Brescia’s deplorable demise reached a new low at the weekend, when the city council had to summon a locksmith to prise open the gates of the Stadio Mario Rigamonti after Massimo Cellino refused to hand back the keys following the club’s collapse.

“This isn’t an act of force, but of justice,” said sports councillor Alessandro Cantoni after the padlock was severed. “He [Cellino] wiped out 114 years of history and no longer has a team. Let’s turn the page.”

The bizarre coda in the Rondinelle’s demise came two days after the club had its licence formally revoked by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), meaning they will not be allowed to compete in Serie C and have for all intents and purposes ceased to exist.

In a lengthy statement, the FIGC indicated Brescia had unpaid debts to the league, as well as their players and coaching staff. It also noted Cellino “failed to satisfy all the conditions and prerequisites for being granted the licence” to enrol Brescia in Serie C.

There is quiet optimism, however, that they could reform under a new entity, before eventually reappropriating their own history in the not-too-distant future. Parma, Fiorentina, Napoli and Torino are just some of the Italian clubs to have walked down one of calcio‘s most trodden paths.

Giuseppe Pasini appears to be Brescia’s best bet. The president of the Lombardy branch of Confindustria – the General Confederation of Italian Industry – Pasini is also the owner of Serie C club FeralpiSalo, who are based in Salo, 20 miles west of Brescia on the shores of Lake Garda.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Pasini is ready to move the team to Brescia and change their name, in order to keep Brescia in professional football.

Brescia is the preferred option for the name as it would signal continuity with the club’s history and tradition, but it would need to be combined with an acronym (such as AC for Associazione Calcio, or FBC for Football Club).

The proposed move is also backed by A2A, a multi-utility controlled by the municipalities of Brescia and Milan, which has already indicated it will participate in the new project, likely through sponsorship.

Pasini is also trying to involve other local industrialists to build a strong club capable of bringing the city’s team back to the top tiers of football.

As per the Giornale di Brescia, he has officially started the process to submit a letter of interest, aiming to get authorisation from the FIGC to play home games at the Rigamonti – which the Municipality will manage for summer maintenance.

The team would play under a new name, still being decided. The necessary documents, including an official club resolution, must be submitted by July 12 with the final deadline to request changes to championship registration applications falling three days later.

Were Pasini’s proposal to be accepted, it could receive the green light on July 17, an already hugely significant date in Brescia’s history as the now-defunct club was originally founded on that day in 1911 as Football Club Brescia following the merger of Victoria, Unione Sportiva Bresciana and Gimnasium.

Between historical suggestions and corporate strategies, the idea is to connect with Brescia Calcio’s glorious past as Pasini aims to recover the club’s historic brand as well.

Even by calcio‘s standards, the turmoil Brescia have found themselves in over the past six weeks defies belief. In May, they secured their Serie B status for another season after finishing the season in 15th place.

Two weeks later they were relegated to Serie C after a points deduction having been found guilty of financial irregularities by the Federal National Tribunal of the FIGC.

Covisoc – Italian football’s supervisory body – began an investigation following the conclusion of the Serie B season over an irregularity in their payment of salaries and tax contributions in February and April.

As a result of the probe, Brescia were hit with an eight-point penalty, four of which were deducted from this season’s tally and four of which were to be deducted next term.

The points deduction meant Frosinone were now safe, while Salernitana and Sampdoria met in the relegation play-out, with the Blucerchiati eventually securing survival a month after being initially relegated.

Cellino, who was handed a six-month ban along with his son and board member Edoardo, claimed foul play.

“I was defrauded,” the former Leeds United owner told La Gazzetta dello Sport after the verdict was delivered. “They defrauded me, Covisoc, and the tax authorities. They defrauded everyone; we are all victims, and I am devastatingly sorry.

“I would have preferred to die under a car than suffer something like this.”

Brescia had initially planned to appeal the decision, but soon Cellino had bigger issues to contend with once it emerged he would have had to pay around €3m (£2.5m) to register the club ahead of next season.

This included a month’s salaries, a month’s worth of social security contributions, and two months of income tax totaling almost €2.5m. Additionally, he would have had to pay approximately €400,000 as the first installment of the payment plan – agreed upon but not yet signed – for €2.4m in arrears with Italy’s tax authorities.

But as the deadline came and went, it soon became apparent Cellino had no intention of meeting it and effectively condemned the club to its fate.

Since arriving in Brescia eight years ago, the former Cagliari owner has long been persona non grata with fans growing tired of broken promises and a perceived lack of ambition. The ante was upped this season, with Cellino repeatedly coming under fire.

In November, Brescia ultras broke into the Stadio Mario Rigamonti and spray-painted graffiti on the walls, expressing their fury with the owner.

The parallels with Cellino’s tumultuous spell at Leeds are all too obvious. His three-year tenure at Elland Road was marred by legal disputes, tax evasion charges and an 18-month ban from English football for breaching player-agent regulations.

Now, at last, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for Brescia. For starters, the locks have been changed.