Passamonte and AP Messina, the club AS Messina subsequently emerged as a post-war representative of Messina. This was not a clean cut merger. Some players and officials formed the rival club Giostra Messina. Both Giostra and AS Messina reached the finals of the Southern League but eventually finished fourth and fifth respectively. A.C. Riunite Messina In 1947, the two teams AS Messina and Giostra Messina were united as one merged club Associazioni Calcio Riunite Messina, abbreviated as AC Riunite Messina. The 1950s for Messina began in glorious fashion, they were crowned champions of Serie C under the management of Yugoslav manager Mihalj Balačić. Messina did not falter in Serie B. During their first season in the league they avoided relegation. Giuseppe Melazzo and the Comitato Reggenza owned the club during this new period of relative success. During the following season, Messina finished in third place. Throughout the rest of the 1950s, Messina remained in the division as a whole finishing in a respectable position. Goffredo Muglia took over as president in 1958, to begin a brand new era for the club. For the first time in their history, Messina were crowned champions of Serie B during the 1962–63 season. The race for the championship was a very close one and went down to the last day of the season, with Messina finishing above Bari and Lazio. For their first ever season in Serie A, the football squad for Messina included; Morelli, Brambilla, Stucchi, Pagani, Dotti, Peruvian Benitez, Ghelfi, Fascetti, Morbello, Canuti and Clerici. Messina's first game in Serie A took place on 15 September 1963. It ended in a 3–1 defeat against Sampdoria at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. As a whole, the first part of the season was not a success. They won only two games, but they managed to turn it around in the second half of the season with 7 wins, beating Juventus (1–0), Fiorentina (1–0) and Sampdoria (4–3). The surge of wins in the latter part of the season helped them stay up, finishing 14th. The next season for the club in Serie A would not be so fortunate. They were relegated in 17th place. Some notable high points of the season included a 1–0 victory over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. A team from Rome would also be the opposition for Messina's other most impressive result of the season. They stunned Lazio, beating them, 4–0, on the