Atalanta B.C.

Atalanta

Full name	Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio SpA
Nickname(s)	La Dea (The Goddess), Nerazzurri (Black-blues) Orobici (Orobics)
Founded	1907
Ground	Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Bergamo, Italy (Capacity: 24,642)
Chairman	Antonio Percassi
Manager	Stefano Colantuono
League	Serie B
2009–10	Serie A, 18th (relegated)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly known as just Atalanta, Atalanta Bergamo or the abbreviation Atalanta BC, is an Italian football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy. They are nicknamed the Nerazzurri and the orobici. Atalanta play in blue-and-black vertically striped shirts, black shorts and black socks.

Reaching the Cup Winners' Cup Semifinal in 1988, when it was fighting in Serie B, it became and still is the team that scored the best result of all Europe in a UEFA competition playing in a cadet league.

The club stadium is the 26,638 seater Atleti Azzurri d'Italia. In Italy, Atalanta is sometimes called Regina delle provinciali (queen of the provincial clubs) to mark the fact that the club is historically one of the best among non-metropolitan ones.

History

The club was founded in 1907. A football club had existed in Bergamo since 1904. Founded by wealthy Swiss immigrants, it was known as FC Bergamo. The rival Atalanta club grew out of a division between different sporting societies in the town. The name is taken from the female athlete of Greek mythology. The FIGC was unimpressed with the new club and did not officially recognize them until 1914. The current club is the result of a merger between Atalanta and a third team called Bergamasca. The first, black and white coloured and the second wearing a blue and white shirt, merged in 1924 as Atalanta Bergamasca di Ginnastica e Scherma 1907. The team moved to the site of the current ground, on the Viale Giulio Cesare, in 1928.

Atalanta joined the Italian league in 1929. The club first reached Serie A in 1937, but was relegated immediately. The club returned in 1940 and remained in A until 1959; after a single season in Serie B the club was promoted and lasted a further decade in A, before relegation in 1973 led to an uncertain period of promotion and relegation between the two levels.

The club achieved its highest position in 1948, finishing in 5th place. In 1981 the club fell into Serie C1, a blow which revitalised the club. The team returned to B the next season and made it back to A in 1984. The club's form in Serie A remains uncertain, as it was relegated in 1987, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2005 and 2010.

In terms of titles the club has won little, their sole silverware is the 1963 Coppa Italia. The club has had very few good runs in Europe, the best spell ending in a Cup Winners' Cup semi-final in 1988; in 1991 Atalanta reached UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

Current squad

As of 13 August 2010^[1]

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

No. Position Player 2 DF Leonardo Talamonti 4 DF Daniele Capelli 5 DF Thomas Manfredini 6 DF Gianpaolo Bellini 7 MF Cristian Raimondi 8 MF Edgar Barreto 10 MF Carlos Carmona 13 DF Federico Peluso 17 FW Nicola Amoruso 19 MF Migjen Basha 22 MF Simone Padoin 23 FW Leonardo Pettinari 24 DF Magnus Troest (on loan from Genoa) 27 MF Cristiano Doni (captain)

No. Position Player 28 FW Francesco Ruopolo 31 FW Michele Marconi 34 FW Marino Defendi 47 GK Andrea Consigli 63 FW Matteo Ardemagni 70 FW Fabio Ceravolo 77 DF Paolo Bianco 78 GK Giorgio Frezzolini 79 MF Adriano Ferreira Pinto 81 MF Samuele Dalla Bona 89 MF Giacomo Bonaventura 90 FW Simone Tiribocchi 91 GK Francesco Rossi

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player 18 MF Fabio Caserta (at Cesena) 21 MF Ivan Radovanović (at Bologna) 26 DF Maximiliano Pellegrino (at Cesena)

No. Position Player MF Ezequiel Schelotto (at Cesena) FW Christian Tiboni (at CSKA Sofia)

Noted players

• See also: Category:Atalanta B.C. players

Presidential history

Atalanta have had several presidents over the course of their history. Some of them have been the main shareholder of the club, while others have been honorary presidents. The past president is Ivan Ruggeri, who was relieved of his duties after he suffered a stroke in January 2008, being replaced by his son Alessandro ^[2] that was named president of Atalanta in September 2008.Alessandro's father is unable to manage the team due to the consequences of the stroke.^[3]. In June 2010 after another relegation in Serie B Alessandro Ruggeri sold his share of Atalanta to Antonio Percassi that become president of Atalanta..^[4]

Managerial history

Atalanta have had many managers and head coaches throughout their history, below is a chronological list of them from when Serie A was changed into a league format, from 1929–30 onwards.

Name Nationality Years Luigi Cevenini 1929–30 József Viola 1930–33 Imre Payer 1933 Angelo Mattea 1933–35 Imre Payer 1935–36 Ottavio Barbieri 1936–38 Geza Kertész 1938–39 Ivo Fiorentini 1939–41 János Nehadoma 1941–46 Giuseppe Meazza 1946 Luis Monti 1946 Ivo Fiorentini 1946–49 Alberto Citterio Carlo Carcano 1949 Giovanni Varglien 1949–51 Denis Neville[5] 1951–52 Carlo Ceresoli 1952 Luigi Ferrero 1952–54 Francesco Simonetti Luigi Tentorio 1954 Luigi Bonizzoni 1954–57 Carlo Rigotti 1957–58 Giuseppe Bonomi 1958 Karl Adamek 1958–59 Ferruccio Valcareggi 1959–62 Paolo Tabanelli 1962–63 Carlo Alberto Quario 1963–64 Carlo Ceresoli 1964 Ettore Puricelli 1965–66 Stefano Angeleri 1966–67 Paolo Tabanelli 1967–68 Stefano Angeleri 1968–69 Silvano Moro 1969

Name Nationality Years Carlo Ceresoli 1969 Corrado Viciani 1969–70 Renato Gei 1970 Battista Rota 1970 Giulio Corsini 1970–74 Heriberto Herrera 1974–75 Angelo Piccioli 1975 Giancarlo Cadè 1975–76 Gianfranco Leoncini 1976 Battista Rota 1976–80 Bruno Bolchi 1980–81 Giulio Corsini 1981 Ottavio Bianchi 1981–83 Nedo Sonetti 1983–87 Emiliano Mondonico 1987–90 Pierluigi Frosio 1990–91 Bruno Giorgi 1991–92 Marcello Lippi 1992–93 Francesco Guidolin 1993 Andrea Valdinoci Cesare Prandelli 1993–94 Emiliano Mondonico 1994–98 Bortolo Mutti 1998–99 Giovanni Vavassori 1999–03 Giancarlo Finardi 2003 Andrea Mandorlini 2003–05 Delio Rossi 2005 Stefano Colantuono 2005–07 Luigi Delneri 2007–09 Angelo Gregucci 2009 Antonio Conte 2009–10 Bortolo Mutti 2010–

Honours

• Coppa Italia
  • Winners 1962/63
• Serie B
  • Champions 1927/28, 1939/40, 1958/59, 1983/84, 2005–06
• Serie C1
  • Northern Champions 1981/82

Supporters

Atalanta's supporters are considered very loyal. When Atalanta plays at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, the supporters in the Curva Nord (North Curve) encourage the team with their chants during the entire match.

The biggest rivalry is with the neighbouring supporters of Brescia, and there are strong rivalries also with supporters of Verona, Genoa, Fiorentina, Roma, Lazio, Napoli, Milan, Inter, Torino; while there has been a long-standing friendship with Ternana, fans of the German Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and fans of the Austrian club Wacker Innsbruck.

On special occasions Atalanta supporters display a very large black and blue flag called Bandierone which covers the whole Curva Nord stand.

References

1. ↑ "ROSA UFFICIALE ATALANTA BERGAMASCA CALCIO" (in Italian). Atalanta B.C.. http://www.atalanta.it/atalanta/show.do?dispatch=page&area=squadra. Retrieved 2010-08-13. 
2. ↑ News from Yahoo news
3. ↑ http://www.eco.bg.it/EcoOnLine/SPORT/2008/09/03_ruggeri_intervista.shtml
4. ↑ From Gazzetta dello Sport website [1]
5. ↑ http://www.endtoendstuff.co.uk/main-book.php?element_id=1&chapter_id=130

External links

• Official Atalanta BC Site