Bologna F.C. 1909

Football club infobox
clubname = Bologna


fullname = Bologna Football Club 1909 SpA
nickname = "Rossoblu" (Red-Blues);
"Felsinei"
founded = 1909
ground = Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy
capacity = 39,444 | chairman = flagicon|Italy Francesca Menarini
mgrtitle = Head Coach
manager = flagicon|Italy Daniele Arrigoni
league = Serie A
season = 2007-08
position = Serie B, 2nd (promoted)
shirtsupplier=
shirtsponsors=
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_Bologna|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=000088|body1=ff0000|rightarm1=E72C21|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=000088
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=0000ff|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=000088|socks2=FFFFFF

Bologna Football Club 1909 is an Italian football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. They were formed in 1909 and continue on today. The club are nicknamed the "rossoblù" because of the red and blue striped shirts they wear.

During its history the club has won the Italian League Championship seven times. They are the sixth most successful team in the league ever. Bologna F.C. was promoted to Serie A for the 2008-09 season, having last played in the top division in 2004-05.

History

Bologna Football Club's formation was orchestrated by Emilio Arnstein, an Austrian who became interested in football at university in Vienna and Praga. He and his brother had previously founded another football club Black Star F.C. in Austria.

The club was founded on 3 October, 1909 as AGC Bologna, in the Northern Italian city of Bologna. Upon its formation, Carlo Sandoni was the clubs sponsor and General manager, Swissman Louis Rauch became president, nobleman Guido Della Valle was the vice-president, Enrico Penaglia secretary, Sergio Lampronti cashier, while Emilio Arnstein and Leone Vincenzi were appointed councilmen. They are thought to have adopted their red and blue stripes from Crystal Palace F.C.

On 20 March 1910 Bologna played their first ever game, it was against Virtus (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. They would equal this again in 1923-24, coming runner up to (eventual National champions) Genoa.

Bologna became Northern and National League champions for the first time during 1924-25, thrashing A.S. Roma 6-0 to take the championship. 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.

The Scudetto was won by Bologna four more times before World War II, these were achieved in; 1935-36, 1936-37, 1938-39 and 1940-41.

Post-World War II

After World War II, the club was less successful. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the club generally floated between 4th, 5th and 6th position in the league, until they took the league title back in 1963-64. To date this remains their last Serie A championship, bringing the club's total to seven.

It wasn't all doom and gloom for the club however, in the 1970s they won the Italian Cup twice, the second of which was competed against Palermo, the game was tense and finished 1-1 beforing going to a penalty shootout, Bologna won the shootout 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. 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.

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 tastes a slice of success on the European stage; winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup and playing in the UEFA Cup. The club remained in Serie A until the 2004/05 campaign, losing to Parma in the playoffs.

Recent times

Despite losing some key players, Bologna expected to be challenging strongly for promotion from Serie B in the 2005-06 campaign. However, despite its ambition, Bologna had a poor start to the season, causing the sacking of experienced coach Renzo Ulivieri, replaced by Andrea Mandorlini.

During this time, the team was sold by Giuseppe Gazzoni Frascara to Alfredo Cazzola, a local entrepreneur. However, Mandorlini was not either able to bring Bologna up the Serie B table, and was fired on March 5, 2006; Ulivieri was then appointed back as team coach, after having been sacked a few months before. Bologna ended the 2005-2006 Serie B campaign in eighth place. In the 2006-2007 season, Bologna ended with the seventh place: the season has been however characterized by several clashes between chairman Cazzola and head coach Ulivieri, who was ultimately fired on April 14, 2007 and replaced by caretaker and former assistant coach Luca Cecconi. For the 2007-2008 season, Bologna was led by Daniele Arrigoni, who helped the Rossoblu achieve automatic promotion back to the top flight after finishing second in Serie B.

Current squad

"As of September 12 2008" [cite web|publisher=Bologna FC 1909|url=http://www.bolognafc.it/page.asp?p=11Prima&m=11&l=1|title=La rosa 2008-2009 del Bologna F.C. 1909|language=Italian|accessdate=2008-08-02] [cite web|publisher=Lega Nazionale Professionisti|accessdate=2008-08-25|url=http://www.lega-calcio.it/comun/0809/cs8.pdf|title=Variazione numerazione maglie|language=Italian|format=PDF]

Out on loan

Presidential history

Bologna have had numerous presidents over the course of their history, some of which have been the owners of the club, others have been honorary presidents. Here is a complete list of Bologna presidents from 1909 until the present day. [cite news|url=http://www.federossoblu.net/it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=118&Itemid=66|publisher=FedeRossoblu.net|title=Tutti I Presidenti del Bologna|date=13 October 2007]

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. [cite news|url=http://www.federossoblu.net/it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=117&Itemid=65|publisher=FedeRossoblu.net|title=Tutti Gli Allenatori del Bologna|date=13 October 2007]

Honours

Italian Football Championship / Serie A: 7:*Champions: 1924–25; 1928–29; 1935–36; 1936–37; 1938–39; 1940–41; 1963–64:*Runners-up: 1931–32; 1939–40

Italian Cup "2": :*Winners: 1969–70, 1973–74

Mitropa Cup "3": :*Winners: 1932, 1934, 1961

UEFA Intertoto Cup::*Winners: 1998

Italian Northern League::*Winners: 1924–25:*Runners-up: 1920–21, 1923–24, 1925–26

Famous players

References

External links

* [http://www.bolognafc.it Official Website] it icon