Bologna F.C. 1909

Bologna

Full name	Bologna Football Club 1909 S.p.A.
Nickname(s)	I Rossoblu (The Red and Blues) I Veltri (The Greyhounds)
Founded	3 October 1909 (1909-10-03) (Bologna FC)
Ground	Stadio Renato Dall'Ara
Ground Capacity	39,500
Owner	BFC 1909 Lux Spv S.A.
President	Joey Saputo
Head Coach	Roberto Donadoni
League	Serie A
2015–16	Serie A, 14th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

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. This qualified Bologna to the 1964–65 European Cup (today UEFA Champions League), but they were eliminated in the preliminary round against Anderlecht.

The last Bologna side to win the scudetto, in 1963–64 season.

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]

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 2014, the board of directors ratified the sale of the club to Tacopina, who became the new club president and chairman.

The consortium "BFC 1909 Lux Spv"

Under the new ownership which BFC 1909 Lux Spv S.A.^[7] of Luxamburg as an intermediate holding company, Bologna promoted back to Serie A in 2015.

Stadium

Stadio Renato Dall'Ara seen from Curva Bulgarelli

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 39,500. 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 squad

As of 3 September 2016 ^[8]

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 Hamzah Atout (3rd Captain) 2 MF Tareq Hubaishy 3 DF Sari Al-Rawashdeh 4 DF Rakan Marji 5 DF Omar Oweis 6 MF Hamzah Sheikh Salem 7 FW Yuri Al-Sawair (Vice-Captain) 8 FW Samir Sawalha 9 FW Mohammad Qudah 10 FW Adham Dajani (Captain) 11 FW Zaid Haddad 13 GK Omar Fathallah 14 MF Sanad Khirfan (4th Captain) 16 FW Zeid Omeish 20 DF Qais Al-Jafari

No. Position Player 21 DF Hamza Zaidan 22 DF Basel Hamdan 24 DF Omar Abdelbari 26 DF Zaid Abdelbari 32 DF Suleiman Horani 69 DF Ryan Zraiqat 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 MF Lorenzo Crisetig (at Crotone) DF Lorenzo Paramatti (at Santarcangelo) MF Bálint Vécsei (at FC Lugano) No. Position Player FW Matteo Mancosu (at Montreal Impact) FW Filippo Falco (at Benevento) 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.[9]   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 Raimondo Venturi 1968–70   Name Years 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 2011–14 Joe Tacopina 2014–15 Joey Saputo 2015–Present 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.[10]   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 – 4 May 2015 Delio Rossi 4 May 2015 – 28 Oct 2015 Roberto Donadoni 28 Oct 2015 – Sponsors Kit sponsors 1978–1979:Admiral 1980–1982:Tepa Sport 1982–1988:Ennere 1988–1993:Uhlsport 1993–1996:Errea 1996–2000:Diadora 2000–2001:Umbro 2001–present:Macron Official sponsors 1981–1982: Febal 1982–1983: Pasta Bertagni 1983–1984: Pasta Corticella 1984–1985: Ebano 1985–1986 :Idrolitina 1986–1989: Segafredo 1989–1992: Mercatone Uno 1992–1993: Sinudyne 1993–1994: Buona Natura 1994–1997: Carisbo 1997–2001: Granarolo 2001–2004: Area Banca 2004–2005: Amica Chips 2005–2006: Europonteggi December 2006: Motor Show January–March 2007: Woolrich March–June 2007: Volvo December 2007 – March 2008: Joe Marmellata April–June 2008: Carisbo September 2008 – June 2009: Unipol August–September 2009: Cogei October–November 2009: Cerasarda November 2009 – June 2010: BIGPoker.it October 2010 – Cerasarda October 2009 – Ceramica Serenissima August 2014 – June 2015: +energia August 2011 – June 2015: NGM Since September 2015 – present: FAAC – Illumia Honours Serie A Winners (7): 1924–25, 1928–29, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1963–64 Runners-up (7): 1920–21, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1931–32, 1939–40, 1965–66 Coppa Italia Winners (2): 1969–70, 1973–74 Mitropa Cup Winners (3): 1932, 1934, 1961 UEFA Intertoto Cup Winners (1): 1998 References ↑ "Il Bologna a Mihajlovic" (in Italian). Bologna FC 1909. 3 November 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2008.  ↑ "Bologna sack Colomba ahead of Inter game". ESPN Soccernet. 29 August 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2008.  ↑ "Dott. Leonardo Corsi / Bologna F.C. 1909 SpA" (PDF). CONI (in Italian). 27 April 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2011.  ↑ "Bologna bailed out". ESPN Soccernet. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2010.  ↑ "Coffee king Zanetti explains Bologna buyout". Tribalfootball.com. 20 December 2010.  ↑ http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2011/04/08/2431298/official-bologna-appoint-albano-guaraldi-as-new-president ↑ http://www.italy24.ilsole24ore.com/art/panorama/2015-12-28/football-bilancio-bologna-160543.php?uuid=ACRoan0B ↑ "Prima squadra". Retrieved 3 September 2016.  ↑ "Tutti I Presidenti del Bologna". FedeRossoblu.net. 13 October 2007.  ↑ "Tutti Gli Allenatori del Bologna". FedeRossoblu.net. 13 Oct 2007.  External links Official website (Italian) Bologna Football Club 1909 Grounds Stadio Renato Dall'Ara Rivalries Derby dell'Appennino Derby d'Emilia Seasons 1997–98 2001–02 2002–03 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2015–16 2016–17 Serie A 2016–17 clubs Atalanta Bologna Cagliari Chievo Crotone Empoli Fiorentina Genoa Internazionale Juventus Lazio Milan Napoli Palermo Pescara Roma Sampdoria Sassuolo Torino Udinese Former clubs Alessandria Ancona Ascoli Avellino Bari Brescia Carpi Casale Catania Catanzaro Cesena Como Cremonese Foggia Frosinone Hellas Verona Lecce Lecco Legnano Livorno Lucchese Mantova Messina Modena Novara Padova Parma Perugia Piacenza Pisa Pistoiese Pro Patria Pro Vercelli Reggiana Reggina Salernitana Siena SPAL Ternana Treviso Triestina Varese Venezia Vicenza Organisations Lega Serie A Lega Calcio (defunct) Competition Champions Foreign players Managers Broadcasters Statistics and awards Records Average attendances Team of the Year Footballer of the Year Coach of the Year Goalkeeper of the Year Referee of the Year Football Club of the Year Italian Footballer of the Year Foreign Footballer of the Year Young Footballer of the Year Defender of the Year Top scorers Players with 100+ goals Finances Richest clubs: Deloitte list Forbes' list Associated competitions Coppa Italia Supercoppa Italiana Serie B Lega Pro Serie D European UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League Serie A seasons Prima Categoria Prima Divisione Divisione Nazionale 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 Other 1921–22 (C.C.I.)† 1944 1945–46† Serie A 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 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 1999–2000 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 2015–16 2016–17 †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 Prima Divisione defunct Divisione Nazionale defunct Serie B Lega Pro Lega Pro Prima Divisione defunct Lega Pro Seconda Divisione defunct Serie D Eccellenza Promozione Prima Categoria Seconda Categoria Terza Categoria Cup competitions Coppa Italia Supercoppa Italiana Coppa Italia Lega Pro Supercoppa di Lega Pro Supercoppa di Lega di Seconda Divisione defunct 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 Supercoppa Italiana Awards Gran Galà del Calcio AIC Italian Football Hall of Fame Miscellaneous Totonero 1980 Totonero 1986 Italian Law 91/1981, Article 18B financial doping scandals 2006 Italian football scandal 2011–12 Italian football scandal 2015 Italian football scandal Article 52 of N.O.I.F. Foreign Serie A players Foreign Serie B players Seasons 1999–2000 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 2015–16 2016–17 Original Serie A clubs, 1929–30 Alessandria Bologna Brescia Cremonese Genoa (as Genova 1893) Internazionale (as Ambrosiana) Juventus Lazio Livorno Milan Modena Napoli Padova Pro Patria Pro Vercelli Roma Torino Triestina UEFA Intertoto Cup winners 1995–2005 1995: Bordeaux Strasbourg 1996: Karlsruher Silkeborg Guingamp 1997: Auxerre Bastia Lyon 1998: Bologna Valencia Werder 1999: Juventus West Ham United Montpellier 2000: Celta Stuttgart Udinese 2001: Paris Saint-Germain Troyes Aston Villa 2002: Málaga Stuttgart Fulham 2003: Villarreal Perugia Schalke 04 2004: Villarreal Lille Schalke 04 2005: Hamburg Marseille Lens 2006–2008 2006: Newcastle United 2007: Hamburg 2008: Braga