tower for Pisa Cathedral. Built on unstable ground, it began leaning almost immediately – and instantly became famous around Europe.

But the second symbol on the badge is arguably even more important historically: the white cross on a red background.

This is the Pisan Cross, taken from the flag of the medieval Republic of Pisa. Unlike the plain Saint George’s Cross associated with England and Genoa, the Pisan version has rounded blobby bits on the end of each arm. During the Middle Ages it appeared on the sails, forts and banners of Pisa’s fleets, ports and forts.

Like Venice and Genoa, Pisa was governed not by kings but by wealthy merchant families, councils and elected officials. These maritime republics consciously looked back toward Roman Republic ideals of civic government, trade, law and urban power.

The maritime empire of Pisa stretched across much of the western Mediterranean during the Middle Ages, with influence over Sardinia, Corsica, parts of the Balearic Islands and trading ports in North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Pisan merchants and fleets were especially active in Crusader cities like Acre and in major trade hubs such as Constantinople. They traded goods such as grain, timber, iron, wool and Tuscan cloth in exchange for spices, silks, precious metals and luxury goods from the Islamic world and Asia.

The city’s fleets participated in the First Crusade and later campaigns, transporting soldiers, pilgrims and supplies across the Mediterranean. But for Pisa, crusading was also business.

Every victory opened up new ports, trading privileges and access to the rich markets of the Middle East and North Africa. At its peak, Pisa stood alongside Venice, Genoa and Amalfi (just the other side of Naples) as one of the four great maritime republics of Italy.

The rivalry with Genoa would eventually prove fatal. In 1284, Pisa suffered a devastating defeat at the Battle of Meloria. Much of the Pisan fleet was destroyed and thousands of sailors were captured. The city never truly recovered its maritime dominance. Although I have to say the illustration of the battle looks incredible. Two groups of guys in bath tubs just hacking at each other with swords as they bob up and down next to each other - while one feller blows a horn - which I imagine was quite off-putting. Brutal stuff.

Pisa however remained culturally important long after its political decline. The University of Pisa became one of Italy’s major centres of learning, most famously associated with Galileo Galilei. According to tradition, Galileo even carried out gravity experiments from the Leaning Tower itself.

Like many Italian cities, Pisa became shaped by Renaissance ideas: classical learning, mathematics, engineering, scientific enquiry, humanism.

Pisa Sporting Club ‘s badge tells an incredible story, from whatever angle you look at it.