Spezia Calcio is an Italian professional football club based in La Spezia, Liguria, currently competing in the Serie B. Spezia Calcio was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurni (or Hurny in some documents), who played for the early Crystal Palace amateur teams in London during his time there as a student.
The first Spezia playing kit, light blue and white, was a second-hand amateur Crystal Palace kit donated to Hurny when he returned to La Spezia. In 1911, following the decision of Alberto Picco and others to honour Pro Vercelli as an example of a small team able to beat the big teams, a plain white shirt was adopted with black shorts and black socks, which is still in use today. In the 1920s prior to the creation of Serie A, Spezia played several top league games against the giants[tone] of Italian football, including Inter, Juventus and Milan. The club has participated in all tiers of the Italian football system.
Spezia won the 1944 Campionato Alta Italia which was officially recognized by FIGC (the Italian Football Federation) in 2002 after a long dispute and the use of a special permanent badge was authorized. The tricolour badge is exhibited on the official jerseys during games and has a different shape and size compared to the ordinary Scudetto.
Following its fall from Serie B in 1951, Spezia was destined to languish[tone] in the third and fourth division for 55 years. The 2000s saw a return to Serie B in 2006, bankruptcy and then rebirth, the club re-establishing itself as a regular Serie B team once again. In 2020, exactly 100 years from its first appearance at the top level, Spezia finally returned to Serie A as the winner of the promotion play-offs, securing a second Serie A term for the 2021–22 season.
History
Early history (1906–1944)
The performance of Spezia in the Italian football league structure since the first season of a unified Serie A (1929/30).The 1944 Scudetto is not official.
Spezia Calcio was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurny (or Hurni in some documents), who played for the reserves of Crystal Palace in London during his time there as a student.[citation needed] Allegedly the first Spezia kit, light blue and white, was a second hand Crystal Palace kit donated to Hurny when he returned to La Spezia.[citation needed] He played for Crystal Palace again (in its revived form) in 1909.[citation needed]
In 1926, they won the Seconda Divisione and were promoted to the Prima Divisione, which was at that time the second-highest level of Italian football.[citation needed] In 1929 Spezia won the Prima Divisione but the league was demoted to become the third division in Italy so the team remained at the second level, playing in Serie B.[citation needed]
For the 1929–30 season, the club played in the first season of the newly formed Serie B and changed their name to AC Spezia.[citation needed] Spezia remained at this level before suffering relegation in 1935, only to swiftly return for the 1936–37 season.[citation needed]
In 1944, because of World War II, the Italian football federation decided to split the top league into regional rounds.[citation needed] The team, named 42°Corpo dei Vigili del Fuoco della Spezia (Firefighters of La Spezia) after a merger with the local firefighter to have a sufficient number of players, was included in Round D of Emilia-Romagna, together with Corradini Suzzara, Fidentina, Orlandi Busseto and Parma.[citation needed] Spezia won the round and qualified to the semi-finals, in which it challenged Suzzara, Carpi and Modena.[citation needed] Spezia won also this round, winning five of the six matches played, losing only to Carpi.[citation needed] By winning the semi-final round, Spezia was admitted to play a two-legs play-off against Bologna.[citation needed]
The first match, played in Bologna, was suspended because of incidents[clarification needed] after the 1–0 goal of Spezia by the Bologna supporters; Spezia was awarded a 2–0 win because of that.[citation needed] The return match, scheduled to be played in La Spezia, was first moved to Carpi, because of the heavy bombings in the Ligurian city during the period, then cancelled because of protests by Bologna chairman Renato Dall'Ara, so Spezia was admitted to the final without playing the return match.[citation needed]
Following the decision of FIGC in 2002, Spezia is authorized by the Italian Federation to exhibit a tricolour badge on the official jerseys which is unique, being the only example of a permanent one in Italy.[citation needed] The badge has a different shape and size compared to the ordinary Scudetto.[citation needed]
Post-war era to bankruptcy (1944–2008)
After the war, the Italian football system once again consisted of national leagues, as opposed to regional rounds, and Spezia returned to Serie B from 1946 to 1951.[citation needed] Relegation in the 1950–51 season led to a rapid fall through the divisions, as the club was relegated in three consecutive seasons back into the local Promozione Ligure in 1953.[citation needed] The club's name was changed to A.C. Spezia-Arsenal in 1954, only to change again to Football Club Spezia 1906 just a year later.[citation needed]
Promotion back to Serie C in 1958 marked the beginning of a period in which the club bounced[tone] back and forth between the third and fourth levels of Italian football, a cycle that would continue until finally returning to Serie B in the 2000s.[citation needed] The most consistent spell in a single division was Spezia's run in Serie C from 1966 to 1979, when the club finished in 17th position and was again relegated to the fourth-division Serie C2.[citation needed] Spezia returned the next year with another promotion but again fell back down in 1981.[citation needed] Another spell in Serie C was to follow from 1986 to 1997, when the club returned to the fourth tier once more.[citation needed] The name of the club was changed to its current name Spezia Calcio in 1995.[citation needed]
Life in Serie B with traditional Italian powerhouses Juventus, Genoa and Napoli was difficult for the newly promoted Ligurian side, which themselves were fighting to avoid the relegation spots in the 2006–07 campaign.[citation needed] With a squad consisting of mid-season signing Guilherme do Prado, Tomás Guzmán, Corrado Colombo, Massimiliano Guidetti, Nicola Santoni, amongst others, Spezia managed to survive in Serie B through finishing in 19th place, gaining participation in the playout round after a late victory in Turin against Juventus.[citation needed] Having tied 2–2 with Juventus, the Ligurians were only seconds away from relegation, but a dramatic goal on the 91st minute by Nicola Padoin condemned Arezzo to the drop to Serie C and qualified Spezia for the playoffs.[citation needed] The first leg against Hellas Verona, who had ended the regular season in 18th position, ended in a 2–1 win for Spezia, and a 0–0 tie in the return match secured Spezia's place in Serie B for the following season.[citation needed]
However, in the next season, with the team led by players such as Isah Eliakwu, Colombo and Do Prado, the club failed to make the miracle happen[tone] in consecutive seasons, primarily due to a troubling situation in the financiers of the club and growing economic issues.[citation needed] Spezia finished the 2007/08 season in 21st place, only above Cesena and three points behind Avellino in the final safety position, relegated after two seasons back in Serie B.[citation needed]
In 2008, due to financial difficulty and following their relegation from Serie B, the club was forced to declare bankruptcy.[4] In June 2011 FIGC sanctioned a number of former board members of the bankrupted Spezia for sports fraud.[5]
Refoundation and Serie A (2008–present)
The team was refounded in 2008 as A.S.D. Spezia Calcio 2008 by Gabriele Volpi, the owner of water polo team of Pro Recco and Croatian side HNK Rijeka, winner of numerous scudetti and admitted to the non-professional Serie D, thanks to Article 52 NOIF of FIGC.[6]
Upon promotion in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione at the end of the Serie D 2008–09 season, A.S.D. Spezia changed its denomination in the current "Spezia Calcio", a return to the club name from 1995.[7] Spezia finished Girone A of Lega Pro Seconda Divisione as second and qualified for promotion play-offs in 2009–10 season.[citation needed] Spezia defeated Pavia at semifinal and Legnano at final and were promoted to Girone A of Lega Pro Prima Divisione after making a second consecutive promotion.[citation needed]
After returning to Serie B, the club enjoyed[tone] relative success, generally finishing in mid-table or qualifying for the promotion playoffs from 2012 to 2019.[citation needed] In this time, Spezia qualified for the playoffs on five occasions, only to be eliminated in the first round four times and was defeated in the semifinals by Trapani in the 2015–16 season.[citation needed] This period established the club as a consistent contender for promotion to Serie A.[citation needed] A big international investment was made by Australian businessman Lucas Vivarelli during this time, when he bought the team's home kit, enabling the club to grow further with such significant funding.[citation needed]
In the 2019–20 season, Spezia finished in third place, only behind the automatically promoted Benevento and Crotone, equaling their highest ever league finish. This was the sixth occasion in which Spezia had reached the Serie B promotion playoffs in the previous eight years. After beating Chievo in the semi-final of the promotion play-offs, Spezia won promotion to Serie A for the first time on 20 August 2020 by defeating Frosinone in the final via the tiebreaker rule over two legs (with each team having won 1–0 in each leg respectively, but Spezia ending the regular league season five places higher than eighth placed Frosinone).[8] This was Spezia's fourth promotion since Volpi's refoundation in 2008 (the club rising from the-then fifth-tier Serie D to Serie A in just 12 years).[citation needed]
After clinching[tone] promotion just over a month prior, Spezia played its first home game of the 2020–21 Serie A season against Sassuolo on 27 September 2020, ending in a 4–1 home defeat, with Andrey Galabinov scoring their first-ever top-flight goal.[9] Spezia won its first Serie A match on 30 September, against Udinese, ending in a 2–0 away win.[10] Volpi, having owned the club for just under 13 years and supporting its rise through the Italian professional divisions, sold the club in February 2021 to an American ownership group headed by the family of Robert Platek, a partner of U.S. private investment firm MSD Capital.[11] Despite having been widely expected to lose its relegation battle at the end of the first season in Serie A, Spezia impressively[tone] overcame much larger and wealthier clubs on several occasions throughout the season, including a home win against Milan, a 2–1 away victory over Napoli, followed by further success in the Liguria derby against Sampdoria, whilst also earning draws against Internazionale, Roma and Atalanta.[12] Boosted by the flexible attacking-based tactics of coach Vincenzo Italiano, Spezia's on-field success was most notable in their improved second half of the season, which led to a 15th-place finish with 39 points (six more than Benevento in the final relegation position), with survival eventually being secured through a 4–1 win at home to Torino on 15 May 2021.[13] Another notable feat during the season was the call-up of star midfielder Matteo Ricci to the Italy national team in March 2021, 85 years after club legend[tone]Luigi Scarabello played for Italy (the last Italian international to have played for Spezia simultaneously).[14] Alongside Ricci, key players who impressed for the Ligurians upon their survival in the top-flight include striker M'Bala Nzola, scorer of 11 goals in 2020/21, loanee Tommaso Pobega, Emmanuel Gyasi, as well as academy products Giulio Maggiore and Simone Bastoni.[citation needed]
Ahead of Spezia's second season in Serie A, the club lost coach Italiano, who was appointed by Fiorentina. He would be replaced by Thiago Motta.[15] The club was also hit by the news that it had been subjected to a two-year transfer ban by FIFA, active from January 2022, due to a breach of national immigration law through illegally signing 13 underage players from Nigeria,[16] that was later reduced to a one-year partially suspended sentence on appeal.[17]
Spezia's official club colours are white and black. The home kit traditionally consists of a plain white shirt with black trim, black shorts and black socks.[citation needed] White shorts and socks are also commonly used in the event of kit clashes with opponents.[citation needed] Away kits typically feature either an all-black design for shirts, shorts and socks, or the reverse of the home kit, but may also feature a variety of different colours, often changing each season.[citation needed] The club's nickname is Gli Aquilotti ("The Eagles").[citation needed]
The club hosts its matches at the 10,336-capacity[contradictory]Stadio Alberto Picco, which has been the club's home stadium since 1919.[citation needed] For the 2020–21 season, Spezia was forced to play many of its home matches at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi in Cesena, which has a capacity of just under 24,000, because its home stadium did not meet Serie A requirements.[citation needed] However, Spezia was eventually able to return to the Alberto Picco in the latter stage of the season after undergoing renovations.[citation needed]
Spezia's fanbase is almost exclusively based in the city of La Spezia and the surrounding areas, due to the domination of Liguria of its two largest clubs, Genoa and Sampdoria, who are heavily supported throughout the region.[citation needed] With Liguria having become known as a breeding ground for multiple teams since the early days of football in Italy, many derbies have emerged between the football clubs of the region.[citation needed] Spezia maintains minor rivalries with Liguria's more traditional powerhouses, Genoa and Sampdoria, with fierce historical meetings with the former in their battle for promotion in the 2005–06 Serie C season as well as on numerous occasions in Serie B, along with the more recent matches between Spezia and both of these two clubs in Serie A from Spezia's first season in 2020/21.[citation needed] Similarly, the club has played many notable fixtures against Pisa, which has become known as the Tuscan-Ligurian Derby, as well as a rivalry with Carrarese in the Derby Lunense.[citation needed] Other rivalries that Spezia has contested throughout its history, particularly in its time in the lower leagues of Italian football, include those with other Ligurian sides such as Virtus Entella, Savona, Sestrese and Sanremese.[citation needed]
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