US Avellino’s Promotions Keep Aligning with Papal Deaths—Coincidence or Curse?

Italian football club US Avellino has once again captured global attention—not solely for its triumph on the pitch, but for a bizarre coincidence that has spanned decades.

On April 21, 2025, Pope Francis passed away at age 88, just two days after US Avellino clinched promotion to Serie B with a 2–1 win over Sorrento Calcio 1945, topping Serie C Group C with 72 points.

The club’s dramatic rise came after a hard-fought season and was celebrated across the city of Avellino—but the timing quickly stirred conversation far beyond Italy.

Why? Because this marks the sixth time the club’s promotion has eerily coincided with the death or resignation of a Pope.

The pattern, now legendary among die-hard fans and football folklorists, began with Pope Pius XII in 1958.

It was followed by:

• Pope John XXIII in 1963

• Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul I in the dual tragedies of 1978

• Pope John Paul II in 2005

• Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation in 2013

With Pope Francis now added to this mysterious list, many online have joked that “whenever Avellino rises, the Vatican mourns.”

Avellino locals speak about it in hushed tones—not out of fear, but reverence. “It’s superstition, sure,” says lifelong fan Marco Romano, “but here in Campania, football and faith are almost one and the same.”

Despite the pattern being statistically explainable as mere coincidence, it has fueled myths around the club—ranging from divine intervention to the tongue-in-cheek theory that the Stadio Partenio-Lombardi holds a mysterious energy linked to the Holy See.

For now, US Avellino will prepare for a tough season ahead in Serie B, but their recent promotion has already secured a spot in football’s strangest legend books.