L'Aquila Rugby

Rugby team
teamname = L'Aquila Rugby


imagesize =
location = L'Aquila, Italy
country

fullname = L’Aquila Rugby 1936 S.S.D. A.r.L.
union = Federazione Italiana Rugby
shortname =
founded = 1936
ground = Stadio Tommaso Fattori
url = www.laquilarugby.com
president = flagicon|ItalyFrancesco Aloisio
coach = Neil Loader
league = Serie A
season =
capacity =
position =
pattern_la1=
pattern_b1=_laquila|pattern_ra1=|leftarm1=000000|body1=000000|rightarm1=000000|shorts1=000000| socks1=000000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=|leftarm2=000000|body2=000000|rightarm2=000000|shorts2=|pattern_so2=_blackhoops

L'Aquila Rugby is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in Serie A. It is based in L'Aquila which is the capital of Abruzzo. The official colours of the club are black and green, the colours of the city of L'Aquila.

History

The roots of L'Aquila Rugby date back to the 1930s when, between 1936 and 1942, L'Aquila took part in tournaments organized by the Comandi Federali della GIL. It reached its peak in the 1937-1938 season when, after Tommaso Fattori, a legendary figure for the history of the club (the stadium of L'Aquila, Stadio Tommaso Fattori is named after him), joined the team, the club won the local tournament qualifying for the final one, where it finished the season fourth out of 54 participants. It first played in a championship in 1948.

In 1949-1950 L'Aquila participated in the Serie B and were in contention for promotion to Serie A up to the final game of the season, Genoa eventually winning out. The following year the team won promotion to the Serie A then the highest division in Italy. In 1958-1959 they were losing finalists in the Serie A Grand Final. In 1963-1964 they were relegated to Serie B, but returned to Serie A the following year. They won their first title in 1967 defeating Fiamme Oro Padova 6 to 0. Two years later they won their second title after having won 18 games out of 22 without losing a match.

The 1970s weren't a good decade for the Aquilani, as they won only one Italian Cup in 1973. In the 1980s they won two more titles in 1981 (league and cup double) and 1982. These were the years of Massimo Mascioletti (54 caps with the Italian national team), Serafino Ghizzoni (60 caps) and Luigi Troiani (47 caps). Then another period of not brilliant results followed, before they could celebrate their fifth title in 1993-1994 after having defeated Milan 23-14 in the historical final in Padua. In 1999-2000 L'Aquila Rugby played another final for the Italian title, losing 35-17 against Roma in the match played in the Flaminio stadium.

In 2001-2002 L'Aquila were part of the newly formed Super 10, where it is currently playing. During the past decades, L'Aquila has been one of the most important centre for Rugby in Italy, thanks to the passion and commitment of a lot of people from the city, who with the enthusiasm that had always accompanied them brought up several champions.

Honours

* Super 10:
** Champions: 1967, 1969, 1981, 1982, 1994
* Coppa Italia:
** Champions: 1973, 1981
* Reserves Championship:
** Champions: 1967, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1985

* Under 19/29:
** Champions: 1950, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1979, 1981, 1995, 1997

* Under 17/18:
** Champions: 1977

* Coppa Primavera Under 17:
** Champions: 1967

* Under 15/16:
** Champions: 1977

Notable Players

* Andrea Lo Cicero (Italy)
* Carlo Festuccia (Italy)
* Andrea Masi (Italy)
* Maurizio Zaffiri (Italy)
* Gert Peens (Italy)
* Luigi Troiani (Italy)
* Rob Louw (South Africa)

tatistics

European Challenge Cup

ee also

* Rugby union in Italy

External links

* [http://www.laquilarugby.com Official site]