Bologna F.C. 1909

Bologna
Full name Bologna Football Club 1909 S.p.A.
Nickname(s) I Rossoblu (The Red-Blues);
I Felsinei (The Bolognese)
Petroniani;
I Veltri (The Greyhounds)
Founded 1909 (Bologna FC)
1993 (Bologna FC 1909)
Ground Stadio Renato Dall'Ara
Bologna, Italy
Capacity 38,279
President Joe Tacopina
Head Coach Diego López
League Serie B
2013–14 Serie A, 19th (relegated)
Website Club home page

Bologna Football Club 1909, known simply as Bologna, is an Italian football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, formed in 1909 (reformed in 1993). The club are nicknamed the rossoblu due to the red-and-blue striped shirts which they wear, which are also the official colours of the city.

Bologna were a founding member of Serie A in 1929. During its history, the club has won the Italian league championship seven times, making them the sixth most successful team in the history of the league.

History

Bologna Football Club's formation was orchestrated by Emilio Arnstein, an Austrian who became interested in football at university in Vienna and Prague. He and his brother had previously founded another football club, Black Star, in Austria.

The club was founded on 3 October 1909, in the Northern Italian city of Bologna. Upon its formation, Carlo Sandoni was the clubs sponsor and general manager, Swiss Louis Rauch became president, nobleman Guido Della Valle was the vice-president, Enrico Penaglia secretary, Sergio Lampronti cashier, while Emilio Arnstein and Leone Vincenzi were appointed councilmen.

On 20 March 1910, Bologna played their first ever game, against Virtus, who wore white shirts. Bologna outclassed their opponents, winning 9–1. The first football squad featured; Koch, Chiara, Pessarelli, Bragaglia, Guido Della Valle, Nanni, Donati, Rauch, Bernabeu, Mezzano, and Gradi.

Their formative season was spent in the regional league under Arrigo Gradi as captain, Bologna won their league gaining promotion to a league named Group Veneto-Emiliano. They spent four seasons in this league, never finishing lower than fifth. Bologna were entered into the Northern League before all football leagues were postponed for World War I.

Champions: 1920s and 1930s

After the first war, Bologna began to become more successful. First reaching the semi-finals of the Northern Italian competition in 1919–20, they went one better the following season by reaching the Northern League finals, going out 2–1 to Pro Vercelli. They would equal this again in 1923–24, coming runner up to eventual national champions Genoa.

Bologna squad from the 1912 season.

Bologna became Northern and National League champions for the first time during 1924–25, beating Genoa CFC after five hard-fought final matches to take the championship. The finals against the Ligurian giants were marred by heavy crowd troubles. A few seasons later Bologna became champions of Italy for the second time in 1928–29 giving them a foothold in Italian football, building up a legacy, this was the last time the league was competed in the old system, Serie A was instated the following year.

The Scudetto was won by Bologna four more times before World War II, these were achieved in; 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39 and 1940–41.

Post-World War II

After World War II, the club was less successful. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the club generally floated between fourth, fifth and sixth position in the league, until they took the league title back in 1963–64. To date this remains their last Serie A championship, bringing the club's total to seven.

It was not all doom and gloom for the club, however; in the 1970s, they won the Italian Cup twice, the second of which was disputed against Palermo. The game was tense and finished 1–1 before going to a penalty shootout, where Bologna won 4–3.

Climbing down and back up the Leagues

Beginning in the 1981–82 season, the club began to slide. First, they were relegated from Serie A after battling it out for survival with Cagliari and Genoa. They were relegated twice in succession and slid into Serie C1. They won their way out of C1 the next year, and returned to Serie A for the 1988–89 season after four years of fighting it out in Serie B.

They did not remain long, however, being relegated in 1991 and returning to Serie C1 in 1993. The club returned to Serie A for 1996. Two years later, Bologna tasted a slice of success on the European stage, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup and playing in the UEFA Cup. The club remained in Serie A until the 2004–05 campaign, losing to Parma in the playoffs.

Serie B

Despite losing some key players, Bologna expected to be challenging strongly for promotion from Serie B in the 2005–06 campaign. Despite its ambition, however, Bologna had a poor start to the season, causing the sacking of experienced coach Renzo Ulivieri, replaced by former Internazionale defender Andrea Mandorlini.

During this time, the team was sold by Giuseppe Gazzoni Frascara to Alfredo Cazzola, a local entrepreneur. Mandorlini, however, was not either able to bring Bologna up the Serie B table, and was fired on 5 March 2006; Ulivieri was then appointed back as team coach, after having been sacked a few months before. Bologna ended the 2005–06 Serie B campaign in eighth place. In the 2006–07 season, Bologna ended with the seventh place: there were several clashes between chairman Cazzola and head coach Ulivieri, who was ultimately fired on 14 April 2007 and replaced by caretaker and former assistant coach Luca Cecconi. For the 2007–08 season, Bologna was led by Daniele Arrigoni, who helped the rossoblù achieve automatic promotion back to the top flight after finishing second in Serie B.

Serie A

During the summer of 2008, a club takeover was agreed between Cazzola and an American-based consortium; this was, however, cancelled in the end, following disagreements between the parties, and the club was successively sold to a local group led by new chairman Francesca Menarini, who thus became the second female chairman in the whole Serie A. Arrigoni was confirmed as head coach by the new group, and the start appeared to be particularly impressive, with a surprising 2–1 win at San Siro against Milan thanks to a winning goal scored by Francesco Valiani. The next weeks saw Bologna struggling in the league, however, with eight losses in nine matches. A disappointing 5–1 loss to Cagliari ultimately led the club management to sack Daniele Arrigoni on 3 November 2008 and appoint Siniša Mihajlović as new rossoblù boss.[1]

On 14 April 2009, Giuseppe Papadopulo was appointed as the new manager, and successfully managed to raise the team spirit avoiding relegation to Serie B only in the last match of the season. In the 2009–10 season, Bologna played in Serie A for the 65th time, and escaped relegation again despite financial issues under new head coach Franco Colomba.

In June 2010, a club takeover was completed, with the club being sold by the Menarini family to Sardinian entrepreneur Sergio Porcedda. Franco Colomba was sacked right before the 2010–11 season opener on 29 August 2010, despite surviving relegation with the team in the 2009–10 season. The president of the club, Sergio Porcedda, said that the decision was made mostly "because he [Colomba] was skeptical of the team."[2]

Stadio Renato Dall'Ara seen from Curva Bulgarelli

The consortium "Bologna 2010"

On 23 December 2010, the consortium Bologna 2010 led by banker Giovanni Consorte and coffee businessman Massimo Zanetti acquired the club from Sergio Porcedda, after the latter failed to pay wages for the club during his short-tenured ownership and put Bologna in threat of bankruptcy. The company also owed agent fee to Leonardo Corsi in the Andrea Raggi's transfer.[3] Zanetti also became the new club chairman, with popular Italian musician and long-time Bologna supporter Gianni Morandi appointed as honorary president.[4][5]

On 21 January 2011, President Massimo Zanetti and CEO Luca Baraldi, after only 28 days, resigned because of irreconcilable differences with the other personal and financial partners. The new director general is Stefano Pedrelli. For 76 days, the president is Marco Pavignani.

Since 7 April 2011, after the resignation of Pavignani and having paid €2.5 millions of capital increase, the new president is Albano Guaraldi,[6] the second largest shareholder of the consortium "Bologna 2010" with the 17% of the quotas, behind the outgoing Zanetti.

The 2013–14 season saw Bologna once again relegated to the Serie B, and also gave light to a number of financial problems involving the club and its ownership of Albino Guaraldi, who was considerably criticized by the team supporters also for a number of controversial decisions, including the sale of star player Alessandro Diamanti to Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande. A new head coach was then found in former Cagliari boss Luis Diego López for the new season, whereas Guaraldi clearly stated his intention to hand over his Bologna stakes to a new owner. A North American group headed by Joe Tacopina, criminal defense attorney for American baseball star Alex Rodriguez, most notably involving Canadian businessman Joey Saputo (owner of Montreal Impact, also the team of former Bologna hero Marco Di Vaio) then stated its interest in acquiring the club; this was followed by another offer coming from former chairman Massimo Zanetti. On 15 October, the board of directors ratified the sale of the club to Tacopina, who became the new club president and chairman.

Stadium

The official stadium of Bologna is the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. Dall'Ara is the biggest sports building of Bologna and its name is taken from an ex-president of the club, Renato Dall'Ara, who died three days before the final for Serie A's Scudetto. Its capacity is 38,279. The curva Bulgarelli (in English, Bulgarelli curve), the curve of Bologna's ultras, is dedicated to player Giacomo Bulgarelli, who died on 21 February 2009.

Current squad

First team

As of 1 May, 2015.[7]

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

No. Position Player
1 Brazil GK Angelo
2 Greece DF Marios Oikonomou
3 Italy DF Archimede Morleo
4 Serbia DF Uroš Radaković
5 Brazil MF Matuzalém
6 Serbia MF Nenad Krstičić (on loan from Sampdoria)
7 Senegal DF Ibrahima Mbaye (on loan from Inter)
8 Austria DF György Garics
9 Italy FW Daniele Cacia
10 Italy FW Matteo Mancosu
11 Italy FW Gianluca Sansone (on loan from Sampdoria)
13 Uruguay DF Mathías Abero
14 Argentina MF Franco Zuculini
15 Uruguay MF Diego Pérez (captain)
No. Position Player
16 Italy MF Federico Casarini
18 Italy FW Robert Acquafresca
19 Italy MF Gennaro Troianiello (on loan from Palermo)
20 Italy DF Domenico Maietta
21 Italy MF Karim Laribi (on loan from Sassuolo)
23 Italy MF Daniel Bessa (on loan from Inter)
24 Italy DF Alex Ferrari
25 Italy DF Adam Masina
28 Italy DF Daniele Gastaldello
29 Austria MF Marcel Büchel (on loan from Juventus)
30 Italy DF Lorenzo Paramatti
32 Italy DF Luca Ceccarelli
33 Italy FW Riccardo Improta (on loan from Genoa)
35 Italy GK Ferdinando Coppola

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
12 Italy GK Matteo Malagoli (at Mantova)
22 Italy GK Filippo Lombardi (at Santarcangelo)
26 France MF Abdallah Yaisien (at Arezzo)
Austria GK Dejan Stojanović (at Crotone)
Italy DF Nicolò Cherubin (at Atalanta)
Italy DF Marco Maini (at Ancona)
Spain DF Rubén Palomeque (at Cremonese)
Italy DF Cesare Rickler (at Prato)
Netherlands MF Damjan Đoković (at Livorno)
No. Position Player
Italy MF Gianmarco Gerevini (at Ischia)
Italy MF Nicola Pescatore (at Sestri Levante)
Italy MF Andrea Pisanu (at Malta Sliema Wanderers)
Spain MF Martí Riverola (at Austria Rheindorf Altach)
Italy FW Riccardo Benatti (at Pordenone)
Italy FW Rolando Bianchi (at Atalanta)
Italy FW Daniele Paponi (at Ancona)
Italy FW Luca Veratti (at S.P.A.L.)

Presidential history

Bologna have had numerous presidents over the course of their history, some of which have been the owners of the club, others have been honorary presidents. Here is a complete list of Bologna presidents from 1909 until the present day.[8]

 
Name Years
Louis Rauch 1909–10
Pio Borghesani 1910
Emilio Arnstein 1910
Domenico Gori 1910–12
Rodolfo Minelli 1912–15
Arturo Gazzoni (Honorary president) 1916–18
Rodolfo Minelli 1918–19
Cesare Medica 1919–21
Angelo Sbarberi 1921–22
Antonio Turri 1922
Ruggero Murè (Honorary president) 1923
Enrico Masetti 1923–25
Paolo Graziani 1925–28
Gianni Bonaveri 1928–34
Renato Dall'Ara 1934–64
Luigi Goldoni 1964–68
  
Name Years
Raimondo Venturi 1968–70
Filippo Montanari 1970–72
Luciano Conti 1972–79
Tommaso Fabbretti 1979–83
Giuseppe Brizzi 1983–85
Luigi "Gino" Corioni 1985–91
Piero Gnudi 1991–93
Giuseppe Gazzoni Frascara 1993–02
Renato Cipollini 2002–05
Alfredo Cazzola 2005–08
Francesca Menarini 2008–10
Sergio Porcedda 2010
Massimo Zanetti 2010–11
Marco Pavignani 2011
Albano Guaraldi 2011–2014
Joe Tacopina 2014–

Managerial history

Bologna have had many managers and trainers, some seasons they have had co-managers running the team. Here is a chronological list of them from 1920 onwards.[9]

 
Name Years
Hermann Felsner 1920–31
Gyula Lelovics 1931–32
József Nagy 1932
Achille Gama 1932–33
Technical Commission
Pietro Genovesi
Bernardo Perin
Angelo Schiavio		 1933–34
Lajos Kovács 1934
Árpád Weisz 1934–38
Hermann Felsner 1938–42
Mario Montesanto 1942–43
Alexander Popovic 1945–46
Technical Commission
Pietro Genovesi
Angelo Schiavio		 1946
József Viola 1946–47
Gyula Lelovics 1947–48
Tony Cargnelli 1948–49
Edmund Crawford 1950–51
Raffaele Sansone 1951
Giuseppe Galluzzi 1951–52
Gyula Lelovics 1952
Giuseppe Viani 1952–56
Aldo Campatelli 1956–57
Ljubo Benčić 1957
György Sárosi 1957–58
Alfredo Foni 1958–59
Federico Allasio 1959–61
Fulvio Bernardini 1961–65
  
Name Years
Manlio Scopigno 1965
Luis Carniglia 1965–68
Giuseppe Viani 1968
Cesarino Cervellati 1968–69
Oronzo Pugliese 1969
Edmondo Fabbri 1969–72
Oronzo Pugliese
Cesarino Cervellati		 1972
Bruno Pesaola 1972–76
Gustavo Giagnoni 1976–77
Cesarino Cervellati 1977
Bruno Pesaola 1977–79
Marino Perani 1979
Cesarino Cervellati 1979
Marino Perani 1979–80
Luigi Radice 1980–81
Tarcisio Burgnich 1981–82
Francesco Liguori 1982
Alfredo Magni 1982
Paolo Carosi 1982–83
Cesarino Cervellati 1983
Giancarlo Cadè 1983–84
Nello Santin 1984
Bruno Pace 1984–85
Carlo Mazzone 1985–86
Vincenzo Guerini 1 Jul 1986 – 4 May 1987
Giovan Battista Fabbri 1987
Luigi Maifredi 1 Jul 1987 – 30 Jun 1990
Francesco Scoglio 1990
  
Name Years
Luigi Radice 1990–91
Luigi Maifredi 1991
Nedo Sonetti 1991–92
Eugenio Bersellini 1992–93
Aldo Cerantola 1993
Romano Fogli 1993
Alberto Zaccheroni 1993
Edoardo Reja 8 Dec 1993 – 30 Jun 1994
Renzo Ulivieri 1994–98
Carlo Mazzone 1 Jul 1998 – 30 Jun 1999
Sergio Buso 1999
Francesco Guidolin 1 Jul 1999 – 30 Jun 2003
Carlo Mazzone 1 Jul 2003 – 30 Jun 2005
Renzo Ulivieri 2005
Andrea Mandorlini 9 Nov 2005 – 5 Mar 2006
Renzo Ulivieri 2006–07
Luca Cecconi 2007 – 30 Jun 2007
Daniele Arrigoni 1 Jul 2007 – 3 Nov 2008
Siniša Mihajlović 3 Nov 2008 – 14 Apr 2009
Giuseppe Papadopulo 14 Apr 2009 – 20 Oct 2009
Franco Colomba 21 Oct 2009 – 29 Aug 2010
Paolo Magnani (interim) 29 Aug 2010 – 31 Aug 2010
Alberto Malesani 1 Sep 2010 – 26 May 2011
Pierpaolo Bisoli 26 May 2011 – 4 Oct 2011
Stefano Pioli 4 Oct 2011 – 8 Jan 2014
Davide Ballardini 8 Jan 2014 – 30 Jun 2014
Diego López 1 Jul 2014–

Sponsors

Kit sponsors

Official sponsors

Honours

Serie A

Coppa Italia

Mitropa Cup

UEFA Intertoto Cup

References

  1. ↑ "Il Bologna a Mihajlovic" (in Italian). Bologna FC 1909. 3 November 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
  2. ↑ "Bologna sack Colomba ahead of Inter game". ESPN Soccernet. 29 August 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
  3. ↑ "Dott. Leonardo Corsi / Bologna F.C. 1909 SpA" (PDF). CONI (in Italian). 27 April 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  4. ↑ "Bologna bailed out". ESPN Soccernet. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  5. ↑ "Coffee king Zanetti explains Bologna buyout". Tribalfootball.com. 20 December 2010.
  6. ↑ http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2011/04/08/2431298/official-bologna-appoint-albano-guaraldi-as-new-president
  7. ↑ "Bologna F.C. 1909 – La squadra". Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Tutti I Presidenti del Bologna". FedeRossoblu.net. 13 October 2007.
  9. ↑ "Tutti Gli Allenatori del Bologna". FedeRossoblu.net. 13 Oct 2007.

External links