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	Alessandro Ruggeri
Manager	Antonio Conte
League	Serie A
2008-09	Serie A, 11th
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

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.

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 Swiss wealthy 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 and 2005.

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.

The club's youth system has produced many successful players, such as Roberto Donadoni (Italy national team coach from July 2006), Alessio Tacchinardi, Domenico Morfeo, Giampaolo Pazzini, Riccardo Montolivo, Ivan Pelizzoli, and Samuele Dalla Bona who have quickly been grabbed by the bigger clubs. Other players who have graced the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia include Claudio Caniggia, Glenn Strömberg, Alemao, Paolo Montero, Christian Vieri, Filippo Inzaghi, Gianluigi Lentini, Cristiano Lucarelli, Cristiano Doni, and, in the past, Stefano Angeleri, Adriano Bassetto, Antonio Cabrini, Angelo Domenghini, Humberto Maschio, Mario Mereghetti, Giuseppe Savoldi, and Gaetano Scirea

Current squad

As of 19 October 2009.^[1][2][3]

No. Position Player 1 GK Andrea Consigli 2 DF Leonardo Talamonti 5 DF Thomas Manfredini 6 DF Gianpaolo Bellini 7 MF Nicola Madonna 8 DF György Garics 9 FW Robert Acquafresca (on loan from Genoa) 11 FW Christian Tiboni 13 DF Federico Peluso 15 MF Diego De Ascentis 16 MF Edgar Barreto 17 MF Tiberio Guarente 18 MF Fabio Caserta 19 MF Miguel Layún

No. Position Player 20 MF Jaime Valdés 21 MF Ivan Radovanović 22 MF Simone Padoin 23 MF Costinha 26 DF Maximiliano Pellegrino 28 MF Giacomo Bonaventura 32 GK Ferdinando Coppola 70 FW Fabio Ceravolo (on loan from Reggina) 72 MF Cristiano Doni (captain) 77 DF Paolo Bianco 79 MF Adriano Ferreira Pinto 90 FW Simone Tiribocchi 91 GK Francesco Rossi

Out on loan

No. Position Player FW Marino Defendi (on loan to Lecce until June 2010) 89 FW Michele Marconi (on loan to Lumezzane) MF Luisito Campisi (on loan to Hellas Verona) GK Matteo Andreoletti (on loan to Lecco) DF Gabriele Perico (on loan to Poggibonsi) DF Stefano Mauri (on loan to Ternana)

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 ^[4] 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.^[5]

Managerial history

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

Name Nationality Years Luigi Cevenini 1929–1930 József Viola 1930–1933 Eugen Payer 1933 Angelo Mattea 1933–1935 Eugen Payer 1935–1936 Ottavio Barbieri 1936–1938 Geza Kertész 1938–1939 Ivo Fiorentini 1939–1941 János Nehadoma 1941–1946 Giuseppe Meazza 1946 Luis Monti 1946 Ivo Fiorentini 1946–1949 Alberto Citterio Carlo Carcano 1949 Giovanni Varglien 1949–1951 Denis Neville[6] 1951–1952 Carlo Ceresoli 1952 Luigi Ferrero 1952–1954 Francesco Simonetti Luigi Tentorio 1954 Luigi Bonizzoni 1954–1957 Carlo Rigotti 1957–1958 Giuseppe Bonomi 1958 Karl Adamek 1958–1959 Ferruccio Valcareggi 1959–1962 Paolo Tabanelli 1962–1963 Carlo Alberto Quario 1963–1964 Carlo Ceresoli 1964 Ettore Puricelli 1965–1966 Stefano Angeleri 1966–1967 Paolo Tabanelli 1967–1968 Stefano Angeleri 1968–1969

Name Nationality Years Silvano Moro 1969 Carlo Ceresoli 1969 Corrado Viciani 1969–1970 Renato Gei 1970 Battista Rota 1970 Giulio Corsini 1970–1974 Heriberto Herrera 1974–1975 Angelo Piccioli 1975 Giancarlo Cadè 1975–1976 Gianfranco Leoncini 1976 Battista Rota 1976–1980 Bruno Bolchi 1980–1981 Giulio Corsini 1981 Ottavio Bianchi 1981–1983 Nedo Sonetti 1983–1987 Emiliano Mondonico 1987–1990 Pierluigi Frosio 1990–1991 Bruno Giorgi 1991–1992 Marcello Lippi 1992–1993 Francesco Guidolin 1993 Andrea Valdinoci Cesare Prandelli 1993–1994 Emiliano Mondonico 1994–1998 Bortolo Mutti 1998–1999 Giovanni Vavassori 1999–2003 Giancarlo Finardi 2003 Andrea Mandorlini 2003–2005 Delio Rossi 2005 Stefano Colantuono 2005–2007 Luigi Del Neri 2007–2009 Angelo Gregucci 2009 Antonio Conte 2009–current

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. ^ "[http://www.atalanta.it/atalanta/news.do?dispatch=read&id=1284 STAGIONE 2009-2010 NUMERI DI MAGLIA]" (in Italian). Atalanta B.C.. 2009-08-03. http://www.atalanta.it/atalanta/news.do?dispatch=read&id=1284. Retrieved 2009-08-04. 
2. ^ "Integrazione numerazione maglie" (in Italian). Lega Calcio. 2009-08-14. http://www.lega-calcio.it/media/13_-_NUMERAZIONE_MAGLIE.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
3. ^ http://www.atalanta.it/atalanta/show.do?dispatch=page&area=squadra Squadra 2009/2010
4. ^ News from Yahoo news,[1]
5. ^ http://www.eco.bg.it/EcoOnLine/SPORT/2008/09/03_ruggeri_intervista.shtml
6. ^ http://www.endtoendstuff.co.uk/main-book.php?element_id=1&chapter_id=130

External links

• Official Atalanta BC Site