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Bologna Football Club 1909, frequently referred to Bologna (Italian pronunciation"bo'lonna,") is an Italian professional football club that is based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna that plays in Serie A, the top level in Italian football. Bologna has been awarded seven top league titles and 2 Coppa Italia titles, and one UEFA Intertoto Cup.

In 1909, the club was founded. Bologna were the first member of Serie A, and won numerous league titles in the late 1930s. The club renounced dominance in the league in 1964, the year they took home their final league title. They also won 2 Coppa Italia titles during the 70s and then battled relegation for the second half in the second half of 20th century. Bologna has changed ownership several times between the decade and into the 2010s, because of financial mismanagement and then stabilized under the appearance of an Canadian group led by Joey Saputo.

Bologna have played in more than 75 Serie A seasons, which is the ninth-highest ever in Italian soccer history. Bologna have played at the Stadio Renato dall'Ara since 1927. This is the tenth largest stadium in terms of capacity within Serie A.

1. History

Bologna Football Club's creation was initiated in the hands of Emilio Arnstein, an Austrian who discovered the sport of football during his time at the University and in Vienna in Austria and Prague. The Arnstein brothers were the founders of a previous team, the football club Black Star, in Austria.

The club was established on October 3, 1909 in Bologna, which is in the Northern Italian city of Bologna. At the time of its creation, Carlo Sandoni was the club's general manager and sponsor, Swiss Louis Rauch became president. the nobleman Guido Della Valle was vice-president, with Enrico Penaglia as secretary, and Sergio Lampronti cashier as well as Emilio Arnstein and Leone Vincenzi were elected council members.

On the 20th March 1910 Bologna took on their very first game against Virtus wearing white shirt. 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 initial season was playing in the local league with Arrigo Gradi as their captain. Bologna was crowned champions of their league, gaining the right to join a league called the Group Veneto Emiliano. They played four seasons in the league, never finishing less than fifth. Bologna was admitted to the Northern League before all football leagues were suspended to World War I.

1.1. Champions: 1920s and 1930s

Following the war, Bologna began to become more prosperous. After reaching the semi-finals of the Northern Italian competition in 1919-20 and then going one step further in the following season when they reached the Northern League finals, going out 2-1 against Pro Vercelli. They repeated this feat in 1923-24, finishing third to eventual champions of the national championship Genoa.

Bologna was Northern Bologna were Northern National League champions for the first time in 1924-25, defeating Genoa CFC after five hard-fought final games to claim the title. The finals against Genoa CFC Ligurian big boys were marred with the huge crowd trouble. After a few years, Bologna won the title of champions in Italy again, in 1928-29 making them an integral part of Italian football and establishing an impressive legacy. This would be the only time that the league was played in the old system. Serie A was instated the following year.

Bologna was awarded the Scudetto four more times prior to World War II, in 1935-36, 1936-37 and 1938-39 and 1940-41.

1.2. Post-World War II

In the years following World War II, the club's performance was not as good. In the 1950s and 1960s the club remained in fourth, fifth , and sixth place in the league until they won the title back 1963-64. It is still their final Serie A championship, bringing the total of championships to seven. It also qualified Bologna to compete in the 1964-1965 European Cup (today UEFA Champions League) however they lost in the first round by Anderlecht.

It wasn't all negatives for Bologna However, In the late 1970s, the club took home in the Italian Cup twice, the second one was contested against Palermo. The match was intense and ended at 1-1 before moving for a penalty shootout which Bologna defeated Palermo 4-3.

1.3. Climbing down and back up the Leagues

From the time of the 1981-82 season, the team was slipping. They were first relegated to Serie A after battling it out to survive against Cagliari as well as Genoa. They were knocked out two times in succession before sliding to Serie C1. They escaped out of C1 in the following year and were relegated back to Serie A for the 1988-89 season following 4 years fighting to stay with Serie B.

They didn't last for long, but they were removed in the year 1991 before back in Serie C1 in 1993. The club was then promoted back to Serie A for 1996. A year later, Bologna tasted a slice of success on the European stage by winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup and playing in the UEFA Cup. Bologna remained within Serie A until the 2004-05 campaign, but lost against Parma during the finals.

1.3.1. Serie B

Despite losing crucial athletes, Bologna expected to be striving for promotion from Serie B in the 2005-06 campaign. However, despite its goals, Bologna had a poor beginning to the season leading to the demotion of veteran coach Renzo Ulivieri. He was replaced with the former Internazionale player Andrea Mandorlini.

At the time the team was bought through Giuseppe Gazzoni Frascara to Alfredo Cazzola an entrepreneur from the local area. Mandorlini was, however, in no position to take Bologna up to the Serie B table, and was dismissed on March 5, 2006. Ulivieri was later reappointed as team coach after being dismissed a few months prior to. Bologna finished in the 2005/06 Serie B campaign in eighth position. The 2006-07 campaign, Bologna ended with the seventh spot and there were numerous disputes between Chairman Cazzola and the head coach Ulivieri who was eventually fired on the 14th of April in 2007 and replaced by interim coach along with the former director Luca Cecconi. In 2007-08, Bologna was managed by Daniele Arrigoni. She assisted the rossoblu in achieving an automatic return to the top league having finished second Serie B.

1.3.2. Serie A

In this summer the club took over was agreed between Cazzola and a consortium based in America however, it was ended up being cancelled due to disagreements between the parties. The club was later transferred to a local consortium with a its new Chairman Francesca Menarini, who thus became the first female chairperson in Serie A. Arrigoni was named manager by the new group and the beginning of the season was quite remarkable, including a stunning victory of 2-1 on the San Siro against Milan thanks to a goal that was that was scored by Francesco Valliani. The following months were characterized by Bologna struggle in the league, they suffered eight losses over nine games. A disappointing 5-1 defeat to Cagliari ended up causing the management of the club to dismiss Daniele Arrigoni on November 3 2008 and then appoint Sinisa Mihajlovic as the new boss of the club's rossoblu division.

On April 14, 2009 Giuseppe Papadopulo was appointed as manager for the first time, and was able to boost the spirit of the team, and avoid being relegated to Serie B only in the final game in the league. In 2009-10, Bologna was at Serie A for the 65th time and avoided being relegated again, despite financial difficulties under the new Coach Franco Colomba.

In June of 2010 the club tookover was concluded and the club was transferred to the Menarini family to Sardinian businessman Sergio Porcedda. Franco Colomba was sacked right prior to the start of the 2010-11 season on August 29th, 2010 despite being able to avoid relegation with his team during 2009.10 season. The club's president, Sergio Porcedda, said that the decision was taken mostly "because he was uneasy about this team."

1.4. The consortium "Bologna 2010"

On the 23rd of December, 2010, the group Bologna 2010 headed by Banker Giovanni Consorte and coffee businessman Massimo Zanetti acquired the club from Sergio Porcedda, after the owner failed to pay the salaries to the club during his brief ownership, putting Bologna in danger of going bankrupt. Bologna also owed agent fees towards Leonardo Corsi in the Andrea Raggi transfer. Zanetti was appointed as the new chairman of the club and popular Italian singer and long-time Bologna supporters Gianni Morandi being appointed the honorary president.

On the 21st of January, 2011 the chairman Massimo Zanetti, as well as the chief executive Luca Baraldi, after only 28 days, quit due to inconvenient differences with their financial and personal partners. Stefano Pedrelli became the new director general. For 76 days director general Marco Pavignani.

Beginning on April 7, 2011, following the resignation of Pavignani , and paying EUR2.5m of capital growth The chairperson was Albano Guaraldi. He was the second largest shareholder in the company "Bologna 2010" with the 17 percent of the quotas, just behind Zanetti, who was the chairman before him. Zanetti.

The 2013-14 season was a time when Bologna once more relegated to the Serie B, and also revealed a variety of financial issues affecting the club and the owner Albino Guaraldi. Guaraldi was heavily criticized by team's supporters for a variety of controversial decisions, like the decision to sell superstar athlete Alessandro Diamanti to Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande. An interim head coach was identified in the former Cagliari manager Diego Lopez for the new season, and Guaraldi has stated clearly his desire to sell the Bologna stakes to an owner who is a new one. An North American group headed by Joe Tacopina and Joey Saputo (owner of CF Montreal, also the team of former Bologna legend Marco Di Vaio) then declared its interest in buying the club. This was followed by an offer from an ex-chairman Massimo Zanetti. On the 15th of October, 2014 the directors' board approved the transfer from the club's ownership to BFC 1909 Lux SPV, and Tacopina was appointed the new chairman of the club.

1.5. The consortium "BFC 1909 Lux Spv"

The new ownership of the BFC 1909 Lux Spv S.A. of Luxemburg is an intermediate holding corporation, Bologna was elevated into Serie A in 2015. Saputo was also succeeded by Tacopina to become the chairman of BFC 1909 Bologna on November 17, 2014.

In their first year back with Serie A, Bologna finished 14th, avoiding the relegation. The following two years, Bologna ended up in 15th position in the table. For the 2017-19 Serie A season, Bologna placed in a respectable 10th place in the league table.

2. Stadium

The stadium that is officially used in Bologna has been named the Stadio Renato dall'Ara. Dall'Ara is the most important sporting facility in Bologna and the name named after an ex-chairman from Bologna, Renato Dall'Ara and who passed away three days prior to the final of the Bologna's Serie A's Scudetto. Its capacity is 38.500. Curva Bulgarelli (in English, Bulgarelli curve) is the curvature of Bologna's ultras dedicated to the player Giacomo Bulgarelli, who died on the 21st of February, 2009. The second curve, a portion of which is reserved for away supporters, is dedicated Arpad Weisz, who was the coach of Bologna's pre-war winning team who was killed in the hands of Nazis in the concentration camp of WWII.

3. Players

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

 

3.1. Current squad

As of 1 August 2022

No. Pos. Nation Player
4 DF Italy ITA Kevin Bonifazi
5 DF France FRA Adama Soumaoro
7 FW Italy ITA Riccardo Orsolini
8 MF Argentina ARG Nicolás Domínguez
9 FW Austria AUT Marko Arnautović
10 FW Italy ITA Nicola Sansone
12 GK Albania ALB Marco Molla
15 DF Senegal SEN Ibrahima Mbaye
16 MF Nigeria NGA Kingsley Michael
17 DF Chile CHI Gary Medel
20 MF Switzerland  SUI Michel Aebischer
21 MF Italy ITA Roberto Soriano (captain)
23 GK Italy ITA Nicola Bagnolini
28 GK Poland POL Łukasz Skorupski
29 DF Italy ITA Lorenzo De Silvestri (vice-captain)
30 MF Netherlands NED Jerdy Schouten
31 DF Italy ITA Riccardo Stivanello
33 MF Finland FIN Niklas Pyyhtiä
35 DF Netherlands NED Mitchell Dijks
55 MF Italy ITA Emanuel Vignato
66 DF Italy ITA Wisdom Amey
71 DF Netherlands NED Denso Kasius
76 FW Italy ITA Antonio Raimondo
77 DF Ghana GHA Ebenezer Annan
99 FW The Gambia GAM Musa Barrow
DF Italy ITA Matteo Angeli
DF Italy ITA Andrea Cambiaso (on loan from Juventus)
DF Greece GRE Charalampos Lykogiannis
MF Scotland SCO Lewis Ferguson
MF Poland POL Kacper UrbaÅ„ski
FW Italy ITA Mattia Pagliuca
GK Italy ITA Nicola Bagnolini

 

 

3.2. Other players under contract

As of 25 July 2022

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF Italy ITA Emanuele Acampora
FW The Gambia GAM Musa Juwara
FW Nigeria NGA Orji Okwonkwo

 

 

3.3. Out on loan

As of 21 July 2022

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK Canada CAN Sebastian Breza (at CF Montréal until 31 December 2022)
GK Italy ITA Federico Ravaglia (at Reggina until 30 June 2023)
DF England ENG Luis Binks (at Como until 30 June 2023)
DF Italy ITA Gabriele Corbo (at CF Montréal until 31 December 2022)
MF Iceland ISL Andri Baldursson (at NEC Nijmegen until 30 June 2023)
FW Italy ITA Gianmarco Cangiano (at Bari until 30 June 2023)
FW Netherlands NED Sydney van Hooijdonk (at Heerenveen until 30 June 2023)

 

 

4. Chairmen history

Bologna have had a variety of Chairmen throughout their history. Some of them were the patrons of the Club, while others have been honorary chairsmen. This is a full record o

Name Years
Louis Rauch 1909–10
Pio Borghesani 1910
Emilio Arnstein 1910
Domenico Gori 1910–12
Rodolfo Minelli 1912–15
Arturo Gazzoni (Honorary chairman) 1916–18
Rodolfo Minelli 1918–19
Cesare Medica 1919–21
Angelo Sbarberi
1921–22
Antonio Turri 1922
Ruggero Murè (Honorary chairman)
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
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 1993–2002 (Honorary chairman)
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 2014-2015
Joey Saputo 2014–Present

 

 

 

5. Club Staff

Position Name
Sporting Director Italy Marco Di Vaio
Manager Serbia Siniša Mihajlović
Assistant Manager Serbia Miroslav Tanjga
Senior Goalkeeper Coach Italy Luca Bucci
Technical Coach Italy Renato Baldi
Italy Emilio De Leo
Athletic Coach Italy Nicolò Prandelli
Italy Massimiliano Marchesi
Italy Paolo Aiello
Video Analyst Italy Davide Lamberti
Head of Medical Italy Gianni Nanni
Team Doctor Italy Luca Bini
Italy Giovanbattista Sisca
Physiotherapist Italy Luca Ghelli
Italy Luca Govoni
Italy Carmelo Sposato
Italy Simone Spelorzi
Secretary Italy Maurizio Rizzi
Academy Manager Italy Daniele Corazza
Head of Scouting Italy Marco Zunino
Scout Italy Pasquale Ussia
Team Manager Italy Tommaso Fini
Technical Director Italy Giovanni Sartori

6. Managerial history

Bologna have had a variety of trainers and managers, in at times they been run by co-managers. This is a chronology of the managers and trainers from 1920 until today.

Name Years   Name  Years
Hermann Felsner 1920–31   Alfredo Magni 1982
Gyula Lelovics 1931–32   Paolo Carosi 1982–83
József Nagy 1932   Cesarino Cervellati 1983
Achille Gama 1932–33   Giancarlo Cadé 1983–84
Technical Commission
Pietro Genovesi
Bernardo Perin
Angelo Schiavio
1933–34   Nello Santin 1984
Lajos Kovács 1934   Bruno Pace 1984–85
Árpád Weisz 1934–38   Carlo Mazzone 1985–86
Hermann Felsner 1938–42   Vincenzo Guerini 1 Jul 1986 – 4 May 1987
Mario Montesanto 1942–43   Giovan Battista Fabbri 1987
Alexander Popovic 1945–46   Luigi Maifredi 1 Jul 1987 – 30 Jun 1990
Technical Commission
Pietro Genovesi
Angelo Schiavio
1946   Francesco Scoglio 1990
József Viola 1946–47   Luigi Radice 1990–91
Gyula Lelovics 1947–48   Luigi Maifredi 1991
Tony Cargnelli 1948–49   Nedo Sonetti 1991–92
Edmund Crawford 1950–51   Eugenio Bersellini 1992–93
Raffaele Sansone 1951   Aldo Cerantola 1993
Giuseppe Galluzzi 1951–52   Romano Fogli 1993
Gyula Lelovics 1952   Alberto Zaccheroni 1993
Giuseppe Viani 1952–56   Edoardo Reja 8 Dec 1993 – 30 Jun 1994
Aldo Campatelli 1956–57   Renzo Ulivieri 1994–98
Ljubo Benčić 1957   Carlo Mazzone 1 Jul 1998 – 30 Jun 1999
György Sárosi 1957–58   Sergio Buso 1999
Alfredo Foni 1958–59   Francesco Guidolin 1 Jul 1999 – 30 Jun 2003
Federico Allasio 1959–61   Carlo Mazzone 1 Jul 2003 – 30 Jun 2005
Fulvio Bernardini 1961–65   Renzo Ulivieri 2005
Manlio Scopigno 1965   Andrea Mandorlini 9 Nov 2005 – 5 Mar 2006
Luis Carniglia 1965–68   Renzo Ulivieri 2006–07
Giuseppe Viani 1968   Luca Cecconi 2007 – 30 Jun 2007
Cesarino Cervellati 1968–69   Daniele Arrigoni 1 Jul 2007 – 3 Nov 2008
Oronzo Pugliese 1969   Siniša Mihajlović 3 Nov 2008 – 14 Apr 2009
Edmondo Fabbri 1969–72   Giuseppe Papadopulo 14 Apr 2009 – 20 Oct 2009
Oronzo Pugliese
Cesarino Cervellati
1972   Franco Colomba 21 Oct 2009 – 29 Aug 2010
Bruno Pesaola 1972–76   Paolo Magnani (interim) 29 Aug 2010 – 31 Aug 2010
Gustavo Giagnoni 1976–77   Alberto Malesani 1 Sep 2010 – 26 May 2011
Cesarino Cervellati 1977   Pierpaolo Bisoli 26 May 2011 – 4 Oct 2011
Bruno Pesaola 1977–79   Stefano Pioli 4 Oct 2011 – 8 Jan 2014
Marino Perani 1979   Davide Ballardini 8 Jan 2014 – 30 Jun 2014
Cesarino Cervellati 1979   Diego López 1 Jul 2014 – 4 May 2015
Marino Perani 1979–80   Delio Rossi 4 May 2015 – 28 Oct 2015
Luigi Radice 1980–81   Roberto Donadoni 28 Oct 2015 – 24 May 2018
Tarcisio Burgnich 1981–82   Filippo Inzaghi 1 Jul 2018 – 28 January 2019
Francesco Liguori 1982   Siniša Mihajlović 28 January 2019 –

 

7. Sponsors

Detail of the sponsors as below mentioned.

 

 

7.1. 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

7.2. 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–Present: Facile Ristrutturare – Selenella – Illumia

8. Statistics

Most appearances

No. Name Apps
1 Giacomo Bulgarelli 488
2 Tazio Roversi 459
3 Carlo Reguzzoni 417
Carlo Nervo 417
5 Marino Perani 415
6 Felice Gasperi 405
7 Franco Cresci 404
8 Franco Janich 376
9 Angelo Schiavio 364
10 Mario Gianni 363

Most goals

No. Name Goals
1 Angelo Schiavio 251
2 Carlo Reguzzoni 168
3 Ezio Pascutti 142
4 Giuseppe Savoldi 140
5 Gino Cappello 122
6 Gino Pivatelli 109
7 Giuseppe Della Valle 104
Harald Nielsen 104
9 Bruno Maini 101
10 Ettore Puricelli 96

9. Honours

Detail of the honours as below mentioned.

 

9.1. Domestic

Honours Domestic.

9.2. League

Serie A

  • Winners : 1924–25, 1928–29, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1963–64

Serie B

  • Winners : 1987–88, 1995–96

Serie C1

  • Winners : 1994–95

9.3. Cups

Coppa Italia

  • Winners : 1969–70, 1973–74

9.4. International

Mitropa Cup

  • Winners : 1932, 1934, 1961

UEFA Intertoto Cup

  • Winners : 1998

Anglo-Italian League Cup

  • Winners : 1970

10. Divisional movements

Series Years Last Promotions Relegations
A 75 2021–22 Down 4 (1982, 1991, 2005, 2014)
B 12 2014–15 Up 4 (1988, 1996, 2008, 2015) Down 2 (1983, 1993)
C 3 1994–95 Up 2 (1984, 1995) never
90 years of professional football in Italy since 1929

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