Novara Football Club, commonly referred to as Novara, is an Italian football club based in Novara, Piedmont. The club was founded in 2021 by the

City of Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

to replace old Novara Calcio that lost its professional status.

History

In December 1908 the ''F.A.S. (Football Association Studenti)'' was created by eight students of ''Liceo Carlo Alberto'', aged between 15 and 16 years; among them an engineer, Gianni Canestrini, and a lawyer, Piero Zorini. In Novara in those days, there were other small clubs like ''Voluntas'', ''Pro Scalon'', ''Ginnastica e Scherma'', ''Forza & Speranza'', ''Collegio Gallarini'' and many other student bodies. The best players from these teams came together to form ''Novara Calcio'', and made their debut in the Italian league on 3 November 1912. The first match was played against a team already then established as Torino, who won 2–1. In the years between World War I and World War II, Novara challenged with Pro Vercelli,

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

and Casale to make the so-called ''"quadrilatero piemontese" (Piedmont Quadrilateral)''. Novara played a Coppa Italia final against Inter Milan in 1939. Novara's highest finish came in 1952 when they finished in eighth place in Serie A. Silvio Piola - AC Novara

During these years of staying in the top flight, Novara had Silvio Piola to thank. His many goals (which at the end of his career was over 300), made a huge contribution to the cause of Novara. Following his death in 1996, the stadium at which Novara play was dedicated in his name. In 1956 came relegation to Serie B, and another five years afterwards, they slipped down to Serie C due to a fraudulent complaint by a Sambenedettese player. A few successful seasons in Serie B followed, but then Novara stumbled again in 1977 with relegation to Serie C and worse in 1981 to

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

. In the 1995–96 season, Novara were back in Serie C1, but this joy was short-lived as the following year, the ''biancoazzurri'' again had to deal with relegation. Years were spent in the shadows of Italian football until more recently when the league was won in the 2002–03 season.

From Serie C1 to Serie A

Consolidation in Serie C1 followed, later becoming Lega Pro Prima Divisione, until the historic promotion of the 2009–10 season where the club returned to Serie B after 33 years. On 12 June 2011, Novara remarkably secured its promotion to Serie A after a 55-year absence from the league, by defeating Padova in the play-off final. Both consecutive promotions were achieved under the tenure of head coach Attilio Tesser, who was confirmed as Novara boss also for the following 2011–12 top flight campaign. On 20 September 2011, the first home game in Serie A for 55 years, Novara recorded an historic 3–1 victory over Inter. This remarkable feat, however, was not representative of their season as Novara managed to win only one more game until the end of January, when it won again against Inter in San Siro. The manager Attilio Tesser was replaced by veteran coach Emiliano Mondonico and re-hired one month later in a desperate and ultimately vain attempt by the owners to save the club from relegation. The club was immediately relegated again to Serie B after one season. Novara finished 5th in 2012–13 season but were eliminated by

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

in the promotion play-offs. The following season was terrible for Novara as the club finished 19th in Serie B and lost in a play-out against Varese, losing 4–2 on aggregate. Thus, Novara were relegated to Lega Pro. Novara were crowned as champions of Group A of Lega Pro in 2014–15 and immediately returned to Serie B. In their first season back in Serie B they finished in a playoff spot but they lost to eventual winners Pescara in the semifinal. The following season saw them finish outside the playoffs in 9th, 4 points from a playoff spot. The following season saw Novara get relegated back to Lega Pro following a 20th-place finish in the

2017–18 Serie B The 2017–18 Serie B (known as the Serie B ConTe.it for sponsorship reasons) was the 86th season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 15 returning from the 2016–17 Serie B season, 4 promoted from 2016–1 ...

. During the summer of 2021, Novara lost its professional status and a phoenix club was founded in Serie D according to article 52 of FIGC's regulations ''NOIF''. They were promoted back to Serie C in May 2022, after finishing top of their group in Serie D.

Current squad

Out on loan

Managers

* Ferenc Molnár (1931–32) *

Árpád Weisz Árpád Weisz (; also spelt ''Veisz''; 16 April 1896 – 31 January 1944) was a Hungarian Olympic association football, football player and manager. Weisz was Jewish, and was murdered with his wife and children by the Nazis during the Holocaust i ...

(1934–35) * Evaristo Barrera (1956–58) *

Carlo Parola Carlo Parola (; 20 September 1921 – 22 March 2000), was an Italian footballer and coach who played as a defender. Throughout his career, he won domestic titles with Italian club Juventus, both as a player and as a manager. At international leve ...

(1969–74) * Bruno Bolchi (1978–79) * Angelo Domenghini (1989–90) * Luigi Delneri (1992–94) * Franco Colomba (1994–95) *

Alberto Marchetti Alberto Marchetti (born December 16, 1954) is an Italian professional football coach and a former player who played as a central midfielder. He began his career with Arezzo before joining Juventus, although his first-team games would be limited a ...

(1999) *

Giuliano Zoratti Giuliano Zoratti (13 July 1947 – 2 July 2021) was an Italian professional football player and manager. Career As player As a footballer, he played several seasons in Friuli Venezia Giulia regional tournaments. In 1974, he started coaching c ...

(1999–00) *

Luciano Foschi Luciano Foschi (born 3 July 1967) is an Italian football manager and former player, currently in charge of club Lecco. Playing career As a player, Foschi made his debut in the 1985-1986 football season as a defender for S.S. Lazio. He played ...

(2002–04) * Antonio Cabrini (2005–06) * Attilio Tesser (2009–12), Emiliano Mondonico (2012), Attilio Tesser (2012) *

Alfredo Aglietti Alfredo Aglietti (born 16 September 1970) is an Italian football manager and a former player, who played as a striker, currently in charge of club Brescia. Playing career Aglietti started his career at amateur club Rondinella, before a stint at ...

(2012–13) *

Alessandro Calori Alessandro Calori (born 29 August 1966) is an Italian association football, football coach and former player, last in charge as head coach of Ternana Calcio, Ternana. As a defender (association football), defender, he is mostly remembered for his ...

(2013–14) *

(2014) * Marco Baroni (2015–16) * Roberto Boscaglia (2016–17) *

Eugenio Corini Eugenio Corini (born 30 July 1970) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, currently in charge of Serie B club Palermo. A talented, dynamic, and hard-working playmaker, known for his precise long passing, flair, and his a ...

(2017–18) * Domenico Di Carlo (2017-18) *

William Viali William Viali (born 16 November 1974) is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a defender. He is the head coach of club Cosenza. Playing career Viali was signed by Treviso outright in January 2006. Viali finished his ca ...

(2018-19) *

Giuseppe Sannino Giuseppe "Beppe" Sannino (born 30 April 1957) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge of Swiss 1. Liga (football), Swiss 1. Liga club FC Paradiso. Playing career Born in Campania, Sannino relocated to T ...

(2018-19) *

Simone Banchieri Simone may refer to: * Simone (given name), a feminine (or Italian masculine) given name of Hebrew origin * Simone (surname), an Italian surname Simone may also refer to: * ''Simone'' (1918 film), a French silent drama film * ''Simone'' (1926 fi ...

(2019-20) *

(2020-21) *

Michele Marcolini Michele Marcolini (born 2 October 1975) is an Italian football coach and former footballer, who played as a midfielder. He is currently the manager of the Malta national football team. Club career A Torino youth system product, Marcolini made hi ...

(2020-21) *

(2020-21)

Honours

League

* Serie B : Winners: 1926–27, 1937–38, 1947–48 * Serie C : Winners: 1964–65, 1969–70, 2009–10, 2014–15 *

: Winners: 1995–96, * Serie D : Winners: 2021–22

Cups

Supercoppa di Serie C The Supercoppa di Serie C, formerly named Supercoppa di Lega Pro, is an Italian football competition played by the three group winners of Serie C, inaugurated in 2000. Forerunners The FIGC introduced a third-level national football championship f ...

: Winners: 2010, 2015 * Coppa Italia : Runners up: 1938-39.

Divisional movements

References

External links

Novara FC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novara Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in Piedmont and Aosta Valley Association football clubs established in 1908 Italian football First Division clubs Serie A clubs Serie B clubs Serie C clubs Serie D clubs 1908 establishments in Italy Phoenix clubs (association football) 2021 establishments in Italy