Bassano Virtus 55 Soccer Team S.p.A., commonly known as Bassano Virtus or just Bassano is a football club based in

Bassano del Grappa Bassano del Grappa ( vec, Basan or ''Bassan'', ) is a city and ''comune'', in the Vicenza province, in the region of Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Campolongo ...

, Veneto. The first team of the club was relocated to Vicenza in 2018 as

L.R. Vicenza Virtus L.R. Vicenza, commonly referred to as Vicenza, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. Founded in 1902 as Associazione del Calcio in Vicenza, they became Lanerossi Vicenza in 1953, then Vicenza Calcio from 1990 ...

, while the youth system of Bassano Virtus was retained in Bassano del Grappa along with

Vicenza Calcio L.R. Vicenza, commonly referred to as Vicenza, is an Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. Founded in 1902 as Associazione del Calcio in Vicenza, they became Lanerossi Vicenza in 1953, then Vicenza Calcio from 1990 to 2018, a year whi ...

's was retained in Vicenza.

History

Foundation

Bassano Virtus 55 Soccer Team was founded in 1920 as U.S. Bassano (''Unione Sportiva Bassano'') and merged with cross-city rivals A.C. Virtus in 1968. In 1996 the club took its current name: the

number 55 ''Number 55'' ( hr, Broj 55) is a 2014 Croatian war film directed by Kristijan Milić, billed as "the first action movie" about the 1991–95 Croatian War of Independence. The film won eight Golden Arenas, including the Big Golden Arena for B ...

stands for 1955, owner

Renzo Rosso Renzo Rosso (born September 15, 1955) is an Italian fashion entrepreneur and businessman. He is the founder of Diesel and the president of OTB Group, the parent company of Maison Margiela, Marni, Viktor & Rolf, Jil Sander, and more. In 2022, Fo ...

's birthyear. Nowadays, Bassano Virtus is also the only

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

professional football club to use ''soccer'' instead of ''football'' in its full name.

Serie C2 and Lega Pro Seconda Divisione

In the 2005–06 season the club debuted in Serie C2, but after suffering a defeat in

Montichiari Montichiari ( Brescian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on December 27, 1991. The town is home to the Gabriele D'Annunzio airport (Italian: ''A ...

in the last match, they finished only 12th. In the

2006–07 Serie C2 The 2006–07 Serie C2 was the football (soccer) league season of Italian Serie C2 for the years 2006 and 2007. It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from September 3, 2006 to May 13, 2007 and the playoff phase. Once the regu ...

season the club reached the

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

s, but was defeated by

Calcio Lecco 1912 Calcio Lecco 1912, better known as Lecco , is a football club in Lecco, Lombardy, Italy. The club currently plays in Serie C, the third division of the Italian Football Founded in 1912, it has played in three Serie A tournaments (the last of ...

, which was later promoted to Serie C1. In their third consecutive season in Serie C2 (now renamed Lega Pro Seconda Divisione), Bassano had an excellent start: the club peaked the league after 5 days and kept the position in isolation until the 23rd day, thanks to a series of eight consecutive wins. The attacking tactics of coach Ezio Gelerean led the team a step away from promotion: with only 4 matches left, the club is first, 3 points ahead of runners-up Reggiana. In the end of the season Bassano Virtus was surpassed by Reggiana and later lost the promotion play-off final with Portogruaro (2–3 in Portogruaro and 1–2 in

) also due to a penalty not granted to Bassano, that could have changed the outcame of the match. However, the club was able to win Coppa Italia Lega Pro by defeating Benevento Calcio with the overwhelming result of 5–0.

Lega Pro Prima Divisione

At the end of

2009–10 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione The 2009–10 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione season was the thirty-second football league season of Italian Lega Pro Seconda Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the second since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It was divided into ...

season, the club obtained the repechage in

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978 ...

, given the number of teams in financial difficulty.

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione

Bassano in the season 2011–12 was relegated from

to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione. In 2013–14 season the club promoted as champions of Group A of Seconda Divisione. At the end of season also saw the merger of the two divisions of Lega Pro, as well as reduction of 69 to 60 teams. In 2013–14 Seconda Divisione season already saw re-admission of 2 teams that originally relegated, as well as 4 additional teams from Serie D.

Serie C

Bassano was among the original 60 teams in Serie C since its reestablishment in 2014. On 24 May 2018, after the bankruptcy of the main football team of the Province of Vicenza,

, Stefano Rosso, the chairman of Bassano Virtus, announced that the first team of Bassano Virtus would started to play in Vicenza in

2018–19 Serie C The 2018–19 Serie C was the fifth season of the unified Serie C division, the third tier of the Italian football league system. Teams The league originally featured 60 teams. However, it saw the bankruptcy and subsequent withdrawal of S.S. Fi ...

in the color of Vicenza, as

, while keeping both the youth systems of Bassano and Vicenza.

Phoenix club

It was reported that another club, Football Club Bassano 1903, was founded in 2018 as a phoenix club, after the original club Bassano Virtus 55 Soccer Team had moved to Vicenza.

Ownership

The team was owned by

, the president of

OTB Group Only The Brave, S.p.A., commonly known as OTB Group, is an Italian holding multinational corporation specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Breganze. The company was founded in 2002 by Renzo Rosso as a holding company for Diesel and f ...

(the parent company of

Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

Maison Margiela Maison Margiela, formerly ''Maison Martin Margiela'', is a French luxury fashion house founded by Belgian designer Martin Margiela andJenny Meirensin 1988 and headquartered in Paris. The house produces both haute couture-inspired artisanal col ...

Marni The name Marni originates from several languages, including Hebrew, meaning "rejoice", and Latin as a variant of " Marina", meaning "of the sea". It also has derivations from Gaelic and Swahili. "Marni" and "Marnie" are the two most common spell ...

, Paula Cademartori,

Viktor & Rolf Viktor & Rolf is a Dutch avant-garde luxury fashion house founded in 1993 by Viktor Horsting (born 1969, Geldrop) and Rolf Snoeren (born 1969, Dongen). For more than twenty years, Viktor & Rolf have sought to challenge preconceptions of fashion an ...

, Staff International and Brave Kid).

Honours

Current technical staff

References

External links

* {{Football in Italy 1920 establishments in Italy Association football clubs established in 1920 2018 disestablishments in Italy Association football clubs disestablished in 2018 Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in Veneto Serie C clubs Coppa Italia Serie C winning clubs