I wrote an article last year about the possibility of Crotone getting promoted to Serie
A, which they did, and the trend of ‘unfashionable’ clubs earning the right
to play against the big boys. Well, it looks like it may happen again this
season as one team are currently in the automatic promotion places in Serie B as we approach the business end
once again.
S.P.A.L. 2013, better known as Società Polisportiva
Ars et Labor (or simply SPAL) are based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna. They
have played there home matches since 1928 at Stadio Paolo Mazza, named after Paolo Mazza (chairman of the club
from 1946 to 1977).
The club was
founded in 1907 as Circolo Ars et Labor by the Salesian priest Pietro
Acerbis, then was renamed in 1913 as Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor.
They are
the club that gave legendary Italian coach Fabio Capello his first taste of
professional football at the tender age of 18 during a halcyon period when the
club had a regular place in the top flight of Italian football. Under the
stewardship of President Paolo Mazza, the Biancazzurri finished fifth in
Serie A in the 1959-60 season and
contested the Italian cup final in 1962 narrowly losing 2-1 to Napoli, having
crushed Juventus 4-1 in the semi-final.
Former
players reads like a who’s who of Italian football - Edy Reja, Carlo Mazzone,
Osvaldo Bagnoli, Armando Picchi, Ottavio Bianchi and Luigi Del Neri have all
plyed their trade with the Biancazzurri.
Reja and Capello
were an intrinsic part of the team’s midfield during the mid sixties and both
were later honoured for their achievements at the club’s centenary celebrations
in 2007. Bianchi was the man who brought
Maradona to Napoli and centre-half Carlo Mazzone coached Ascoli, Roma and
Brescia. Osvaldo Bagnoli on the other
hand, will forever be remembered as the tactician who masterminded the glorious
1985 scudetto winning team from Verona , the last time a provincial side got
their hands on Italian football’s biggest prize.
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| Stadio Paolo Mazza |
The saviour
came in the shape of businessman Gianfranco Tomasi and the club was renamed SPAL1907.
By the time of their centenary in 2007, the club’s very existence was again in
jeopardy and as former players returned to Ferrara to mark the special
occasion, it served as a harsh reminder to their loyal followers of just how
much the club had given to the game in Italy and just how bad things had
become.
In the summer of
2012, after suffering a second bankruptcy, the club was refounded for the third
time as Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Real S.P.A.L. and would begin
life in Serie D.
In July 2013, SPAL merged with the other local club in
Ferrara, Giacomense, owned by the Colombarini family.
The new team, born from the merger, was named S.P.A.L 2013,
with the Colombarini’s transferring the structure of Giacomense to SPAL with
Walter Mattioli stepping in as the new club president.
Under the new management, the Biancazurri quickly found
their feet and, with two promotions in three seasons, they restored the
football pride in the city of Ferrara as new ambitions arise with fans already
dreaming big.
Coach Leonardo Semplici enjoys an attacking brand of
football and, along with President Mattioli, has stated that the club’s
strategy doesn’t involve big spending, but rather developing certain ideas and
programs to make a competitive team with a humble identity that relies on,
above all, teamwork.
Promotion from Lego Pro was secured last season and the
club’s first campaign in Serie B for over 25 years was meant to be one of
consolidation. Little did they know
that, with goals from ex Leeds man Mirco
Antenucci, Milan loanee Gianmarco
Zigoni and veteran ex Lazio man
Sergio Floccari then the dream may well become a reality.
