# 1978–79 US Catanzaro season

The 1978–79 season was Unione Sportiva Catanzaro's 47th season in existence and the club's first season returning to the Serie A after spending the previous season in Serie B. It was the club's third season overall in the Serie A. In addition to the domestic league, Catanzaro also participated in this season's edition of the Coppa Italia. Catanzaro finished 9th in the domestic league were semi-finalists in the Coppa Italia. Massimo Palanca was the Coppa Italia capocannonieri (top goalscorer) with 8 goals.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ITA | Ruggero Casari |
| — | GK | ITA | Massimo Mattolini |
| — | DF | ITA | Giuliano Groppi |
| — | DF | ITA | Leonardo Menichini |
| — | DF | ITA | Claudio Ranieri |
| — | DF | ITA | Giuseppe Sabadini |
| — | DF | ITA | Maurizio Turone |
| — | DF | ITA | Manlio Zanini |
| — | MF | ITA | Adriano Banelli |
| — | MF | ITA | Maurizio Gaiardi |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ITA | Giovanni Improta |
| — | MF | ITA | Enrico Nicolini |
| — | MF | ITA | Angelo Orazi |
| — | MF | ITA | Maurizio Raise |
| — | FW | ITA | Piero Braglia |
| — | FW | ITA | Pietro Michesi |
| — | FW | ITA | Pieraldo Nemo |
| — | FW | ITA | Massimo Palanca |
| — | FW | ITA | Renzo Rossi |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Serie A | 1 October 1978 | 13 May 1979 | | 9th | 30 | 6 | 16 | 8 | 23 | 30 | −7 | 020.00 |
| Coppa Italia | 27 August 1978 | 31 May 1979 | Group | Semifinalist | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 38 | 10 | 19 | 9 | 35 | 41 | −6 | 026.32 |
Source: Competitions

### Serie A
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 7 | Fiorentina | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 32 |
| 8 | Lazio | 30 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 29 |
| 9 | Catanzaro | 30 | 6 | 16 | 8 | 23 | 30 | −7 | 28 |
| 10 | Ascoli | 30 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 26 | 31 | −5 | 26 |
| 11 | Avellino | 30 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 19 | 26 | −7 | 26 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 21 February 2023. Source: webalice.it
Note: Wins were only worth 2 points this season

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H |
| Result | D | L | D | D | W | D | D | D | D | W | D | L | L | D | L | W | W | L | D | W | D | D | D | D | L | D | D | L | L | W |
| Position | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |

#### Matches
### Coppa Italia
#### Group stage: Group 4
##### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Catanzaro | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 7 |
| 2 | Milan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 5 |
| 3 | SPAL | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Lecce | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 2 |
| 5 | Foggia | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 2 |

##### Group matches
#### Semifinals
## Squad statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Serie A | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Coppa Italia |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ITA | Ruggero Casari | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | GK | ITA | Massimo Mattolini | 38 | -41 | 30 | -30 | 8 | -11 |
| | DF | ITA | Giuliano Groppi | 32 | 2 | 24 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| | DF | ITA | Leonardo Menichini | 29 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ITA | Claudio Ranieri | 35 | 4 | 27 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| | DF | ITA | Giuseppe Sabadini | 33 | 1 | 27 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| | DF | ITA | Maurizio Turone | 24 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| | DF | ITA | Manlio Zanini | 31 | 2 | 26 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| | MF | ITA | Adriano Banelli | 19 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | MF | ITA | Maurizio Gaiardi | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | ITA | Giovanni Improta | 34 | 3 | 27 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| | MF | ITA | Enrico Nicolini | 34 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| | MF | ITA | Angelo Orazi | 36 | 3 | 28 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| | MF | ITA | Maurizio Raise | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ITA | Piero Braglia | 22 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ITA | Pietro Michesi | 27 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ITA | Pieraldo Nemo | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ITA | Massimo Palanca | 37 | 18 | 30 | 10 | 7 | 8 |
| | FW | ITA | Renzo Rossi | 30 | 4 | 23 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
* Source: http://calcio-seriea.net/presenze/1978/804/ and https://www.historical-lineups.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/1978-79.pdf