Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its history. As of the 2019–20 season, it plays in Serie C, the third tier of Italian football. History From the foundation to Serie A The club was founded in 1918 as merger of local teams "Ponziana" and "Foot-Ball Club Trieste". The club reached Seconda Divisione (now known as Serie B) in 1924. The club successively featured in the first-ever Serie A season in 1929, and played consecutively to the Italian top flight until 1956. During those successful times, the team also featured the likes of local Trieste native Nereo Rocco, who played as winger for Triestina from 1930 to 1937, becoming also the first player from the team to become part of the Azzurri squad (in 1934). Successively, Rocco returned to Triestina as a head coach in 1947, and completed the 1947–48 as Serie A runners-up, only behind Torino; this is still, as of today, the best result in history for the Trieste-based club. Rocco then left in 1950 to be replaced by Hungarian coach Béla Guttman, who managed to save the club from relegation only in the final matchday. Another struggling season followed in 1951–52, with Triestina escaping relegation only after winning playoffs against Lucchese and Brescia. During the 1952–53 season, Cesare Maldini made his Serie A debut as a Triestina jersey. In 1953 Rocco returned to Triestina, but was sacked after 21 matchdays due to poor results. Three more mid-table seasons followed before Triestina suffered its first relegation in 1957. Successively, Triestina returned to Serie A in 1958, but were relegated in their first comeback season, which is also their last top flight campaign to date. The club were successively relegated to Serie C in 1961 once, in 1965 twice, and even Serie D in 1971, forcing the alabardati to a local derby with "Ponziana" in 1975. The club returned to Serie C in 1976, and was admitted to Serie C1 in 1978, and finally returned to Serie B in 1983, missing promotion to the top flight for a few seasons before being relegated in 1988. Triestina also played in second level between 1962–1965 and 1989–1991. The first refoundation in 1994 In 1994, the team was forced to fold, because of financial insolvency, and was