A.S. Varese 1910

Varese

Full name	Associazione Sportiva Varese 1910 SRL
Nickname(s)	Leopardi (The Leopards)
Founded	22 March 1910 (1910-03-22)
Ground	Stadio Franco Ossola, Masnago, Varese, Italy
Ground Capacity	8,213[1]
Chairman	Nicola Laurenza
Manager	Davide Dionigi
League	Serie B
2013–14	Serie B, 18th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

A.S. Varese 1910 is an Italian football club from Varese, founded 22 March 1910. It currently plays in Serie B.

History

The club was formed on March 22, 1910 as Varese Football Club, with the goal of promoting football and other open air games. All members, both players and management, paid dues of 1 Lira every month. The club's colours were white and purple and the local market place doubled as the club's first ground. A rope fenced off the pitch from the public, and dressing rooms were improvised in an alley restaurant.

The club played numerous friendly matches before joining any sort of league or organised competition. Early opponents included the "Aurora" of Busto Arsizio, the "Libertas" of Gallarate, the Luino, the Unione Sportiva Milanese, the Ausonia, and the great Inter. The club took the first steps on the Italian league ladder by entering the Lega Regionale Lombarda in 1914, and the first official championship saw the Varesini playing in their original colours of purple and white silk. The club's American goalkeeper, Sormani, distinguished himself in this first official season as one of Varese's star players.

In May 1915 the war interrupted the season, but by 1919, World War I had ended and life returned to its regular rhythm with a resurgence of interest in football and other recreational activities.

In 1926–27, the club's colours became white and red ("bianco-rosso"), to match the colours of the city. In the quarter of Masnago, a stadium named Stadio del Littorio was constructed. It was renamed in September 1950 to Stadio Franco Ossola, in honour of a player who had transferred from Varese to Torino Calcio and died in the in 1949 Superga air disaster.

Varese, a town not far from Milan, is highly regarded by various athletes who dress "bianco-rosso" (white-red) thanks to Military Territorial Compartments (between the most known players Giuseppe Meazza).

In 1964, with the entrepreneur Giovanni Borghi as president, the Varese achieved a place in Serie A after two consecutive promotions from the Serie C. Among the notable players who have worn the white and red shirt are Pietro Anastasi, Roberto Bettega, and the World Cup winners Claudio Gentile, Giampiero Marini and Riccardo Sogliano. After a decade in the top-flight, the golden era of Varese ended with relegation in 1975.

Since further relegation in 1985, the club had not succeeded in returning to Serie B: 10 of the next 20 seasons were spent in C2, where the club were readmitted after promotion from Campionato Nazionale Dilettanti in 1994.

The club returned to the C1 Series within four years thanks to the work of general manager Stefano Capozucca, brought to Varese by the entrepreneur Claudio Milanese, who was then co-owner of the club with the President, Paolo Binda, and other lesser associates.

In 2001, after financial conflicts between entrepreneur Gianvittorio Gandolfi and sponsors SiViaggi and Cit, the Turri family arrived at the club, bringing a series of innovations but also of problems and unkept promises. In the summer of 2004, under the Turri-Tacconi co-presidency, came economic financial ruin that made the club sink to its lowest ebb.

In July 2004, the bankrupt Varese Football Club was reformed under a new board, and called A.S. Varese 1910. The club was forced to start afresh in the Eccellenza league. The Sogliano family took control of the team, with Riccardo Sogliano assuming overall control. The former player of Varese and A.C. Milan, has experience controlling clubs in Serie A; Parma F.C. and the Genoa C.F.C..

In its first season the new board suffered from delay and inexperience, and promotion to Serie D was missed narrowly due to points dropped early on in the season to the club's eventual title-rivals. Club President Peo Maroso and general manager Luca Sogliano, son of Riccardo and also a former player, decided to instate a new first-team coach from within. Devis Mangia, at just 32 years of age, is the youngest head coach of the division and, probably, the entire league.

The club has also had problems with its supporters (in particular a supporters group named "Blood and Honour") who treated black players badly. It happened in spring of 2002 with French players, Mohamed Benhassen, Samir Benhassen and the Cameroonian goalkeeper, Andrè Joel Eboué. They are at the stadium every weekend and often fight with rival supporters.

In season 2005/2006, Varese won the Serie D/A league, thus gaining promotion to Serie C2, three matches before the end of the season.

In season 2008/2009, they won Lega Pro Seconda Divisione, and were promoted to Lega Pro Prima Divisione, the third level of Italian football system. Varese finished second in Girone (Group) A of League Pro Prima Divisione and qualified for promotion play-offs at next season. Varese defeated Benevento in semi-final and Cremonese in final and returned to Serie B after 25 years of absence with making second consecutive promotion.^[2]

At the end of season 2011/12, A.S. Varese achieved fifth place in Serie B, qualifying for the play-offs for promotion into Serie A.^[3] Drawn against Hellas Verona they won 3–1 on aggregate to qualify for the two-legged final against Sampdoria. Although a narrow 3–2 defeat in the initial leg in Genoa held the promise to be a useful result for Varese, their rivals scored the only goal in the home leg, giving Sampdoria a 4–2 aggregate victory and denying Varese the promotion.^[4]

Players

Current squad

As of 13 January 2015.^[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Filippo Perucchini (on loan from Lecce) 2 DF Francesco Luoni 3 DF Andrea De Vito 4 DF Niccolò Dondoni 5 DF Martino Borghese (on loan from Spezia) 6 MF Manuele Blasi 7 MF Luigi Falcone 8 MF Daniele Corti 9 FW Luca Miracoli 10 FW Neto Pereira (captain) 11 MF Ignacio Lores (on loan from Palermo) 12 GK Cosimo La Gorga 13 DF Riccardo Fiamozzi 14 DF Marco Rossi (on loan from Parma)

No. Position Player 15 MF Wilfred Osuji (on loan from Modena) 19 DF Angelo Rea 20 FW Luca Forte 21 MF Andrea Barberis 22 GK Mark Birighitti (on loan from Newcastle Jets) 23 MF Andrea Cristiano 24 MF Giampietro Zecchin 25 DF Stefan Šimić (on loan from Milan) 26 DF Roger Rojas 27 DF Yassine Jebbour (on loan from Montpellier) 28 MF Leonardo Capezzi (on loan from Fiorentina) 30 MF Antonini Culina (on loan from Rijeka) 32 MF Nikola Jakimovski FW Mensur Kurtiši

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 11 MF Nunzio Di Roberto (at Pro Vercelli) 16 DF Alessio Cristiano Rossi (at Ascoli) 18 MF Luca Tremolada (at Reggiana) 23 FW Matteo Momenté (at AlbinoLeffe)

No. Position Player 26 MF Loris Damonte (at Messina) GK Emanuele Di Graci (at Piacenza) DF Andrea Azzolin (at Delta Porto Tolle)

Notable former players

This list of former players includes those who received international caps while playing for the team, made significant contributions to the team in terms of appearances or goals while playing for the team, or who made significant contributions to the sport either before they played for the team, or after they left. It is clearly not yet complete and all inclusive, and additions and refinements will continue to be made over time.

André-Joël Eboué Nestor Combin Horst Szymaniak Pietro Anastasi Federico Balzaretti Fabio Bazzani Roberto Bettega Roberto Boninsegna Egidio Calloni

Giorgio Dellagiovanna Antonio Di Natale Dario Dolci Claudio Gentile Benito Lorenzi Massimo Maccarone Giampiero Marini Alessandro Mazzola Giuseppe Meazza

Giorgio Morini Sergio Pellissier Gianluca Pessotto Armando Picchi Benito Sarti Giovanni Trapattoni Paolo Vanoli Jero Shakpoke Antonio Esposito

References

1. ↑ "Varese, Stabilita la capienza dello stadio: 8213 posti" (in Italian). La Provincia di Varese. 25 June 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
2. ↑ Gazzetta (14 June 2010). "Varese, la B 25 anni dopo, Anche il Pescara fa festa (Varese, Serie B after 25 years, Pescara celebrates too)". Gazzetta dello Sport. 
3. ↑ http://uk.soccerway.com/teams/italy/as-varese-1910
4. ↑ http://uk.soccerway.com/national/italy/serie-b/2011-2012/s6142/final-stages
5. ↑ "Squadra" [Team]. A.S. Varese 1910. 

External links

• Official homepage

Serie B 2014–15 clubs Avellino Bari Bologna Brescia Carpi Catania Cittadella Crotone Frosinone Latina Livorno Modena Perugia Pescara Pro Vercelli Spezia Ternana Trapani Varese Vicenza Virtus Entella Virtus Lanciano Former clubs Acireale Alba Trastevere AlbinoLeffe Alessandria Alzano Virescit Ancona Arezzo Arsenale Taranto Ascoli Picchio Atalanta Barletta Biellese Bolzano Brindisi Cagliari Campobasso Carrarese Casale Casertana Castel di Sangro Catanzaro Cavese Centese Cesena Chievo Como Cosenza Crema Cremonese Derthona Empoli Fanfulla Fermana Fidelis Andria Fiorentina Fiumana Foggia Forlì Gallaratese Gallipoli Genoa Grion Pola Grosseto Gubbio Juve Stabia Juventus L'Aquila Lazio Lecce Lecco Legnano Licata Liguria Lucchese Maceratese Magenta Mantova Marzotto Massese M.A.T.E.R. Matera Messina Mestre Milan Molinella Monfalcone Monza Napoli Nocerina Novara Padova Palermo Parma Pavia Piacenza Piombino Pisa Pistoiese Portogruaro Potenza Prato Pro Gorizia Pro Patria Pro Sesto Ravenna Reggiana Reggina Rieti Rimini Roma Salernitana Sambenedettese Sampdoria Sampierdarenese Sanremese Sassuolo Savoia Savona Scafatese Seregno Sestrese Siena Siracusa Sorrento SPAL Suzzara Taranto Torino Trani Treviso Triestina Udinese Venezia Verona Viareggio Vigevano Vita Nova Vogherese Statistics Records

Serie B seasons Serie B seasons 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 1945–46 postwar season† Serie B-C in Northern Italy Serie A-B in Southern Italy †Championships recognized as official by the Italian Football Federation

Football in Italy Overview National association League system List of clubs List of venues Records Scudetto Capocannoniere International Italy Under-21 Under-20 Under-19 Under-18 Under-17 Under-16 Under-15 Italy women Leagues Lega Serie A Lega Serie B Lega Pro Lega Nazionale Dilettanti Lega Calcio (defunct) League competitions Serie A Serie B Lega Pro Serie D Eccellenza Promozione Prima Categoria Seconda Categoria Terza Categoria Lega Pro Prima Divisione (defunct) Lega Pro Seconda Divisione (defunct) Cup competitions Coppa Italia Supercoppa Italiana Coppa Italia Lega Pro Supercoppa di Lega di Prima Divisione Supercoppa di Lega di Seconda Divisione Coppa Italia Serie D Coppa Italia Dilettanti Youth competitions Campionato Nazionale Primavera Coppa Italia Primavera Supercoppa Primavera Torneo di Viareggio Campionato Nazionale Dante Berretti Women's competitions Serie A Coppa Italia Awards Oscar del Calcio AIC Italian Football Hall of Fame Miscellaneous Totonero 1980 Totonero 1986 2004–10 Italian football scandal 2006 Italian football scandal 2011–12 Italian football scandal Foreign Serie A players Foreign Serie B players Seasons 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15