Fossombrone

F.C. Fossombrone (formerly F.C. Bikkembergs Fossombrone) is an Italian association football located in Fossombrone, Marche. The small club was made popular after it was acquired by Belgian fashion designer Dirk Bikkembergs. The club was founded on 16 June 1949 by a group of local sportsmen in the town of Fossombrone as Polisportiva Forsempronese. Since then, the club spent all of its history playing at the amateur level, arriving up to Eccellenza. In 2005, Dirk Bikkembergs decided to acquire the club and started a huge rebranding, also renaming it F.C. Bikkembergs Fossombrone, with the aim to use the team as a laboratory for styling and fabric technology, in order to make all of his designs tested and promoted directly by football players. In 2006–07 season, under head coach Gabriele Morganti, with former managerial experiences also at professional level, new players were attracted, the club directly decided to target promotion to Serie D. The club reached the regional semi-final in the Coppa Italia Dilettanti, being stopped by Piano San Lazzaro before they might claim a spot for the final, while in the league they missed promotion only by one point of the leader, being defeated in the national playoff finals by Torgiano of Umbria. The following season did not change that much, as Fossombrone, under a new head coach, ended again in second place, missing promotion for a second consecutive time. However, promotion to Serie D finally arrived in 2008–09, with Fossombrone being crowned Eccellenza Marche winners. At the end of the 2009-10 Serie D season Bikkember.gs decided to sell the club. In the season 2010–11, from Serie D group F relegated to Eccellenza Marche, also due to the strong downgrading now by neglect of Bikkembergs.