History of A.S. Roma

The history of Associazione Sportiva Roma begins with its founding in the summer of 1927 by Italo Foschi,^[1] who initiated the merger of three older Italian Football Championship clubs from the city of Rome; Roman, Alba-Audace and Fortitudo.^[1] The purpose of the merger was to give the Eternal City a strong club to rival that of the more dominant Northern Italian clubs of the time.^[1] The only major Roman club to resist the merger was Lazio who were already a well established sporting society.^[2]

The club played its earliest seasons at the Motovelodromo Appio stadium,^[3] before settling in the working-class streets of Testaccio, where it built an all-wooden ground Campo Testaccio; this was opened in November 1929.^[4] An early season in which Roma made a large mark was the 1930–31 championship, the club finished as runners-up behind Juventus.^[5] Captain Attilio Ferraris IV along with Guido Masetti, Fulvio Bernardini and Rodolfo Volk were highly important players during this period.^[6]

First title victory and decline

After a slump in league form and the departure of high key players, Roma eventually rebuilt their squad adding goalscorers such as the Argentine Enrique Guaita.^[7] Under the management of Luigi Barbesino, the Roman club came agonisingly close to their first title in 1935–36; finishing just one point behind champions Bologna.^[8] Roma returned to form after being inconsistent for much of the late 1930s; AS Roma recorded an unexpected title triumph in the 1941–42 season by winning their first ever scudetto title.^[9] The eighteen goals scored by local player Amedeo Amadei were essential to the Alfréd Schäffer coached Roma side winning the title. At the time Italy was involved in World War II and Roma were playing at the Stadio del Partito Nazionale Fascista.^[10]

In the years just after the war, Roma were unable to recapture their league stature from the early 1940s.^[5] Roma finished in the lower half of Serie A for five seasons in a row, before eventually circumming to their only ever relegation to Serie B at the end of the 1950–51 season;^[5] around a decade after their championship victory. Under future national team manager Giuseppe Viani, promotion straight back up was achieved.^[11]

After returning to Serie A, Roma managed to stabilise themselves as a top half club again with players such as Egisto Pandolfini, Dino Da Costa and Dane Helge Bronée.^[5] Their best finish of this period was under the management of Englishman Jesse Carver, when in 1954–55 they finished as runners-up, after Udinese who originally finished second were relegated for corruption.^[5]

Although Roma were unable to break into the top four during the following decade, they did achieve some measure of cup success. Their first honour outside of Italy was recorded in 1960–61 when Roma won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by beating Birmingham City 4–2 in the finals.^[12] A few years later Roma won their first Coppa Italia trophy in 1963–64, by beating Torino 1–0.^[13] Their second Coppa Italia trophy was won in 1968–69 when it was competed in a small league like system.^[13] Giacomo Losi set a Roma appearance record during 1969 with 450 appearances in all competitions, the record he set would last for 38 years.^[14]

Time of mixed fortunes

Roma were able to add another cup to their collection in 1972, with a 3–1 victory over Blackpool in the Anglo-Italian Cup.^[15] During much of the 1970s Roma's appearance in the top half of Serie A was sporadic. The best place the club were able to achieve during the decade was third in 1974–75.^[5] Notable players who turned out for the club during this period included midfielders Giancarlo De Sisti and Francesco Rocca. The dawning of a newly successful era in Roma's footballing history was brought in with another Coppa Italia victory, they beat Torino on penalties to win the 1979–80 cup.^[13] Roma would reach heights in the league which they hadn't touched since the '40s by narrowly and controversially finishing as runners-up to Juventus in 1980–81.^[16] Former Milan player Nils Liedholm was the manager at the time, with prominent players such as Bruno Conti, Agostino Di Bartolomei, Roberto Pruzzo and Paulo Roberto Falcão.^[17]

The second scudetto did not elude Roma for much longer; in 1982–83 the Roman club won the title for the first time in 41 years, amidst joyous celebrations in the capital.^[18] The following season Roma finished as runners-up in Italy^[5] and collected a Coppa Italia title,^[13] they also finished as runners-up in the European Cup final of 1984.^[19] The European Cup final with Liverpool ended in a 1–1 draw with a goal from Pruzzo, but Roma eventually lost the penalty shoot-out.^[19] Roma's successful run in the 1980s would finish with a runners-up spot in 1985–86^[5] and a Coppa Italia victory, beating out Sampdoria 3–2.^[13]

After that a comparative decline began in the league, one of the few league highs from the following period was a third place in 1987–88.^[5] At the start of the 1990s the club was involved in an all-Italian UEFA Cup final, where they lost 2–1 to Internazionale in 1991;^[20] the same season the club won its seventh Coppa Italia trophy^[13] and ended runners-up to Sampdoria in the Supercoppa Italiana. Aside from finishing runners-up to Torino in a Coppa Italia final,^[13] the rest of the decade was largely sub-par in the history of Roma; especially in the league where the highest they could manage was fourth in 1997–98.^[5]

In the New Millennium

Current captain of Roma; Francesco Totti.

Roma returned to form in the 2000s, signing flagship striker Gabriel Batistuta for 70 billion lire, Hidetoshi Nakata for 42 billion lire, Walter Samuel for 40.265 billion lire and Emerson for 35 billion lire in the 2000-01 season. At the same time, the club's shares were listed in Borsa Italiana.^[21] They started the decade in great style by winning a third ever Serie A title in 2000–01; the scudetto was won on the last day of the season, with Roma edging out Juventus by two points thanks to a 3-1 victory over Parma. Club captain Francesco Totti was a large reason for the title victory and he would become one of the main heroes in the club's history,^[17] going on to break several club records.^[17] Other important players during this period included Aldair, Cafu, Gabriel Batistuta and Vincenzo Montella.^[22] Antonio Cassano, was signed after the season for 60 billion lire.^[23]

The club's attempt to defend the title in the following season saw them finish as runners-up to Juventus by a single point.^[5] This would be the start of Roma finishing as runners-up several times in both Serie A and Coppa Italia during the 2000s; they lost out 4–2 to AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final of 2003^[13] and lost out to Milan again by finishing second in Serie A for the 2003–04 season.^[5]

Financial difficulties began to surface in the 2002-03 season.^[24] Batistuta was loaned to Inter^[25] mid-season to save money on his high wages ^[26] and along with Cafu was released in June. In the 2003-04 season, the signing of Cristian Chivu (who had originally agreed to sign in July 2003) was only completed in September 2003 with the aid of guarantees from other companies, and a sum of €30 million had to be deposited with the FIGC as guarantee money in order to register for 2003-04 season ^[27] after the original guarantor SBC Spa came under investigation for falsifying documents.^[28][29] During the season, Franco Sensi reconstructed the structure of ownership and raised the capital. In November 2003 €37.5 million was injected by "Roma 2000" (the holding company, a subsidiary of Italpetroli, Sensi's flagship) to cover the half year loss and loss carried from previous 2002–03 season.^[30] and again on 30 June 2004 for €44.57 million.^[31] Through stock market, a further €19.850 million of new shares issued, and at the year end, the share capital was €19.878 million,^[32] which unchanged as of 2011.

In 2004-05 season Roma sold Emerson^[33] and Walter Samuel^[34] for €53 million and acquired Matteo Brighi, Simone Perrotta,^[35] Matteo Ferrari^[36] and Philippe Mexès as replacement for €30.45million. Highly-rated young striker Mido was signed as investment (but sent out in January after disappointing half-season). The club also delayed the tax payment ^[37] in order to improve the cash flow. But further scandal exposed after Roma was investigated by judicial authorities for an irregularity on player transfer.^[38] The club originally hired Cesare Prandelli but resigned for family reason before the start of season, then appointed Rudi Völler, Luigi Delneri and Bruno Conti. Roma finished a worse league position of 8th in recent season but kept an entry to European competition by finished as runner-up.

In 2005-06 season a transfer ban further hit Roma. It was due to Mexès who signed in previous season as "free agent" was actually had a binding contract with his former club.^[39] The ban was temporarily lifted in August due to appeal process.^[40] That season Luciano Spalletti was hired and started the reconstruction of Roma. Roma only signed Rodrigo Taddei, Samuel Kuffour, Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos, Gianluca Comotto and Shabani Nonda as free agent and loaned Houssine Kharja and Cesare Bovo. After appeal, Roma had to pay €7M to Mexès's previous club. Troublesome Ivan Pelizzoli and Antonio Cassano were released for free in July and just €5M in January respectively. Coach Spalletti explored the ability of Mancini and Rodrigo Taddei on attack and Brazilian Doni on keeper role. The team finished 5th with limited resources.

A Serie A scandal was revealed during 2006 and Roma were one of the teams not involved; after punishments were handed out Roma was re-classified as runners-up for 2005–06;^[41] the same season in which they finished second in the Coppa Italia losing to Inter.^[13] The club started their campaign on transfer windows by signing David Pizarro (€12M), Mirko Vučinić (€19M), Marco Cassetti (€2.35M) and Max Tonetto (free).

In the Champions League of 2006–07 Roma reached the quarter-finals before going out to Manchester United,^[42] they also finished second in Serie A meaning that in the 2000s Roma have finished in the top two positions more than any other time in their history.^[43]

Since 2007-08 season, Roma prospect were turn to cash: Cristian Chivu was sold to Inter for €16M and replaced by Juan (€6.3M) and Marco Andreolli (€6M). Further more Mauro Esposito (€2.4M), Ludovic Giuly (€3.2M) and Cicinho (€9M + 2M bonus) were signed to reinforce the attack. In the next season, Mancini was sold to Inter for €13M, Giuly who had a disappointed performance to PSG for €2.5M, and signed Júlio Baptista (€9M), Jérémy Menez (€10.5M + 1.5M bonus) and John Arne Riise (€5M). Young keeper Gianluca Curci was exchanged with Simone Loria and Artur. But Roma once again slipped to 6th in the league by poor defense, in although signed Marco Motta in mid-season but Artur had to play as first choice due to Dani's injury.

In 2009-10 season, highly rated prospect Alberto Aquilani was sold to Liverpool for €20M but without major signing until to arrival of Nicolás Burdisso on loan. Doni the originally keeper was pull out from first choice and ex-backup Júlio Sérgio give surprising performance. The central pair Burdisso and Juan gave a further insurance for new coach Claudio Ranieri.

End of the Sensi Era

As the Sensi family was unable to repay the debt, Unicredit putted A.S. Roma Spa on sale. 5 bids were received before the deadline on 31 January 2011.^[44] The club did not spend in January 2011 transfer window, but sold high-salary flop Júlio Baptista to Málaga CF and loaned countryman Cicinho to the same league.

On 16 April 2011, the takeover contract was signed. Thomas R. DiBenedetto, through AS Roma LLC, would acquired 67.1% shares of A.S. Roma Spa (the club itself, valued €60.3 million), entire ownership of "ASR Real Estate S.r.l." and "Brand Management S.r.l." from Sensi's "Roma 2000 S.r.l." (a subsidiary of Italpetroli) for a total of €70.3 million. The new holding company, was a joint venture of AS Roma LLC and Unicredit S.p.A., in a 60-40 ratio.^[45] The transaction date was scheduled on 31 July 2011.

References