Reggio Audace F.C.

Reggio Audace
Full name Reggio Audace Football Club Srl
Nickname(s) Teste quadre (Square heads),
Granata
Founded 2018
Ground not announced yet
Owner Reggio Emilia entrepreneurs 60%, Marco Arturo Romano 40%
Chairman Luca Quintavalli
Manager Mauro Antonioli
League Serie D

Reggio Audace Football Club is an Italian association football club based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. The club is the heir of Associazione Calcio Reggiana 1919, who was excluded from the Italian football league system in 2018.

History

The club was originally found in 1919 under the name A.C. Reggiana, and played in the Italian First Division for several seasons in the 1920s. More recently, it played in the Italian Serie A in 1993–94, 1994–95, and 1996–97. Their highest ranking was 13th place in the 1993–94 Serie A championship, where its main name was Brazilian goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel, who would go on to win the 1994 FIFA World Cup after the season.

In July 2005, the sports title of A.C. Reggiana S.p.A. was transferred to a new investor, Reggio Emilia F.C. S.p.A.,[1][2] before being renamed as A.C. Reggiana 1919 S.p.A. soon after the start of the 2005–06 season.

In the 2007–2008 Series C2 regular season, the team finished first in Group B, and won direct promotion to Lega Pro Prima Divisione (formerly known as Serie C1 until that year) for the 2008–2009 season. Reggiana also won 2008 Supercoppa di Serie C2, a competition for three group stage winners of Serie C2.

The club was acquired by Italian-American former baseball player Mike Piazza in 2016. After the 2017–18 season, the Piazza family decided not to register the team in 2018–19 Serie C, leading the club to the loss of its sport title and subsequent exclusion from Italian professional leagues.[3]

On 31 July 2018, a new entity was formed in Reggio Emilia, called Reggio Audace F.C.. The name was given in honour of a precursor entity of the 1910s, where Reggiana founder Severino Taddei used to play before founding the granata club.[4] The new club, whose ownership was the expression of local entrepreneurs from Reggio Emilia, subsequently announced former Ravenna manager Mauro Antonioli as the new gaffer of the newborn club, admitted into the 2018–19 Serie D.[5] Two days later a three year partnership was signed with Macron.[6] [7] On 20 August 2018 striker Nicola Luche became the first ever signing of the club.[8]

Colors and badges

The team's home jersey color is maroon, hence the nickname "Granata" (which is Italian for maroon). However, the team's shorts are traditionally dark blue, and their badge has traditionally been an orange football surrounded by the text: "Associazione Calcio Reggiana " surrounded by a maroon border.

Stadium

Reggiana played all of its matches in Stadio Mirabello until 1994, when it moved to a modern arena, Stadio Città del Tricolore (a site previously known as Stadio Giglio). The stadium was subsequently bought by U.S. Sassuolo Calcio.

Fans

Like other Italian cities, the birth of the "ultras" phenomenon in the 1980s also affected A.C. Reggiana. With Reggiana battling for Serie B and Cantine Riunite Reggio Emilia competing in Lega Basket Serie A, the youth of the city formed and gathered in ultras every Sunday.

The leading group of Reggiana "Curva Sud" was "Ultras Ghetto", which was famous for its choreography. Since the late 1990s, the leading groups are "Teste Quadre" and "Gruppo Vandelli", which situate themselves in the East Stand of the stadium. Reggiana fans have always had good numbers on away days with a peak of 10,000 fans in Milan in 1994.

Reggiana includes former EU commissioner and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, singer Paolo Belli and Zucchero.[9]

Notable players

Former Reggiana players have included: Andrea Silenzi, Paolo Ponzo, Felice Romano, Angelo Di Livio, Ruggiero Rizzitelli, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Luca Bucci, Claudio Taffarel, Paulo Futre, Stefano Torrisi, Francesco Antonioli, Igor Simutenkov, Angelo Adamo Gregucci, Sunday Oliseh, Filippo Galli, Alberigo Evani, Luigi Sartor, Marco Ballotta, Max Tonetto, Adolfo Valencia, Cristiano Zanetti, and Obafemi Martins.

Youth Sector

Reggiana have always had a good tradition in developing youth players, being a rare club with a training ground which has 16 football pitches, located in the nearbies of the club house. The youth teams play their games in Stadio Mirabello, via Agosti training ground or in small grounds located in the local province.

The academy has produced various players, notably:

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Italy GK Davide Narduzzo (vice-captain)
Italy GK Matteo Rossi
Italy DF Gabriele Masini
Italy DF Matteo Bonora
Italy DF Paolo Rozzio (captain)
Italy DF Alessandro Spanò (captain)
Italy DF Davide Grassi
Italy DF Giuseppe Palmiero
Romania DF Alex Bran (On loan from ChievoVerona)
Italy DF Nazzareno Belfasti
Italy DF Emanuele Cigagna [10] (On loan from Venezia)
Italy DF Gennaro Cozzolino [11]
No. Position Player
Italy MF Antonio Zaccariello
Nigeria MF Wilfred Osuji
Italy MF Mattia Cozzari (On loan from Bologna)
Italy MF Janis Cavagna
Italy MF Lorenzo Staiti
Italy MF Andrea Crema (On loan from Feralpisalò)
Italy MF Michele Boldrini
Italy FW Nicola Luche [12]
Italy FW Matteo Rizzi
Italy FW Marco Pastore
Italy FW Antonio Broso
Italy FW Luca Zamparo
Italy FW Giuseppe Ponsat

Notable managers

The team's most famous coach was Carlo Ancelotti, who coached AC Milan from 2001 to 2009 and then managed Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich

Honours

  • Serie B Championship Winner: 1
  • Serie C Championship Winner: 6
  • Seasons played in Serie A: 3
  • Seasons played in Italian First Division: 4
  • Seasons played in Serie B: 33
  • Seasons played in second division/first division (second level 1920s/1940s): 4

References

  1. ↑ "COMUNICATO UFFICIALE N. 67/A (2005–06)" (PDF) (in Italian). FIGC. 16 August 2005. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Comunicazioni della F.I.G.C" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 November 2006.
  3. ↑ "Reggiana calcio, è finita. La squadra non si iscrive al campionato di serie C" [Reggiana soccer, is ended. The team does not join the championship of series C]. il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 16 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  4. ↑ "Reggiana, è nata la nuova società" (in Italian). 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  5. ↑ "La Reggio Audace è iscritta alla serie D: l'allenatore è Mauro Antonioli". www.gazzettadiparma.it. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  6. ↑ "Reggio Audace, Macron sponsor tecnico e Malpeli team manager - Reggionline - Telereggio Reggionline – Telereggio". www.reggionline.com (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  7. ↑ "Finalmente la fumata bianca: nasce la Reggio Audace Fc - Reggionline - Telereggio Reggionline – Telereggio". www.reggionline.com (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  8. ↑ "UFFICIALE: Reggio Audace, preso l'attaccante Luche dalla Feralpisalò". Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  9. ↑ "Dagli Ultras Ghetto alle Teste Quadre: l'amico Paulofutre ci parla del movimento ultras a Reggio Emilia" [From the Hooligans Ghetto to the Quadre Witnesses: the Paulofutre friend speaks about the movement hooligans to Reggio Emilia] (in Italian).
  10. ↑ "La Reggio Audace annuncia i primi tre acquisti - Sport - Gazzetta di Reggio". Gazzetta di Reggio (in Italian). 2018-08-20. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  11. ↑ "La Reggio Audace annuncia i primi tre acquisti - Sport - Gazzetta di Reggio". Gazzetta di Reggio (in Italian). 2018-08-20. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  12. ↑ "UFFICIALE: tris di acquisti per la Reggio Audace, arriva Nicola Luche". TuttoReggiana (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-08-22.
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