History Chievo Verona

Early years

The team was founded in 1929 by a small number of football fans from the small borough of Chievo, a Verona neighbourhood. Initially the club was not officially affiliated to the Italian Football Federation, but played under the denomination “Ond Chievo” imposed by the fascist regime several amateur tournament and friendly matches. The formal debut in an official league is dated November 8, 1931. The team colours at the time were blue and white. However, Chievo disbanded in 1936 because of economic woes, and the team returned to play in 1948 after World War II, being registered in the regional league of “Seconda Divisione” (Second Division). In 1957 the team moved to the “Carlantonio Bottagisio” parish field, where Chievo played until 1986. In 1959, after the restructuring of the football leagues, Chievo was admitted to play the “Seconda Categoria” (Second Category), a regional league placed next-to-last in the Italian football pyramid. That year, Chievo changed its denomination to “Cardi Chievo”, after the new sponsor, and was quickly promoted to the “Prima Categoria”, which it left in 1962 after having experienced its first relegation ever.

Series of promotions

In 1964, Luigi Campedelli, a businessman and owner of the Paluani company, is named new Chievo chairman. Under Campedelli’s presidency, Chievo climbed the entire Italian pyramid, reaching the Serie D after the 1974/1975 season. Under the name “Paluani Chievo”, the team is promoted to Serie C2 in 1986. After this promotion, Chievo was forced to move to the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, the main venue in Verona; another promotion, to Serie C1, then arrived in 1989. In 1990, the team finally changed its name to the current one, “A.C. ChievoVerona”.

In 1992, President Luigi Campedelli, who returned at the helm of the club two years before, died of a heart attack, and his son Luca Campedelli, aged just 23, became the new chairman. Luca Campedelli, the youngest chairman of all Italian professional football clubs, promoted Giovanni Sartori as Director of Football and named Alberto Malesani the new head coach. Under Malesani, the team astonishingly won the Serie C1 and was promoted to Serie B, where city rival Hellas Verona was playing at the time. In 1997, after Malesani signed for Fiorentina, Silvio Baldini was appointed new head coach. The following season, with Domenico Caso as new coach, saw the first dismissal ever in the presidency of Luca Campedelli, with Caso fired and replaced with Lorenzo Balestro.

In 2000/2001, Luigi Del Neri was signed as new coach, and led Chievo to a historic promotion to Serie A, the first-ever in the team’s history, ending its Serie B run in third-place.

Serie A times

In its 2001/2002 Serie A debut, to everyone’s great surprise the small and unconsidered Chievo, most critics’ choice for an instant return to Serie B, quickly became the most astonishing team in the league, playing spectacular and entertaining football and even leading the top division for six consecutive weeks, finally ending the season with a highly respectable fifth place, qualifying the team to play in the UEFA Cup.

In 2002/2003, Chievo debuted at the European level but were eliminated in the first round against Red Star Belgrade. The team finished the Serie A season in seventh place, again proving itself one of the most valued Serie A teams. The 2003/2004 season, the last with Del Neri at the helm, saw Chievo ending in ninth place.

The 2004/2005 season is remembered as one of the toughest ever in Chievo’s history. Mario Beretta, a Serie A novice from Ternana, was named new coach: after a good start which brought Chievo to a third place behind Juventus and AC Milan, the team slowly lost positions in the Serie A table. Three matches before the end of the league, Chievo was third from last, a position which would relegate it to Serie B. As a last resort Beretta was fired and Maurizio D’Angelo, a highly respected former Chievo player, was appointed temporarily to replace him as coach. Morale improved, and two wins and a tie from the final three matches proved just enough to keep Chievo in Serie A.

In 2005/2006, Giuseppe Pillon of Treviso FBC was appointed as new coach. The team experienced a throwback to the successful Del Neri era, both in style of play and results, and Chievo consequently gained a place in the next UEFA Cup, ending the season in a solid seventh place. However, because of the football scandal involving several top-class teams, all placed before Chievo in the 2005/2006 season, the Flying Donkeys had a chance of playing the next Champions League preliminary phase.

On July 14, 2006, the verdict in the scandal was made public. Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina, all qualified for the 2006-07 Champions League, and Lazio, originally inscribed for the 2006-07 UEFA Cup, were all banned from UEFA competition for the 2006/07 season, although AC Milan were allowed to enter the Champions League after their appeal to FIGC. Chievo took up a place in the third qualifying stage of the competition along with AC Milan and faced Bulgarian Levski Sofia. Chievo lost the first leg 2-0 in Sofia and managed a 2-2 home draw on the second leg. Levski advanced to the Champions League group stage on a 4-2 aggregate score, and Chievo was knocked out. As a Champions League third round qualifying loser, Chievo was placed in the UEFA Cup final qualifying round. On August 25, 2006 Chievo was drawn to face Portuguese Braga. The first leg, played on September 14 in Braga, ended in a shock 2-0 win for the Portuguese side. The return match, played on September 28 in Verona, was won by Chievo 2-1. However, the Italian side lost 3-2 on aggregate and was knocked out of any further European competitions.

On October 16, 2006, following a 1-0 defeat against Torino F.C., head coach Giuseppe Pillon was fired, and replaced by Luigi Del Neri, one of the original symbols of the miracle Chievo, who had led the club to Serie A in 2002.

On May 27, 2007, the last match day of the 2006-07 Serie A season, Chievo was one of five teams in danger of falling into the last undecided relegation spot. Needing only a tie against Catania, a direct competitor in the relegation battle, Chievo lost 2-0 playing in the neutral field of Bologna. Simultaneous wins by Parma, Siena and Reggina condemed Chievo to Serie B for the 2007-08 season after six seasons in the senior league.

A Year with the Cadetti

Chievo bounced back quickly from the disappointment of their last matchday relegation in 2006/07, going in search of an immediate promotion back to the top flight. After the expected departure of several top-quality players (i.e., Semioli, Lanna, Brighi, Sammarco, Bogdani among them), as well as the manager (Luigi Del Neri parted ways with the club, and Giuseppe Iachini replacing Del Neri) and captain (Lorenzo D’Anna giving way to Sergio Pellissier at the end of the transfer window), a new squad was constructed, most notably including the arrivals of midfielders Maurizio Ciaramitaro and Simone Bentivoglio, defender Cesar, and forward Antimo Iunco. This new incarnation of the ‘gialloblu’ were crowned Winter Champions (along with Bologna), en route to a 41st matchday promotion after a 1-1 draw at Grosseto left them 4 points clear of third-place Lecce with one match remaining. Furthermore, they were conferred the “Ali della Vittoria” trophy on the final matchday of the season, their first league title of any kind in 14 years.

History Atalanta

The club was founded in 1907. A football club had existed in Bergamo since 1904. Founded by Swiss wealthy immigrants, it was known as FC Bergamo. The rival Atalanta club grew out of a division between different sporting societies in the town. The name is taken from the female athlete of Greek mythology. The FIGC was unimpressed with the new club and did not officially recognize them until 1914. The current club is the result of a merger between Atalanta and a third team called Bergamasca. The first, black and white coloured and the second wearing a blue and white shirt, merged in 1924 as Atalanta Bergamasca di Ginnastica e Scherma 1907. The team moved to the site of the current ground, on the Viale Giulio Cesare, in 1928.

Atalanta joined the Italian league in 1929. The club first reached Serie A in 1937, but was relegated immediately. The club returned in 1940 and remained in A until 1959; after a single season in Serie B the club was promoted and lasted a further decade in A, before relegation in 1973 led to an uncertain period of promotion and relegation between the two levels.

The club achieved its highest position in 1948, finishing in 5th place. In 1981 the club fell into Serie C1, a blow which revitalised the club. The team returned to B the next season and made it back to A in 1985. The club’s form in Serie A remains uncertain, as it was relegated in 1988, 1995, 1998 and 2005.

In terms of titles the club has won little, their sole silverware is the 1963 Coppa Italia. The club has had very few good runs in Europe, the best spell ending in a Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final in 1988; in 1991 Atalanta reached UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

The club has had very few famous players. However, Atalanta has been proven to run a successful youth system, producing footballers like Roberto Donadoni (Italy national team coach from July 2006), Alessio Tacchinardi, Domenico Morfeo, Giampaolo Pazzini, Riccardo Montolivo, Ivan Pelizzoli, and Samuele Dalla Bona who have quickly been grabbed by the bigger clubs. Other players who have graced the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia include Claudio Caniggia, Glenn Strömberg, Alemao, Paolo Montero, Christian Vieri, Filippo Inzaghi, Gianluigi Lentini, Cristiano Lucarelli, Cristiano Doni, and, in the past, Stefano Angeleri, Adriano Bassetto, Antonio Cabrini, Angelo Domenghini, Humberto Maschio, Mario Mereghetti, Giuseppe Savoldi, and Gaetano Scirea

Serie A members for 2007–08

The following twenty clubs will be competing in Serie A during the 2007–08 season.

Club	Finishing position in 2006–07	First season in top division	First season of current spell in top division
Atalanta	8th	1928–29	2006–07
Cagliari	16th	1963–64	2004–05
Catania	13th	1954–55	2006–07
Empoli	7th	1986–87	2005–06
Fiorentina	6th	1931–32	2004–05
Genoa	3rd in Serie B	1898	2007–08
Internazionale	1st	1909	1909
Juventus	1st in Serie B	1900	2007–08
Lazio	3rd	1913–14	1988–89
Livorno	11th	1919–20	2004–05
AC Milan	4th	1900	1983–84
Napoli	2nd in Serie B	1912–13	2007–08
Palermo	5th	1921–22	2004–05
Parma	12th	1990–91	1990–91
Reggina	14th	1999–00	2002–03
Roma	2nd	1927–28	1952–53
Sampdoria	9th	1946–47	2003–04
Siena	15th	2003–04	2003–04
Torino	17th	1907	2006–07
Udinese	10th	1913–14	1995–96

Serie A clubs

Prior to 1929, many clubs competed in the top level of Italian football (61 in total) as the earlier rounds were competed up to 1922 on a regional basis then interregional up to 1929. Below is a list of Serie A clubs who have competed in the competition when it has been a league format;

Seasons in Serie A

77 seasons: Inter 76 seasons: Juventus, Roma 75 seasons: Milan 71 seasons: Fiorentina 68 seasons: Torino 66 seasons: Lazio 63 seasons: Napoli 62 seasons: Bologna 53 seasons: Sampdoria 49 seasons: Atalanta 42 seasons: Genoa 36 seasons: Udinese 30 seasons: Cagliari, Vicenza 28 seasons: Bari 26 seasons: Triestina 24 seasons: Verona 22 seasons: Palermo

21 seasons: Brescia 18 seasons: Parma 16 seasons: Ascoli, Livorno, Padova, Spal 13 seasons: Alessandria, Como, Modena, Lecce, Perugia 12 seasons: Catania, Novara, Pro Patria, Venezia 11 seasons: Foggia 10 seasons: Avellino, Cesena 9 seasons: Empoli, Reggina 8 seasons: Lucchese, Piacenza, Sampierdarenese 7 seasons: Catanzaro, Cremonese, Mantova, Pisa, Varese 6 seasons: Chievo, Pro Vercelli, Siena 5 seasons: Messina, Pescara 4 seasons: Casale 3 seasons: Lecco, Legnano, Reggiana 2 seasons: Ancona, Salernitana, Ternana 1 season: Pistoiese, Treviso

The bolded teams compete in Serie A currently. Inter is now the only team to have played Serie A football in every season, following Juventus’ FIGC-imposed relegation to Serie B after the 2005–06 season.

Clubs Performance champions league

Clubs

The following table lists the performance of each club describing winners of the Championship.

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons
Juventus FC	27	19	1905, 1925–26, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1994–95, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03
AC Milan	17	14	1901, 1906, 1907, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1978–79, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04
Internazionale	16	13	1909–10, 1919–20, 1929–30, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1979–80, 1988–89, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08
Genoa C.F.C.	9	4	1898, 1899, 1900, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1914–15, 1922–23, 1923–24
Torino FC	7	7	1927–28, 1942–43, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1975–76
Bologna FC	7	4	1924–25, 1928–29, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1963–64
Pro Vercelli	7	1	1908, 1909, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1920–21, 1921–22 (CCI)
AS Roma	3	12	1941–42, 1982–83, 2000–01
SS Lazio	2	6	1973–74, 1999–00
Fiorentina	2	5	1955–56, 1968–69
SSC Napoli	2	4	1986–87, 1989–90
Cagliari	1	1	1969–70
Casale	1	-	1913–14
US Novese	1	-	1921–22 (FIGC)
UC Sampdoria	1	-	1990–91
Verona FC	1	-	1984–85
VVF Spezia	1	-	1944

Seria A

Following the scandal of match-fixing and the split between the FIGC and the CCI, the Viareggio charter was drawn up to legalise professionalism, ban foreign players and rationalise the championship from its regionalised state into national leagues; the Serie A and Serie B. The 1929–30 season was the inaugural Serie A season and was won by Ambrosiana. The next eleven years were dominated by Juventus FC and Bologna FC who won all of the scudetti between them but further success was truncated as the Championship was suspended in 1943 due to the Second World War. A Championship was held in 1944, the Campionato Alta Italia, and won by Spezia Calcio 1906. The title was not officially recognised by FIGC until 2002 and even then the scudetto is considered a “decoration”.

The post-war years were dominated by Grande Torino while Juventus finished second three times in a row. The 1950s saw the gradual emergence of AC Milan, with the help of Swedish striker Gunnar Nordahl who was Serie A’s leading scorer (Italian: Capocannonieri) for five out of six seasons. Juventus began to dominate throughout the 1970s and early 1980s with nine scudetti in fifteen seasons while the 1990s saw AC Milan come to prominence.

Serie A was dealt another blow by the 2006 Serie A scandal which involved alleged widespread match fixing implicating league champions Juventus, and other major teams including AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Reggina. The FIGC ruled Juventus be stripped of their title, relegated to Serie B and start the following season with a nine-point deduction. The other clubs involved suffered similarly with relegation and points deduction

History Italian Football Championship

The first official national football tournament was organised in 1898 by the Italian Football Federation (Italian: Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, FIGC). This tournament, the final matches of the first Italian Football Championship, were held in a single day, 8 May 1898, in Turin. Genoa Cricket and Athletics Club were crowned as champions, defeating Internazionale Torino by 3–1 following extra time. In the following years, the tournament was structured into regional groups with the winners of each group participating in a playoff with the eventual winners being declared champions. The format was modified for the 1909–10 season which was played in a league format. Nine clubs participated playing each other both home and away, and with the clubs finishing first and second playing for the championship in a single playoff final. This season was the first victory for Internazionale who defeated Pro Vercelli in the final by 10–3. The 1912–13 season saw the competition nationalised with North and South divisions. In 1916 AC Milan won the Coppa Federale, which for that season was a substitute for the championship, which had been suspended because of the First World War.The tournament that year was limited to clubs from the north with the execption of Pro Vercelli but was not treated as an official trophy or recognized by FIGC as an Italian title.

Controversy hit the Championship in the 1921–22 season which saw the major clubs (including Pro Vercelli, Bologna FC and Juventus FC) in dispute with the FIGC. The teams had asked for a reduction in the number of clubs in the top division in accordance with a plan drawn up by Vittorio Pozzo, the Italian national team coach. Pozzo’s plan was dismissed and the CCI (Italian: Confederazione Calcistica Italiana) was founded and organised a 1921-22 CCI league to run concurrently with the 1921-22 season organised by the FIGC. Further scandal followed in the 1926–27 season when title-winners Torino were stripped of their scudetto following an FIGC investigation. A Torino official was found to have bribed opposing defender Luigi Allemandi in Torino’s match against Juventus FC on 5 June 1927, and thus the season finished with no declared champions.

The Golden Star Lega Calcio

In 1958, based on an idea of Umberto Agnelli, the honor of Golden Star for Sports Excellence (“Stella d’Oro al Merito Sportivo” in Italian) was introduced to recognize sides that have won multiple championships or other honours by the display of gold stars on their team crests and jerseys. In Italy, the practice is to award one star for ten titles. The first team to adopt a star was Juventus in Italy and Europe[8], who added a star above their crest in 1958 to represent their tenth Serie A title. In 1982, they received their second golden star for having won their 20th league title.

The current (as of May 2008) officially-sanctioned Lega Calcio Serie A stars are:

* Juventus FC (27; received in 1958 and 1982).
* AC Milan (17, received in 1979).
* FC Internazionale Milano (16, received in 1966).

Champions History

Serie A, as it is structured today, began in 1929. From 1898 to 1922 the competition was organised into regional groups. Because of ever growing teams attending regional championships, FIGC split the CCI (Italian Football Confederation) in 1921. When CCI teams rejoined the FIGC created two interregional divisions renaming Categories into Divisions and splitting FIGC sections into two North-South leagues. In 1926 due to internal crises FIGC changed internal settings adding southern teams to the national divisions which lead to 1929-30 final settlement. No title was awarded in 1927 after Torino were stripped of the championship by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Torino were declared champions in the 1948-49 season following a plane crash near the end of the season in which the entire team was killed.

The Serie A Championship title is often referred to as the scudetto (small shield) because since the 1924-25 season the winning team will bear a small coat of arms with the Italian tricolour on their strip in the following season. The most successful club is Juventus F.C. with 27 championships, followed by A.C. Milan (17), Internazionale Milano (16) and Genoa C&FC (9). From 2004-05 onwards an actual trophy was awarded to club on the field after the last turn of the championship. The trophy, called Coppa Campioni d’Italia, is official since the 1960-61 season, but between 1961 and 2004 it was consigned to the winning clubs at the offices of Lega calcio in Milan.