Associazione Sportiva Roma (
BIT:
ASR,
LSE:
0DMN), commonly referred to as simply
Roma, is a professional
Italian football club
based in Rome. Founded by a merger arranged by the Fascist regime in
1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all
of their existence except for
1951–52. For their 62nd season in a row (81st overall), Roma are competing in
Serie A for the
2013–14 season.
Roma have won
Serie A three times, first in
1941–42 then in
1982–83 and again in
2000–01, as well as winning nine
Coppa Italia titles and two
Supercoppa Italiana titles. On the
European stage Roma won an
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in
1960–61, coming close to
European Cup victory in
1983–84 (lost the
one-legged final played at home against
Liverpool after a penalty shootout), and finishing as runners-up in the
UEFA Cup for
1990–91 (
two-legged aggregate defeat against
Internazionale).
Home games are currently played at the
Stadio Olimpico, a venue they share with city rivals
Lazio. With a capacity of over 72,000, it is the
second largest of its kind in Italy, with only the
San Siro able to seat more. In September 2009 the club unveiled plans to build a
new 55,000-capacity stadium in the western suburbs of Rome. Its design was modeled after
English football stadiums with the objective being to give fans a closer view of the pitch.
[1] In September 2011, it was announced that the new president,
Thomas R. DiBenedetto,
had reached an agreement with the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, to
have the new stadium completed by 2016. Like the previous plan by Sensi,
this new stadium is to be modeled after English stadiums.
[2]
History
A.S. Roma was founded in the summer of 1927 when a secretary of the ruling
National Fascist Party,
Italo Foschi,
[3] initiated the merger of three older
Italian Football Championship clubs from the city of Rome;
Roman FC,
SS Alba-Audace and
Fortitudo-Pro Roma SGS.
[3] The purpose of the merger was to give the Italian capital a strong club to rival that of the more dominant
Northern Italian clubs of the time.
[3] The only major Roman club to resist the merger was
S.S. Lazio
because of the intervention of the army General Vaccaro, member of the
club and executive of Italian Football Federation. The club played its
earliest seasons at the
Motovelodromo Appio stadium,
[4] before settling in the working-class streets of
Testaccio, where it built an all-wooden ground
Campo Testaccio; this was opened in November 1929.
[5] An early season in which Roma made a large mark was the
1930–31 championship, the club finished as runners-up behind
Juventus.
[6] Captain
Attilio Ferraris along with
Guido Masetti,
Fulvio Bernardini and
Rodolfo Volk were highly important players during this period.
[7]
First title victory and decline
After a slump in league form and the departure of high key players,
Roma eventually rebuilt their squad adding goalscorers such as the
Argentine
Enrique Guaita.
[8] Under the management of
Luigi Barbesino, the Roman club came close to their first title in
1935–36; finishing just one point behind champions
Bologna.
[9]
Roma returned to form after being inconsistent for much of the late 1930s; Roma recorded an unexpected title triumph in the
1941–42 season by winning their first ever
scudetto title.
[10] The eighteen goals scored by local player
Amedeo Amadei were essential to the
Alfréd Schaffer coached Roma side winning the title. At the time Italy was involved in World War II and Roma were playing at the
Stadio del Partito Nazionale Fascista.
[11]
In the years just after the war, Roma were unable to recapture their
league stature from the early 1940s. Roma finished in the lower half of
Serie A for five seasons in a row, before eventually succumbing to their
only ever relegation to
Serie B at the end of the
1950–51 season;
[6][12] around a decade after their championship victory. Under future
national team manager
Giuseppe Viani, promotion straight back up was achieved.
[13]
After returning to the Serie A, Roma managed to stabilise themselves as a top half club again with players such as
Egisto Pandolfini,
Dino Da Costa and Dane
Helge Bronée.
[6] Their best finish of this period was under the management of Englishman
Jesse Carver, when in
1954–55 they finished as runners-up, after
Udinese who originally finished second were relegated for corruption.
[6]
Although Roma were unable to break into the top four during the
following decade, they did achieve some measure of cup success. Their
first honour outside of Italy was recorded in
1960–61 when Roma won the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by beating
Birmingham City 4–2 in the finals.
[14] A few years later Roma won their first
Coppa Italia trophy in 1963–64, by beating
Torino 1–0.
[15]
Their lowest point came during the 1964–65 season when manager
Juan Carlos Lorenzo announced that the club could not pay its players and was unlikely to be able to afford to travel to
Vicenza
to fulfil its next fixture. Supporters kept the club going with a
fundraiser at the Sistine Theatre and bankruptcy was avoided with the
election of a new club president
Franco Evangelisti.
Their second Coppa Italia trophy was won in 1968–69 when it was competed in a small league like system.
[15] Giacomo Losi set a Roma appearance record during 1969 with 450 appearances in all competitions, the record he set would last for 38 years.
[16]
Time of mixed fortunes
Roma were able to add another cup to their collection in 1972, with a 3–1 victory over
Blackpool in the
Anglo-Italian Cup.
[17]
During much of the 1970s Roma's appearance in the top half of Serie A
was sporadic. The best place the club were able to achieve during the
decade was third in
1974–75.
[6] Notable players who turned out for the club during this period included midfielders
Giancarlo De Sisti and
Francesco Rocca.
The dawning of a newly successful era in Roma's footballing history was brought in with another Coppa Italia victory, they beat
Torino on penalties to win the 1979–80 cup.
[15] Roma would reach heights in the league which they had not touched since the 1940s by narrowly and
controversially finishing as runners-up to
Juventus in
1980–81.
[18] Former
Milan player
Nils Liedholm was the manager at the time, with players such as
Bruno Conti,
Agostino Di Bartolomei,
Roberto Pruzzo and
Falcão.
[19]
The second
scudetto did not elude Roma for much longer; in
1982–83 the Roman club won the title for the first time in 41 years, amidst celebrations in the capital.
[20] The
following season Roma finished as runners-up in Italy
[6] and collected a Coppa Italia title,
[15] they also finished as runners-up in the
European Cup final of
1984.
[21] The European Cup final with
Liverpool ended in a 1–1 draw with a goal from Pruzzo, but Roma eventually lost the penalty shoot-out.
[21] Roma's successful run in the 1980s would finish with a runners-up spot in
1985–86[6] and a Coppa Italia victory, beating out
Sampdoria 3–2.
[15]
After that a comparative decline began in the league, one of the few
league highs from the following period being a third place finish in
1987–88.
[6] At the start of the 1990s the club was involved in an all-Italian
UEFA Cup final, where they lost 2–1 to
Internazionale in
1991;
[22] the same season the club won its
seventh Coppa Italia trophy
[15] and ended runners-up to
Sampdoria in the
Supercoppa Italiana. Aside from finishing runners-up to
Torino in a Coppa Italia final,
[15]
the rest of the decade was largely sub-par in the history of Roma;
especially in the league where the highest they could manage was fourth
in
1997–98.
[6] The early 1990s also saw the emergence of homegrown striker
Francesco Totti who would go on to be an important member of the team and the club's iconic captain.
In the new millennium
2000–2010
17 June 2001 – Roma-Parma 3–1: Roma won its third Italian championship in its history. Fans of the
Curva Sud are overjoyed
Roma returned to form in the 2000s, starting the decade in great style by winning their third ever Serie A title in
2000–01; the
scudetto was won on the last day of the season by beating
Parma 3–1, edging out Juventus by two points.
[6] The club's captain,
Francesco Totti was a large reason for the title victory and he would become one of the main heroes in the club's history,
[19] going on to break several
club records.
[19] Other important players during this period included
Aldair,
Cafu,
Gabriel Batistuta, and
Vincenzo Montella.
[23]
The club attempted to defend the title in the
following season but ended as runners-up to
Juventus by just one point.
[6] This would be the start of Roma finishing as runners-up many times in both Serie A and
Coppa Italia during the 2000s; they lost out 4–2 to
AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final of
2003[15] and lost out to Milan again by finishing second in
Serie A for the
2003–04 season.
[6]
The club also re-capitalized several time in 2003–04 season. In
November 2003 €37.5 million was injected by "Roma 2000" to cover the
half-year loss and loss carried from previous year.
[24] and again on 30 June for €44.57 million.
[25]
Through stock market, a further €19.850 million of new shares issued,
and at the year end, the share capital was €19.878 million,
[26] which unchanged as of 2011. The following season also saw the departure of
Walter Samuel for €25 million and
Emerson for €28 million, which decreased the strength of the squad, thus
Giallorossi finished as the eighth place, one of the worst of recent season.
A
Serie A scandal
was revealed during 2006 and Roma were one of the teams not involved;
after punishments were handed out, Roma was re-classified as runners-up
for
2005–06;
[27] the same season in which they finished second in the Coppa Italia losing to
Internazionale.
[15] In the two following seasons,
2006–07 and
2007–08,
Roma finished as Serie A runners-up, meaning that in the 2000s Roma
have finished in the top two positions more than any other decade in
their history
[28] Meanwhile in the
UEFA Champions League during both of these seasons, they reached the quarter-finals before going out to
Manchester United. Despite the sloppy start in
UEFA Champions League 2008–09, Roma managed to reach the knockout stage ahead of
Chelsea in their group, thus finishing for the first time in their history as winners of the group stage. However, the
Giallorossi would lose to
Arsenal in the knockout stage on penalty kicks, ending their Champions League campaign.
After a disappointing start to the 2009–10 season,
Claudio Ranieri replaced
Luciano Spalletti
as head coach. At the time of the switch, Roma lay bottom of the Serie A
table after losses to Juventus and Genoa. Despite this setback, Roma
would later embark on an incredible unbeaten streak of 24 matches in the
league – with the last of the 24 being a 2–1 win over rivals Lazio,
whereby Roma came from 1–0 down at half-time to defeat their city rivals
after Ranieri courageously substituted both Totti and De Rossi at the
interval.
[29]
The Giallorossi were on top of the table at one point, before a loss to
U.C. Sampdoria later in the season. Roma would finish runners-up to
Inter yet again in both Serie A and the Coppa Italia. This rounded out a
highly successful decade in Roma's history, following somewhat mediocre
results of the 1990s. During the 2000s, Roma had finally recaptured the
Scudetto, two Coppa Italia trophies, and their first two Supercoppa
Italiana titles. Other notable contributions to the club's history have
included a return to the UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals (in the
2006–2007 and 2007–2008 editions) since 1984, six runners up positions
in the league, four Coppa Italia finals and three Supercoppa finals –
marking Roma's greatest ever decade.
The "DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC" era
In the summer of 2010, the Sensi family agreed to relinquish their
control of AS Roma as part of a debt-settlement agreement. This brought
an end to the presidential reign of the Sensi family who had presided
over the club since 1993. Until a new owner was appointed, Rosella Sensi
would continue her directorial role of the club. The 2010–11 season had
once again seen Roma start off with mixed fortunes on both a domestic
and European level. These included losses against teams like Cagliari,
Brescia and a 2–0 defeat against Bayern Munich in the group stages of
the Champions League (a match which saw manager Claudio Ranieri openly
criticised by his own players). However, these were accompanied by
victories against Inter Milan and a sensational victory against Bayern
Munich in the return fixture, which saw Roma fight back from 0–2 down at
half-time to emerge as 3–2 winners. Following a series of poor results
which saw Roma engage in a winless-streak of five consecutive matches,
Claudio Ranieri resigned as head coach in February 2011, and former
striker Vincenzo Montella was appointed as caretaker manager until the
end of the season. It was also during this season that Roma icon,
Francesco Totti, scored his 200th Serie A goal against Fiorentina in
March 2011 – becoming only the sixth ever player to achieve such a feat.
On 16 April 2011, the takeover contract was closed with a USA investment group lead by
Thomas R. DiBenedetto. "DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC" consists of 4 other shareholders (or 3 not counting the family trust), namely
James Pallotta
(25%) (of "Tudor Investment"), Michael Ruane (25%) (director of "TA
Realty"; partially own the "DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC" through family
trust for 22.5%) and Richard D'Amore (25%) (of "North Bridge Venture
Partners" and
Veeco).
[30] DiBenedetto became the 22nd president of the club, served from September 27, 2011 to August 27, 2012and was succeeded by
James Pallotta.
[31]
The new ownership immediately went into effect by making significant changes in the club, hiring
Walter Sabatini as director of football and former Spanish international and
FC Barcelona B coach
Luis Enrique as manager; the first high-profile signings from the duo were attacking midfielder
Erik Lamela from
River Plate, forward
Bojan Krkic from
Barcelona, goalkeeper
Maarten Stekelenburg from
AFC Ajax and unattached defender
Gabriel Heinze. The club also sold and released high earner, namely defender
John Arne Riise, keeper
Doni, forward
Jérémy Ménez and
Mirko Vucinic.
However, Roma was eliminated from
2011–12 UEFA Europa League play-off round. After the formal takeover on 18 August, Roma bought forward
Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, midfielder
Miralem Pjanic,
Fernando Gago and defender
Simon Kjær, as well as youngster
Fabio Borini, made the club costed more than 40 million if the loan deal were successfully turned to definitive deal.
On 12 June 2013, Roma's president
James Pallotta announced that
Rudi Garcia had been appointed the new manager of Roma.
[32] He enjoyed a fantastic start to his Roma career, winning his first ten consecutive games (an all time
Serie A record) including a 2–0 derby win against
Lazio, a 3–0 victory away to
Inter Milan and a 2–0 home win over title rivals
Napoli.
[33] During this run, Roma scored 24 times while conceding just once, away to
Parma.
Colours, badge and nicknames
Roma's colours of
imperial purple with a golden yellow trim represents the traditional colours of Rome, the official seal of the
Comune di Roma features the same colours.
[34] The gold and the purple-red represent
Roman imperial dignity.
[35]
White shorts and black socks are usually worn with the red shirt,
however in particularly high key games the shorts and socks are the same
colour as the home shirt.
[36]
Roma's crest used from 1979 to 1997; revived during 2011–12 on their away and third kits
Roma's crest used from 1997 to 2013
The kit itself was originally worn by
Roman Football Club; one of the three clubs who merged to form the current incarnation in 1927.
[37] Because of the colours they wear, Roma are often nicknamed
i giallorossi meaning the yellow-reds.
[38]
Roma's away kit is traditionally white, with a third kit changing
colour from time to time. Maybe because of modern sport marketing, the
last few years have seen the golden trim and details substituted by
light orange. Modern alternate kits have included all orange and
orange-maroon versions.
A popular nickname for the club is
i lupi (the wolves), the
animal has always featured on the club's badge in different forms
throughout their history. Currently the emblem of the team is the one
which was used when the club was first founded. It portrays the female
wolf with the two infant brothers
Romulus and Remus, illustrating the
myth of the founding of Rome,
[39] superimposed on a bipartite golden yellow over maroon red shield.
[40] In the myth from which the club take their nickname and logo, the twins (sons of
Mars and
Rhea Silvia) are thrown into the
River Tiber by their uncle
Amulius, a she-wolf saved the twins and looked after them.
[39] Eventually the two twins took revenge on Amulius, before falling out themselves;
Romulus killed
Remus and as thus was made king of a new city named in his honour, Rome.
[39]
Shirt sponsors and manufacturers
| Period |
Kit manufacturer |
Shirt sponsor |
| 1970–71 |
Lacoste |
None |
| 1972–76 |
None |
| 1977–79 |
Adidas |
| 1979–80 |
Pouchain |
| 1980–81 |
Playground |
| 1981–82 |
Barilla (pasta) |
| 1982–83 |
Patrick |
| 1983–86 |
Kappa |
| 1986–91 |
NR |
| 1991–94 |
Adidas |
| 1994–95 |
Asics |
Nuova Tirrena (insurance) |
| 1995–97 |
INA Assitalia (insurance) |
| 1997–00 |
Diadora |
| 2000–02 |
Kappa |
| 2002–03 |
Mazda (automobile) |
| 2003–05 |
Diadora |
| 2005–06 |
Banca Italease (banking group) |
| 2006–07 |
None |
| 2007–13 |
Kappa |
WIND (telecommunication) |
| 2013–14 |
Store Brand |
Roma Cares (charitable organization) |
| 2014–24 |
Nike[42] |
to be defined |
Facilities
Stadiums
The very first sport facility A.S. Roma used was
Motovelodromo Appio which was previously used by
Alba-Audace. A.S. Roma only played the
1927–28 season there until they moved to
Stadio Nazionale the very next season.
In the 1953–54 season A.S. Roma moved to the Olympic arena,
Stadio Olimpico.
The arena has undergone several changes over the years. The most
significant change took place in the nineties when Stadio Olimpico was
demolished and then reconstructed to for the
Football World Cup 1990, witch took place in Italy.
A.S. Roma has played almost every season since 1953–54, with
exception of the 1989–90 seasons due to the reconstruction of Stadio
Olimpico. That year Roma played its home games at
Stadio Flaminio.
30 December 2012 AS Roma president
James Pallotta announced the construction of a new stadium in the
Tor di Valle area of Rome. The new stadium
Stadio della Roma is scheduled for opening in 2016. The new stadium will have a capacity of 60,000 spectators.
[43]
Training Centre
A Training center located in
Trigoria at kilometer 3600 in south-east of Rome, was purchased July 22, 1977 by the then club president
Gaetano Anzalone. It was opened in 23 July 1979 and was the president Anzalones last act of his presidency.
[44] The complex had its first expansion in 1984 when the club was chaired by
Dino Viola and another in 1998 under the chairmanship of
Franco Sensi.
[45]
The Centre is also known for hosting the
Argentinian football team during
Football World Cup 1990.
Supporters and rivalries
Roma fans at the Stadio Olimpico
Roma is the fifth most supported football club in Italy behind
Juventus,
Internazionale,
Milan and
Napoli
with around 7% of Italian football fans supporting the club (according
to the Doxa Institute-L'Espresso's research of April 2006).
[46] Historically the largest section of Roma supporters in the city of Rome have come from the
inner-city, especially
Testaccio.
[5]
The traditional
ultras group of the club was
Commando Ultrà Curva Sud[47] commonly abbreviated as
CUCS; this group was founded by the merger of many smallers groups and was considered one of the most historic in the history of
European football.
[47] However, by the mid-1990s
CUCS had been usurped by rival factions and ultimately broke up. Since that time, the
Curva Sud of the
Stadio Olimpico has been controlled by more right-wing groups;
[47] A.S. Roma Ultras,
Boys,
Giovinezza and others. The oldest group
Fedayn is
apolitical
however and politics is not the main identity of Roma, just a part of
their overall identity. In September 2009 the club unveiled plans to
build a new
55,000-capacity stadium in Rome's western suburbs.
[48]
The most known club anthem is
Roma (non si discute, si ama), also known as
Roma Roma,
[49][50] by singer
Antonello Venditti. The title roughly means "Roma is not to be questioned, it is to be loved" and is sung before each match. The song
Grazie Roma, by the same singer, is played at the end of victorious home games. Recently, the main riff of
The White Stripes song
Seven Nation Army has also become widely popular at games.
[51]
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