Bologna Football Club 1909, commonly referred to as Bologna (), is an Italian
professional football
In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
club based in
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
,
Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
that plays in
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
, the top flight of
Italian football
Football ( it, calcio ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team is considered to be one of the best national teams in the world. They have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only ...
. The club have won seven top-flight titles, two
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
titles, and one
UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Founded in 1909, Bologna were founding members of Serie A, and won many of their league championships during the late 1930s. The club ceded any league dominance by 1964, when they won their last league title to date. They won their two Coppa Italia titles in the 1970s, before battling relegation throughout the latter part of the 20th century. Bologna changed ownership multiple times during the early 2000s and 2010s, due to financial mismanagement, and later stabilized under the guise of a Canadian consortium led by
Joey Saputo.
Bologna have participated in 75 Serie A seasons, which is the ninth-most in Italian football history. The club have played in the
Stadio Renato Dall'Ara since 1927, which is the tenth-largest stadium by capacity in Serie A.
History
Bologna Football Club's formation was orchestrated by Emilio Arnstein, an Austrian who became interested in
football at university in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
. 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
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
. Upon its formation, Carlo Sandoni was the club's sponsor and general manager, Swiss Louis Rauch became president,
nobleman
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...
Guido Della Valle was the vice-president, Enrico Penaglia secretary, Sergio Lampronti
cashier
A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the ...
, while Emilio Arnstein and Leone Vincenzi were appointed councilmen.
On 20 March 1910, Bologna played their first ever game, against
Virtus
''Virtus'' () was a specific virtue in Ancient Rome. It carries connotations of valor, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth, perceived as masculine strengths (from Latin ''vir'', "man"). It was thus a frequently stated virtue o ...
, 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
Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Italy, with seven natio ...
. They would equal this again in 1923–24, coming runner up to eventual national champions
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
.
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.
Bologna won the ''
Scudetto'' three more times before World War II, in 1935–36,
1936–37 and
1938–39, and once during the war (
1940–41).
Post-World War II
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, 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
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
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.
It was not all doom and gloom for the club, however; in the 1970s, they won the
Italian Cup
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 ...
twice, the second of which was disputed against
Palermo. The game was tense and finished 1–1 before going to a
penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
, 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
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
. 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
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
.
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
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
. The club remained in Serie A until the
2004–05 campaign, losing to
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...
in the playoffs.
Serie B
Despite losing some key players, Bologna expected to be challenging strongly for promotion from
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
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
Renzo Ulivieri (born 2 February 1941) is an Italian association football manager. He is the current chairman of the ''Associazione Italiana Allenatori Calcio'' (Italian Football Managers' Association).
Career
After a very short playing career as ...
, replaced by former
Internazionale
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...
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
Luca Cecconi (born 24 January 1964 in Fucecchio, Province of Florence) is an Italian football manager and former striker.
Playing career
Cecconi played with several teams throughout his career, obtaining his best successes with Palermo, Bolo ...
. For the
2007–08 season, Bologna was led by
Daniele Arrigoni
Daniele Arrigoni (born 28 August 1959) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a defender.
Playing career
Arrigoni was born in Cesena. A defender, made fifteen Serie A appearances in his first professional playing ...
, 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
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums i ...
against
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
thanks to a winning goal scored by
Francesco Valiani
Francesco Valiani (born 29 October 1980) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder.
Career Rimini
Valiani joined Rimini along with Emmanuel Cascione. Valiani spent two-and-a-half seasons in Serie B with the club.
His final game (and g ...
. 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
Siniša Mihajlović ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Михајловић, ; 20 February 1969 – 16 December 2022) was a Serbian professional football player and manager.
During his career as a footballer, he played as a defender or midfielder. He won ...
as new ''rossoblù'' boss.
On 14 April 2009,
Giuseppe Papadopulo
Giuseppe Papadopulo (born 2 February 1948) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender. He was last in charge as head coach of Torino.
Career
Papadopulo was born in Casale Marittimo, Pisa. He played for Livorno, La ...
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
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
n 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
olombawas skeptical of the team."
The consortium "Bologna 2010"
On 23 December 2010, the consortium ''Bologna 2010'' led by banker
Giovanni Consorte and coffee businessman
Massimo Zanetti
Massimo Zanetti (born 12 February 1948 in Treviso) is an Italian entrepreneur and former politician, owner of Segafredo, a global coffee company. Since 2016 Zanetti is also the owner of the Italian basketball team Virtus Bologna, one of the m ...
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
Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English language, English, German language, German, and Dutch language, Dutch name, Leonard.
People
Notable people with the name include:
* Leonardo da ...
in the
Andrea Raggi's transfer. Zanetti also became the new club chairman, with popular Italian musician and long-time Bologna supporter
Gianni Morandi
Gianni Morandi (; born 11 December 1944) is an Italian pop singer, actor and entertainer.
Early life
Gian Luigi Morandi was born in a little village called Monghidoro on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. His father Renato was active within the ...
appointed as honorary president.
On 21 January 2011, chairman Massimo Zanetti and CEO Luca Baraldi, after only 28 days, resigned because of irreconcilable differences with the other personal and financial partners.
Stefano Pedrelli became the new director general. For 76 days, the chairman was Marco Pavignani.
From 7 April 2011, after the resignation of Pavignani and having paid €2.5m of capital increase, the new chairman was Albano Guaraldi, 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
Alessandro Diamanti (; born 2 May 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for A-League club Western United. At club level, he has previously played for Prato, Empoli, Fucecchio, Fiorentina, AlbinoLeffe, West Ham Uni ...
to Chinese club
Guangzhou Evergrande
Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...
. A new head coach was then found in former Cagliari boss
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
Joseph Tacopina (born 14 April, 1966) is an American lawyer. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York to Italian immigrants.
Early life and education
Raised in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Tacopina attended Poly Prep and Skidmore College, be ...
and
Joey Saputo (owner of
CF Montréal, also the team of former Bologna hero
Marco Di Vaio
Marco Di Vaio (; born 15 July 1976) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. A prolific goalscorer, in his long club career, Di Vaio scored over 200 league goals ...
) then stated its interest in acquiring the club; this was followed by another offer coming from former chairman
Massimo Zanetti
Massimo Zanetti (born 12 February 1948 in Treviso) is an Italian entrepreneur and former politician, owner of Segafredo, a global coffee company. Since 2016 Zanetti is also the owner of the Italian basketball team Virtus Bologna, one of the m ...
. On 15 October 2014, the board of directors ratified the sale of the club to BFC 1909 Lux SPV, and Tacopina became the new club chairman.
The consortium "BFC 1909 Lux Spv"
Under the new ownership of which BFC 1909 Lux Spv S.A. of Luxemburg is an intermediate holding company, Bologna was promoted back to Serie A in 2015. Saputo also succeeded Tacopina as the new chairman of the board of directors of Bologna on 17 November 2014.
In their first season back in
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
, Bologna finished 14th avoiding relegation. In the following two seasons, Bologna finished in 15th place on the table. In the
2018-19 Serie A season, Bologna finished in a creditable 10th position on the table.
Over the next three seasons, Bologna continued to finish mid table in Serie A coming 12th two campaigns in a row followed by a 13th placed finish in the 2021/2022 season.
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-chairman of the club,
Renato Dall'Ara
Renato Dall'Ara (10 October 1892 in Reggio Emilia – 3 June 1964 in Milan) was an Italian entrepreneur, sports manager, and chairman of Bologna for thirty years.
Biography
An entrepreneur of modest origins, Dall'Ara went from his native Reggio Em ...
, who died three days before the final for Serie A's ''Scudetto''. Its
capacity is 38,500. The ''curva Bulgarelli'' (in English, Bulgarelli curve), the curve of Bologna's ultras, is dedicated to player
Giacomo Bulgarelli
Giacomo Bulgarelli (; 24 October 1940 – 12 February 2009) was an Italian international footballer who played as a midfielder. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest ever midfielders, Bulgarelli spent his entire club career with Italian side Bologna ...
, who died on 21 February 2009. The other curve, part of which is reserved for the away fans, is dedicated to
Árpád Weisz, coach of Bologna's winning pre-war team, and killed by the Nazis in a concentration camp during WWII.
Players
Current squad
Other players under contract
Out on loan
Chairmen history
Bologna 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. Here is a complete list of Bologna chairmen from 1909 until the present day.
Club staff
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.
Sponsors
Kit sponsors
* 1978–1979:
Admiral
* 1980–1982:
Tepa Sport
* 1982–1988: Ennerre
* 1988–1993: Uhlsport
* 1993–1996: Erreà
* 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
* September 2015 – June 2018: FAAC – Illumia
* June 2018–June 2020: Liu·Jo
* September 2020–June 2022: Facile Ristrutturare – Selenella – Illumia
* June 2022–Present: Cazoo – Lavoropiù
Statistics
Honours
Domestic
League
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
*Winners (7):
1924–25,
1928–29,
1935–36,
1936–37,
1938–39,
1940–41,
1963–64
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
*Winners (2):
1987–88,
1995–96
Serie C1
*Winners :
1994–95
Cups
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
*Winners (2):
1969–70,
1973–74
International
Mitropa Cup
The Mitropa Cup, officially called the La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the successor states of the former Austria-Hunga ...
*Winners (3):
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...
,
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...
,
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
UEFA Intertoto Cup
*Winners (1):
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
Anglo-Italian League Cup
The Anglo-Italian League Cup ( it, Coppa di Lega Italo-Inglese, also known as the Anglo-Italian League Cup Winners' Cup) was a short-lived football competition between teams from England and Italy – an English cup-winning team (League Cup or FA C ...
*Winners (1): 1970
Divisional movements
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bologna
Football clubs in Italy
Football clubs in Emilia-Romagna
Sport in Bologna
Association football clubs established in 1909
Italian football First Division clubs
Serie A clubs
Serie B clubs
Serie C clubs
Serie A winning clubs
Coppa Italia winning clubs
1909 establishments in Italy
UEFA Intertoto Cup winning clubs