Pisa Sporting Club was founded in 1909 in Pisa, Tuscany, a city renowned worldwide for its Leaning Tower and medieval maritime heritage. The club's history is one of dramatic rises, painful falls, and stubborn revival — a cycle that has come to define its identity as much as the black-and-blue stripes of its nerazzurri kit.
The club's most celebrated era came in the 1980s under the presidency of Romeo Anconetani, a figure so beloved that the home ground, Arena Garibaldi, now bears his name. During that decade Pisa competed in Serie A for the majority of seasons, reaching a peak with Danish winger Klaus Berggreen and later fielding future stars such as Diego Simeone, Henrik Larsen, and Michele Padovano. The club also won the Mitropa Cup twice, in 1986 and 1988, its most significant international honours. A brief spell at the top of the Serie A table in 1990-91 hinted at something bigger, but relegation followed and financial pressures began a long decline.
By 1994 the club had collapsed into administration and been refounded in the regional divisions; it was excluded again entirely in 2009 and re-established from scratch as A.C. Pisa 1909, restarting in Serie D. Successive promotions over the following decade slowly rebuilt the club's standing, with a return to Serie B confirmed in 2019 and a change back to the Pisa Sporting Club name in 2021.
In the 2024-25 season, under coach Filippo Inzaghi, Pisa finished as Serie B runners-up and secured promotion to Serie A for the first time in 34 years. The club's fierce local rivalry with Livorno, and the devotion of a fan base that maintained strong attendances even through the lower-division years, remain central to Pisa's identity.