A.S. Roma

Roma

Full name	Associazione Sportiva Roma S.p.A.
Nickname(s)	I Giallorossi (The Yellow and Reds) La Maggica (The Magic One) I Lupi (The Wolves)
Founded	7 June 1927 (1927-06-07) (by Italo Foschi)
Ground	Stadio Olimpico
Ground Capacity	70,634[1]
Owner	NEEP Roma Holding SpA (79.04%)[2]
President	James Pallotta
Head coach	Eusebio Di Francesco
League	Serie A
2016–17	Serie A, 2nd
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Associazione Sportiva Roma (BIT: ASR, LSE: 0MT1; Rome Sport Association), commonly referred to as simply Roma [ˈroːma], is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence except for 1951–52.

Roma have won Serie A three times, in 1941–42, 1982–83 and 2000–01, as well as winning nine Coppa Italia titles and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. In european competitions Roma won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960–61, and were runners-up in the 1983–84 European Cup and the 1990–91 UEFA Cup.

Since 1953 Roma have played their home games at the Stadio Olimpico, a venue they share with city rivals Lazio. With a capacity of over 72,000, it is the second largest of its kind in Italy, with only the San Siro able to seat more. The club plan to move to a new stadium, though this is yet to start construction.

The club's home colours are Tyrian purple and gold, which gives Roma their nickname I Giallorossi (The Yellow and Reds). Their club badge features a she-wolf, an allusion to the founding myth of Rome.

History

A.S. Roma was founded in the summer of 1927 when Italo Foschi,^[3] initiated the merger of three older Italian Football Championship clubs from the city of Rome; Roman FC, SS Alba-Audace and Fortitudo-Pro Roma SGS.^[3] The purpose of the merger was to give the Italian capital a strong club to rival that of the more dominant Northern Italian clubs of the time.^[3] The only major Roman club to resist the merger was S.S. Lazio because of the intervention of the army General Vaccaro, member of the club and executive of Italian Football Federation. The club played its earliest seasons at the Motovelodromo Appio stadium,^[4] before settling in the working-class streets of Testaccio, where it built an all-wooden ground Campo Testaccio; this was opened in November 1929.^[5] An early season in which Roma made a large mark was the 1930–31 championship, the club finished as runners-up behind Juventus.^[6] Captain Attilio Ferraris along with Guido Masetti, Fulvio Bernardini and Rodolfo Volk were highly important players during this period.^[7]

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.^[8] Under the management of Luigi Barbesino, the Roman club came close to their first title in 1935–36; finishing just one point behind champions Bologna.^[9]

Roma returned to form after being inconsistent for much of the late 1930s; Roma recorded an unexpected title triumph in the 1941–42 season by winning their first ever scudetto title.^[10] The eighteen goals scored by local player Amedeo Amadei were essential to the Alfréd Schaffer 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.^[11]

In the years just after the war, Roma were unable to recapture their league stature from the early 1940s. Roma finished in the lower half of Serie A for five seasons in a row, before eventually succumbing to their only ever relegation to Serie B at the end of the 1950–51 season;^[6][12] around a decade after their championship victory. Under future national team manager Giuseppe Viani, promotion straight back up was achieved.^[13]

After returning to the 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.^[6] 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.^[6] 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.^[14] A few years later Roma won their first Coppa Italia trophy in 1963–64, by beating Torino 1–0.^[15]

Their lowest point came during the 1964–65 season when manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo announced that the club could not pay its players and was unlikely to be able to afford to travel to Vicenza to fulfil its next fixture. Supporters kept the club going with a fundraiser at the Sistine Theatre and bankruptcy was avoided with the election of a new club president Franco Evangelisti.

Their second Coppa Italia trophy was won in 1968–69 when it competed in a small league like system.^[15] Giacomo Losi set a Roma appearance record during 1969 with 450 appearances in all competitions, the record he set would last for 38 years.^[16]

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.^[17] 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.^[6] 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.^[15] Roma would reach heights in the league which they had not touched since the 1940s by narrowly and controversially finishing as runners-up to Juventus in 1980–81.^[18] Former Milan player Nils Liedholm was the manager at the time, with players such as Bruno Conti, Agostino Di Bartolomei, Roberto Pruzzo and Falcão.^[19]

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 celebrations in the capital.^[20] The following season Roma finished as runners-up in Italy^[6] and collected a Coppa Italia title,^[15] they also finished as runners-up in the European Cup final of 1984.^[21] 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.^[21] Roma's successful run in the 1980s would finish with a runners-up spot in 1985–86^[6] and a Coppa Italia victory, beating out Sampdoria 3–2.^[15]

After that a comparative decline began in the league, one of the few league highs from the following period being a third-place finish in 1987–88.^[6] 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;^[22] the same season the club won its seventh Coppa Italia trophy^[15] and ended runners-up to Sampdoria in the Supercoppa Italiana. Aside from finishing runners-up to Torino in a Coppa Italia final,^[15] 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.^[6] The early 1990s also saw the emergence of homegrown striker Francesco Totti who would go on to be an important member of the team and the club's iconic captain.

In the new millennium

2000–2010

Roma returned to form in the 2000s, starting the decade in great style by winning their third ever Serie A title in 2000–01; the scudetto was won on the last day of the season by beating Parma 3–1, edging out Juventus by two points.^[6] The club's 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,^[19] going on to break several club records.^[19] Other important players during this period included Aldair, Cafu, Gabriel Batistuta, and Vincenzo Montella.^[23]

The club attempted to defend the title in the following season but ended as runners-up to Juventus by just one point.^[6] This would be the start of Roma finishing as runners-up many 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^[15] and lost out to Milan again by finishing second in Serie A for the 2003–04 season.^[6] The club also re-capitalized several time in 2003–04 season. In November 2003 €37.5 million was injected by "Roma 2000" to cover the half-year loss and loss carried from previous year.^[24] and again on 30 June for €44.57 million.^[25] Through stock market, a further €19.850 million of new shares issued, and at the year end, the share capital was €19.878 million,^[26] which unchanged as of 2011. The following season also saw the departure of Walter Samuel for €25 million and Emerson for €28 million, which decreased the strength of the squad, thus Giallorossi finished as the eighth place, one of the worst of recent season.

On 9 July 2006, Roma's Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta were part of the Italy team that beat France in the 2006 FIFA World Cup final.^[27] 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;^[28] the same season in which they finished second in the Coppa Italia losing to Internazionale.^[15] In the two following seasons, 2006–07 and 2007–08, Roma finished as Serie A runners-up, meaning that in the 2000s Roma have finished in the top two positions more than any other decade in their history^[29] Meanwhile, in the UEFA Champions League during both of these seasons, they reached the quarter-finals before going out to Manchester United. Despite the sloppy start in the 2008–09 Champions League, Roma managed to reach the knockout stage ahead of Chelsea in their group, thus finishing for the first time in their history as winners of the group stage. The Giallorossi, however, would lose to Arsenal in the knockout stage on penalty kicks, ending their Champions League campaign.

After a disappointing start to the 2009–10 season, Claudio Ranieri replaced Luciano Spalletti as head coach. At the time of the switch, Roma lay bottom of the Serie A table after losses to Juventus and Genoa. Despite this setback, Roma would later embark on an incredible unbeaten streak of 24 matches in the league – with the last of the 24 being a 2–1 win over rivals Lazio, whereby Roma came from 1–0 down at half-time to defeat their city rivals after Ranieri courageously substituted both Totti and De Rossi at the interval.^[30] The Giallorossi were on top of the table at one point, before a loss to U.C. Sampdoria later in the season. Roma would finish runners-up to Inter yet again in both Serie A and the Coppa Italia. This rounded out a highly successful decade in Roma's history, following somewhat mediocre results of the 1990s. During the 2000s, Roma had finally recaptured the Scudetto, two Coppa Italia trophies, and their first two Supercoppa Italiana titles. Other notable contributions to the club's history have included a return to the Champions League quarter-finals (in the 2006–07 and 2007–08 editions) since 1984, six runners up positions in the league, four Coppa Italia finals and three Supercoppa finals – marking Roma's greatest ever decade.

The "AS Roma SPV LLC" era

In the summer of 2010, the Sensi family agreed to relinquish their control of Roma as part of a debt-settlement agreement. This brought an end to the presidential reign of the Sensi family, who had presided over the club since 1993. Until a new owner was appointed, Rosella Sensi would continue her directorial role of the club. The 2010–11 season had once again seen Roma start off with mixed fortunes on both a domestic and European level. These included losses against teams like Cagliari, Brescia and a 2–0 defeat against Bayern Munich in the group stages of the Champions League, a match which saw manager Claudio Ranieri openly criticised by his players. However, these were accompanied by victories against Inter and a sensational victory against Bayern in the return fixture, which saw Roma fight back from 0–2 down at half-time to emerge as 3–2 winners. Following a series of poor results which saw Roma engage in a winless-streak of five consecutive matches, Ranieri resigned as head coach in February 2011, and former striker Vincenzo Montella was appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season. It was also during this season that Roma icon Francesco Totti scored his 200th Serie A goal against Fiorentina in March 2011 – becoming only the sixth ever player to achieve such a feat.

On 16 April 2011, the takeover contract was closed with an American investment group led by Thomas R. DiBenedetto, with James Pallotta, Michael Ruane and Richard D'Amore as partners. DiBenedetto became the 22nd president of the club, serving from 27 September 2011 to 27 August 2012 and was succeeded by Pallotta.^[31] The new intermediate holding company, NEEP Roma Holding, was 60% owned by American's "AS Roma SPV, LLC" and the rest (40%) was retained by the creditor of Sensi, UniCredit; NEEP in turn owned all shares held previously by Sensi (about 67%) with the rest free float in the stock market. UniCredit later disinvested NEEP Roma Holding to sold to "AS Roma SPV, LLC" and Pallotta.

The new ownership immediately went into effect by making significant changes in the club, hiring Walter Sabatini as director of football and former Spanish international and Barcelona B coach Luis Enrique as manager. The first high-profile player signings from the duo were attacking midfielder Érik Lamela from River Plate, forward Bojan from Barcelona, goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg from Ajax and unattached defender Gabriel Heinze. The club also sold and released defender John Arne Riise, goalkeeper Doni and forwards Jérémy Ménez and Mirko Vučinić. At the financial level, the company had recapitalized for more than €100 million, the last recapitalization occurring in the early 2000s.

Roma, however, was eliminated from 2011–12 UEFA Europa League play-off round. After the formal takeover on 18 August, Roma bought forward Dani Osvaldo, midfielders Miralem Pjanić and Fernando Gago and defender Simon Kjær, as well as youngster Fabio Borini, which cost the club more than €40 million. In 2012, Pallotta became the new president.

The 2012-13 pre-season started with the June hiring of former manager Zdeněk Zeman. Zeman replaced Luis Enrique who resigned at the end of the 2011–12 season. Enrique's lone season reign had seen the disappointing loss to Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League as well as the inability to qualify for international competitions for the 2012–13 season. Roma eventually finished 7th, losing the Europa League chase to rivals Lazio, Napoli and Internazionale. Zeman brought back his high-scoring 4–3–3 formation and his hard working ethic which successfully guided former team Pescara to the Serie A. He was, however, sacked on 2 February 2013. He was replaced by caretaker manager Aurelio Andreazzoli, who's reign saw the continuation of a disappointing season, with the team ending up in 6th place in Serie A, whilst also losing 1–0 to rivals Lazio in the Coppa Italia final. As a result, Roma missed out on European competition for the second season in a row.

On 12 June 2013, Pallotta announced that Rudi García had been appointed the new manager of Roma.^[32] He enjoyed a fantastic start to his Roma career, winning his first ten consecutive games (an all-time Serie A record) including a 2–0 derby win against Lazio, a 0–3 victory away to Inter and a 2–0 home win over title rivals Napoli.^[33] During this run, Roma scored 24 times while conceding just once, away to Parma. The 2013–14 season saw one of Roma's best ever in Serie A, the club tallying an impressive 85 points and finishing second to Juventus, who won the league with a record-breaking 102 points. Roma's defense was significantly better than in previous seasons, with only 25 goals conceded and a total of 21 clean sheets, including nine in their first ten matches.

In 2014-15, Roma finished second behind Juventus for the second consecutive season after a poor run of form in 2015. At the end of season the club was sanctioned for lose making and breaking UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations.

On 13 January 2016, Garcia was sacked after a run of one win in seven Serie A games.^[34] Luciano Spalletti was appointed manager of Roma for his second spell.^[35] On 21 February, Totti publicly criticised Spalletti due to his own lack of playing-time since returning from injury; as a result, he was subsequently dropped by Spalletti for Roma's 5–0 win over Palermo, with the decision causing an uproar among the fans and in the media.^[36] After their initial disagreements, Spalletti began to use Totti as an immediate impact substitute, which proved to be an effective decision, as the Roma number 10 rediscovered his form, and contributed with four goals and an assist after coming off the bench in five consecutive Serie A games;^[37][38] as a result, Spalletti was able to lead Roma from a mid-table spot to a third-place finish in Serie A, clinching the UEFA Champions League play-off spot.^[39]

During summer 2016 Roma lost star midfielder Miralem Pjanić to rivals Juventus in order to improve its financial position.^[40]

On 13 June 2017, Eusebio Di Francesco was appointed as Roma manager, replacing Spalletti, who left for Inter.

Colours, badge and nicknames

Roma's colours of imperial purple with a golden yellow trim represents the traditional colours of Rome, the official seal of the Comune di Roma features the same colours.^[41] The gold and the purple-red represent Roman imperial dignity.^[42] White shorts and black socks are usually worn with the red shirt, however in particularly high key games the shorts and socks are the same colour as the home shirt.^[43]

The kit itself was originally worn by Roman Football Club; one of the three clubs who merged to form the current incarnation in 1927.^[44] Because of the colours they wear, Roma are often nicknamed i giallorossi meaning the yellow-reds.^[45] Roma's away kit is traditionally white, with a third kit changing colour from time to time. Maybe because of modern sport marketing, the last few years have seen the golden trim and details substituted by light orange. Modern alternate kits have included all orange and orange-maroon versions.

A popular nickname for the club is i lupi (the wolves), the animal has always featured on the club's badge in different forms throughout their history. Currently the emblem of the team is the one which was used when the club was first founded. It portrays the female wolf with the two infant brothers Romulus and Remus, illustrating the myth of the founding of Rome,^[46] superimposed on a bipartite golden yellow over maroon red shield.^[47] In the myth from which the club take their nickname and logo, the twins (sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia) are thrown into the River Tiber by their uncle Amulius, a she-wolf saved the twins and looked after them.^[46] Eventually the two twins took revenge on Amulius, before falling out themselves; Romulus killed Remus and as thus was made king of a new city named in his honour, Rome.^[46]

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
1970–71	Lacoste	None
1972–76	None
1977–79	Adidas
1979–80	Pouchain
1980–81	Playground
1981–82		Barilla (pasta)
1982–83	Patrick
1983–86	Kappa
1986–91	NR
1991–94	Adidas
1994–95	Asics	Nuova Tirrena (insurance)
1995–97		INA Assitalia (insurance)
1997–00	Diadora
2000–02	Kappa
2002–03		Mazda (automobile)
2003–05	Diadora
2005–06		Banca Italease (banking group)
2006–07		None
2007–13	Kappa	WIND (telecommunication)
2013–14	None	Roma Cares (charitable organisation)[48]
2014–17	Nike[49]	None
2017–24		to be defined

Facilities

Stadiums

Stadio Olimpico

Olimpico
Location	Viale dello Stadio Olimpico, Foro Italico, Rome, Italy
Owner	Italian National Olympic Committee
Operator	A.S. Roma and S.S. Lazio
Capacity	70,643 seated
Construction
Broke ground	1927
Opened	1953
Renovated	1990
Architect	Annibale Vitellozzi
Tenants
A.S. Roma (1953–present), S.S. Lazio (1953–present)

The very first sport facility A.S. Roma used was Motovelodromo Appio which was previously used by Alba-Audace. A.S. Roma only played the 1927–28 season there until they moved to Campo Testaccio the very next season. Campo Testaccio was used through 1929 to 1940. The team moved later to the Stadio Nazionale del PNF where they spent 13 years before moving once again.

In the 1953–54 season A.S. Roma moved to the Olympic arena, Stadio Olimpico, which it shares with Lazio. The arena has undergone several changes over the years. The most significant change took place in the nineties when Stadio Olimpico was demolished and then reconstructed to for the Football World Cup 1990, witch took place in Italy. A.S. Roma has played almost every season since 1953–54, with exception of the 1989–90 seasons due to the reconstruction of Stadio Olimpico. That year Roma played its home games at Stadio Flaminio.

On 30 December 2012, AS Roma president James Pallotta announced the construction of a new stadium in the Tor di Valle area of Rome. The new stadium, Stadio della Roma will have a capacity of 60,000 spectators.^[50] On 2 February 2017, the Region of Lazio and the mayor of Rome rejected the proposal to build a new stadium,^[51] however, was later approved on 24 February after final review of the stadium's design adjustments.^[52] It is still uncertain how long it will take to open the stadium.^[53]

List of stadiums used by the club

• 1927–1928 Motovelodromo Appio
• 1929–1940 Campo Testaccio
• 1940–1953 Stadio Nazionale del PNF
• 1953– Stadio Olimpico (1989–1990 Stadio Flaminio due to renovations on Olimpico)

Trigoria

A sports centre located in Trigoria at kilometer 3600 in south-east of Rome was purchased on 22 July 1977 by the then club president Gaetano Anzalone. It was opened on 23 July 1979 as Anzalone's final act as president.^[54] The complex had its first expansion in 1984 when the club was handled by Dino Viola and another in 1998 under the chairmanship of Franco Sensi.^[55] The sports centre official name is Fulvio Bernardini di Trigoria, named after the club icon Fulvio Bernardini.

The sports centre is also known for hosting the Argentinian football team during the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Supporters and rivalries

Roma is the fifth-most supported football club in Italy, behind Juventus, Internazionale, Milan and Napoli, with around 7% of Italian football fans supporting the club (according to the Doxa Institute-L'Espresso's research of April 2006).^[56] Historically, the largest section of Roma supporters in the city of Rome have come from the inner-city, especially Testaccio.^[5]

The traditional ultras group of the club was Commando Ultrà Curva Sud^[57] commonly abbreviated as CUCS. This group was founded by the merger of many smaller groups and was considered one of the most historic in the history of European football.^[57] By the mid-1990s, however, CUCS had been usurped by rival factions and ultimately broke up. Since that time, the Curva Sud of the Stadio Olimpico has been controlled by more right-wing groups,^[57] including A.S. Roma Ultras, Boys, Giovinezza and others. The oldest group, Fedayn, is apolitical, however, and politics is not the main identity of Roma, just a part of their overall identity. Besides ultras groups, it is believed that Roma fans support the left as opposed to Lazio supporters, that are notoriously proud of their right-wing affiliation.^[58] In September 2009, the club unveiled plans to build a new 55,000-capacity stadium in Rome's western suburbs.^[59]

In November 2015, Roma's ultras and their Lazio counterparts boycotted Roma's 1-0 victory in the Derby della Capitale in protest at new safety measures imposed at the Stadio Olimpico. The measures, imposed by Rome’s prefect, Franco Gabrielli, had involved plastic glass dividing walls being installed in both the Curva Sud and Curva Nord, splitting the sections behind each goal in two.^[60] Both sets of ultras continued their protests for the rest of the season, including during Roma's 4-1 victory in the return fixture. Lazio's ultras returned to the Curva Nord for Roma's 1-4 victory in December 2016, but the Roma ultras continue to boycott games.^[61]

The most known club anthem is "Roma (non-si discute, si ama)", also known as "Roma Roma",^[62][63] by singer Antonello Venditti. The title roughly means, "Roma is not to be questioned, it is to be loved," and it is sung before each match. The song "Grazie Roma", by the same singer, is played at the end of victorious home games. Recently, the main riff of The White Stripes' song "Seven Nation Army" has also become widely popular at games.^[64]

Rivalries

In Italian football, Roma is a club with many rivalries; first and foremost is their rivalry with Lazio, the club with whom they share the Stadio Olimpico. The derby between the two is called the Derby della Capitale, it is amongst the most heated and emotional footballing rivalries in the world. The fixture has seen some occasional instances of violence in the past, including the death of Lazio fan Vincenzo Paparelli in 1979–80 as a result of an emergency flare fired from the Curva Sud,^[65] and the abandonment of a game in March 2004, following unfounded rumours of a fatality which led to violence outside the stadium.^[66]

With Napoli, Roma also compete in the Derby del Sole, rivalry meaning the "Derby of the Sun".^[67] Nowadays, fans also consider other Serie A giants like Juventus (rivalry born especially in the 1980s), Milan and Inter (increased in recent years) among their rivals, as these four compete for the top three spots in the league table to secure a spot in the Champions League.^[57]

There have been a number of instances of conflict in recent years between some Roma supporters and fans of English clubs, and the subsequent violence outside the stadium which saw a number of Liverpool fans stabbed.^[68] Since then, there have been further instances of some English supporters being attacked and stabbed in Rome, including incidents in 2001 when Liverpool visited Roma twice and subsequent clashes with Middlesbrough fans in 2006 and Manchester United fans in 2007. In March 2009, a coach carrying Arsenal supporters was attacked by a group of Roma ultras just outside the Stadio Olimpico. The coach's windows were smashed and at least one person entered the vehicle, letting off a flare and stabbed a supporter in the knee.^[68][69]

Players

Current squad

As of 27 July 2017.^[70]

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 Alisson 2 DF Leandro Castán 4 MF Radja Nainggolan (3rd captain) 5 DF Juan Jesus 6 MF Kevin Strootman 7 MF Lorenzo Pellegrini 8 MF Diego Perotti 9 FW Edin Džeko 11 FW Juan Iturbe 13 DF Aleksandar Kolarov 15 DF Héctor Moreno 16 MF Daniele De Rossi (captain) 17 MF Cengiz Ünder 18 GK Bogdan Lobonț

No. Position Player 20 DF Federico Fazio 21 MF Maxime Gonalons 22 DF Abdullahi Nura 23 FW Grégoire Defrel (on loan from Sassuolo) 24 MF Alessandro Florenzi (vice-captain) 25 DF Bruno Peres 26 DF Rick Karsdorp 28 GK Łukasz Skorupski 30 MF Gerson 33 DF Emerson 44 DF Kostas Manolas 92 FW Stephan El Shaarawy 97 FW Umar Sadiq

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 DF Arturo Calabresi (at Spezia) DF Elio Capradossi (at Bari) DF Ervin Zukanović (at Genoa) DF Mário Rui (at Napoli) DF Moustapha Seck (at Empoli) MF Lorenzo Di Livio (at Reggina)

No. Position Player MF Matteo Ricci (at Salernitana) MF Nicola Falasco (at Avellino) FW Daniele Verde (at Hellas Verona) FW Ezequiel Ponce (at Lille) FW Seydou Doumbia (at Sporting CP)

Other players under contract

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

No. Position Player DF Norbert Gyömbér MF William Vainqueur

Primavera Squad

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

No. Position Player 48 FW Mirko Antonucci 93 FW Marco Tumminello 98 GK Andrea Romagnoli

Management staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Eusebio Di Francesco
Vice Coach	Marco Domenichini
Assistant Coach	Daniele Baldini
Assistant Coach	Alessandro Pane
Assistant Coach	Aurelio Andreazzoli
Technical Director	Manolo Zubiria
Goalkeeping Coach	Marco Savorani
Fitness Coach	Manrico Ferrari
Fitness Coach	Luca Franceschi
Fitness Coach	Vito Scala
Team Manager	Salvatore Scaglia
Video Analyst	Simone Beccaccioli
Director of Performance	Darcy Norman
Head Strength Coach	Ed Lippie
Team Doctor	Helge Riepenhof
Team Doctor	Riccardo Del Vescovo
Physiotherapist	Damiano Stefanini
Physiotherapist	Valerio Flammini
Physiotherapist	Marco Ferrelli
Physiotherapist	Alessandro Cardini
Physiotherapist	Marco Esposito
Osteopath	Walter Martinelli
Nutrionist	Guido Rillo

Chairmen history

Main article: List of A.S. Roma chairmen

Roma have had numerous chairmen over the course of their history, some of which have been the owners of the club, others have been honorary chairmen. Franco Sensi was the chairman until his death in 2008, with his daughter Rosella Sensi in place as honorary chairmen.^[71] Here is a complete list of Roma chairmen from 1927 until the present day.^[71]

Managerial history

Main article: List of A.S. Roma managers

Roma have had many managers and trainers running the team during their history, here is a chronological list of them from 1927 onwards.^[13]

Honours

National titles

Serie A

• Winners (3): 1941–42, 1982–83, 2000–01

Coppa Italia

• Winners (9): 1963–64, 1968–69, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1990–91, 2006–07, 2007–08

Supercoppa Italiana

• Winners (2): 2001, 2007

Serie B

• Winners (1): 1951–52

International titles

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

• Winners (1): 1960–61

Hall of Fame

On 7 October 2012, the Hall of Fame of Roma was announced.^[72] The Hall of Fame players was voted via the club's official website and a special Hall of Fame panel. In 2013 four players was voted in as well as in 2014, the third year of AS Roma Hall of Fame four more players was voted in.^[73][74]

Club records and statistics

Francesco Totti holds Roma's official appearance record, having made 785 (as of 20 May 2017) appearances in all competitions, over the course of 25 seasons from 1993 until the present day.^[75] He also holds the record for Serie A appearances with 618, as he passed Giacomo Losi on 1 March 2008 during a home match against Parma.^[76]

Including all competitions, Totti is the all-time leading goalscorer for Roma with 307 goals since joining the club, 250 of which were scored in Serie A (another Roma record).^[75] Roberto Pruzzo, who was the all-time topscorer since 1988, comes in second in all competitions with 138. In the 1930–31 season, Rodolfo Volk scored 29 goals in Serie A over the course of a single season; not only was he the league's top scorer that year, but he set a Roma record for most goals scored in a season which was later equalled by Edin Džeko in the 2016-17 season.

Its major founders Fortitudo and Alba having been relegated at the end of 1926–27 campaign, new-founded Roma had to take part to Southern First Division championship (Serie B) for its inaugural season; nevertheless the FIGC decided a special enlargement of first level division re-admitting AS Roma as SSC Napoli. The first ever official game participated in by Roma was in the National Division, the predecessor of Serie A, of 1927–28, against Livorno; Roma won 2–0.^[77] The biggest ever victory recorded by Roma was 9–0 against Cremonese during the Serie A season of 1929–30.^[75] The heaviest defeat Roma have ever suffered is 7–1, which has occurred three times, first against Juventus during 1931–32, then against Torino in 1947–48 and most recently against Manchester United in 2006–07.^[75]

As a company

NEEP Roma Holding (Group)

Revenue	€128.520 million (2013–14)[78]
Operating income	(€26.950 million) (2013–14)
Net income	(€40.107 million) (2013–14)[nb 1]
Total assets	€386.31 million (2013–14)
Total equity	€43.398 million (2013–14)[nb 1]
Owner	AS Roma SPV LLC (91%) –James Pallotta –Thomas R. DiBenedetto –Michael Ruane –Richard D'Amore –Starwood Capital Raptor Holdco LLC (9%) –James Pallotta
Subsidiaries	AS Roma SpA (79.044%) AS Roma Real Estate (100%) Stadio TdV
Website	http://www.asroma.it,%20http://www.asroma.com

A.S. Roma

Trading name	BIT: ASR
Revenue	€219.429 million (2015–16)
Operating income	€11.547 million (2015–16)
Net income	(€14.135 million) (2015–16)
Total assets	€344.049 million (2015–16)
Total equity	(€116.997 million) (2015–16)
Owner	NEEP Roma Holding (79.044%) other (20.956%)
Subsidiaries	Soccer S.a.s. di Brand Management ASR Media and Sponsorship
Website	http://www.asroma.it,%20http://www.asroma.com
Footnotes / references in a consolidated basis[79]

Since 1999, during Franco Sensi's period in charge, Associazione Sportiva Roma has been a listed Società per azioni on Borsa Italiana. From 2004 to 2011, Roma's shares are distributed between; 67.1% to Compagnia Italpetroli SpA (the Sensi family holding; Banca di Roma later acquired 49% stake on Italpetroli due to debt restructuring) and 32.9% to other public shareholders.

Along with Lazio and Juventus, Roma is one of only three quotated Italian clubs. According to The Football Money League published by consultants Deloitte, in the 2010–11 season, Roma was the 15th highest-earning football club in the world with an estimated revenue of €143.5 million.^[80]

In April 2008, after months of speculation, George Soros was confirmed by Rosella Sensi, CEO of Italian Serie A association football club A.S. Roma, to be bidding for a takeover.^[81] The takeover bid was successively rejected by the Sensi family, who instead preferred to maintain the club's ownership. On 17 August 2008 club chairman and owner Franco Sensi died after a long illness; his place at the chairmanship of the club was successively taken by his daughter Rosella.

Since the takeover in 2011, NEEP Roma Holding S.p.A. owned all shares Sensi previously hold. NEEP, itself a joint venture, was held by DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC (later renamed to AS Roma SPV, LLC) and Unicredit in 60–40 ratio from 2011 to 2013, which the former had four real person shareholders in equal ratio, led by future Roma president Thomas R. DiBenedetto (2011–12). The takeover also activated a mandatory bid of shares from the general public, however not all minority shareholders willing to sell their shares. The mandatory bid had made NEEP held 78.038% of shares of AS Roma (increased from 67.1% of the Sensi).^[82] On 1 August 2013, the president of Roma as well as one of the four American shareholder of AS Roma SPV, LLC, James Pallotta, bought an additional 9% shares of NEEP Roma Holding from Unicredit (through Raptor Holdco LLC), as the bank not willing to fully participate in the capital increase of NEEP from €120,000 to €160,008,905 (excluding share premium).^[83][84] On 4 April 2014 Starwood Capital Group also became the fifth shareholder of AS Roma SPV, as well as forming strategic partnership with AS Roma SpA to develop real estate around the new stadium.^[85] The private investment firm was represented by Zsolt Kohalmi in AS Roma SPV, whom was appointed on 4 April as a partner and head of European acquisitions of the firm.^[86] On 11 August 2014, UniCredit sold the remain shares on NEEP (of 31%) for €33 million which made AS Roma SPV LLC (91%) and Raptor Holdco LLC (9%) were the sole intermediate holding company of AS Roma SpA.^[87]

Since re-capitalization in 2003–04, Roma had a short-lived financial self-sustainability, until the takeover in 2011. The club had set up a special amortisation fund using Articolo 18-bis Legge 91/1981 mainly for the abnormal signing prior 2002–03 season, (such as Davide Bombardini for €11 million account value in June 2002, which the flopped player exchange boosted 2001–02 season result) and the tax payment of 2002–03 was rescheduled. In 2004–05, Roma made a net profit of €10,091,689 and followed by €804,285 in 2005–06.^[88] In 2006–07 season the accounting method changed to IFRS, which 2005–06 result was reclassified as net loss of €4,051,905 and 2006–07 season was net income of €10,135,539 (€14.011 million as a group).^[89] Moreover, the special fund (€80,189,123) was removed from the asset and co-currently for the equity as scheduled, made Roma group had a negative equity of €8.795 million on 30 June 2007. In 2007–08, Roma made a net income of €18,699,219. (€19 million as a group)^[90] However, 2008–09 saw the decrease of gate and TV income, co-currently with finished sixth in Serie A, which saw Roma made a net loss of €1,894,330. (€1.56 million as a group)^[91] The gate and TV income further slipped in 2009–10 with a net loss of €21,917,292 (already boosted by the sale of Alberto Aquilani; €22 million as a group) despite sporting success (finishing in second place in 2009–10).^[92] Moreover, despite a positive equity as a separate company (€105,142,589), the AS Roma Group had a negative equity on the consolidated balance sheet, and fell from +€8.8 million to −€13.2 million. In the 2010–11 season, Roma was administrated by UniCredit as the Sensi family failed to repay the bank and the club was put into the market, which also saw Roma not have a major signing in 2010–11. Concurrently with no selling profit on the player, Roma's net loss rose to €30,589,137 (€30.778 million as a group) and the new owner already planned a re-capitalization after the mandatory bid on the shares. On the positive side, TV income was increased from €75,150,744 to €78,041,642, and gate income increased from €23,821,218 to €31,017,179. This was because Roma entered 2010–11 Champions League, which counter-weighed the effect of the new collective agreement of Serie A. In 2011–12, the renewal of squad and participate in 2011–12 UEFA Europa League had worsened the financial result, which the €50 million capital increase (in advance) was counter-weighted totally by the net loss. In the 2012–13 season, the participation in domestic league only, not only not harmful to the revenue but increase in gate income as well as decrease in wage bill, however Roma still did not yet break even (€40.130 million net loss in consolidated accounts). NEEP Roma also re-capitalized AS Roma in advance for another €26,550,000 during 2012–13. A proposed capital increase by €100 million for Roma was announced on 25 June 2014; however, until 22 May 2014, NEEP already injected €108 million into the club, which depends on public subscription; more than €8 million would convert to medium-long-term loan from shareholder instead of becoming share capital.^[93]

One of the subsidiaries of Roma (joint venture with football clubs Lazio, 37.5% x2 and Parma, 25%), Società Diritti Sportivi S.r.l., was in the process of liquidation since 2005. The company was a joint-venture of four football clubs, including Fiorentina. After the bankruptcy of the old Viola, however, both Roma and Lazio had increased their shares ratio from 25% to 37.5%. Another subsidiary, "Soccer S.A.S. di Brand Management S.r.l.", was a special-purpose entity (SPV) that Roma sold their brand to the subsidiary in 2007. In February 2015, another SPV, "ASR Media and Sponsorship S.r.l",^[94] was set up in order to secure a five-year bank loan of €175 million from Goldman Sachs, for three month Euribor (min. 0.75%) + 6.25% spread (i.e. min. 7% interests rate p.a.).^[95][96]

In 2015, Inter and Roma were the only two Italian clubs that were sanctioned by UEFA for breaking UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations.^[97]

Superleague Formula

A.S. Roma had a team in the Superleague Formula race car series where teams were sponsored by football clubs. Roma's driver was ex-IndyCar Series driver Franck Perera. The team had posted three podiums and was operated by Alan Docking Racing.

Footnotes

See also

• Football in Italy
• European Club Association

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to A.S. Roma.

Wikinews has news related to: AS Roma

• Official website (in Italian) (in English)
• A.S. Roma at Serie A (in English) (in Italian)
• A.S. Roma at UEFA
• A.S. Roma at FIFA