Aironi Rugby (, "

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

s") was an Italian professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team competing in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

, representing the Italian regions of

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

and

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

. It lost its status as a regional side at the end of the 2011–12 season, as the

Italian Rugby Federation The Italian Rugby Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Rugby) or FIR is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Italy. The FIR has one seat on the 28-member World Rugby Council, the governing body of World Rugby. (All other members of ...

revoked its licence for financial reasons. They were replaced by

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

from the 2012–13 season.

Home ground

The team played in

Viadana Viadana may refer to: Surname * Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (c. 1560 – 1627), Italian composer, teacher, and Franciscan friar * Gilberto Viadana (born 1973), Italian figure skater Other * Viadana, Lombardy, a town in the province of Mantua, Lom ...

Stadio Luigi Zaffanella Stadio Luigi Zaffanella is a multi-use stadium in Viadana, Italy. It is currently used mostly for rugby union and football matches. It was the home ground of the now defunct Aironi for their Celtic League games. The ground is owned by Rugby Vi ...

. It was expected that

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

Stadio Giglio Stadio (literally, ''Stadium'') is an Italian pop rock band formed in 1977. The members are Giovanni Pezzoli (drums), Roberto Drovandi (bass guitar), Andrea Fornili (guitar), and Gaetano Curreri (vocals and keyboard). Formation and early reco ...

would be used for larger games but no games required its near 30,000 capacity.

Kit

The team's primary kit was all black with a silver stripe. Their alternative kit was white with a silver stripe. In the

the players wore an all green kit. Their kit was supplied by

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

Member clubs

The formation of the team was made possible by the co-operation of eight existing rugby clubs

Rugby Viadana Rugby Viadana 1970 is an Italian rugby union club based in Viadana ( province of Mantua, Lombardy). The club was established in 1970, and has since won the Italian championship in 2002, and the Coppa Italia three times. They also compete in Eur ...

54%, Colorno 15%,

Gran Parma Rugby Amatori Parma Rugby is a historical Italian rugby union team founded in 1971. History From Amatori to Gran Ducato Gran Parma Rugby was founded in 1999 following the merger of ''Amatori Parma Rugby'' and ''Rugby Noceto''. From 1999 to 2002 they ...

10%,

Rugby Parma Crociati Parma Rugby F.C. are an Italian rugby union club. They are based in Parma in Emilia-Romagna. They were founded in 2010 by the merger of Rugby Parma F.C. (''Overmach Parma'') and F.C. Rugby Noceto and disbanded in 2014. Rugby Parma ''Rug ...

10%, Noceto 5%, Reggio Emilia 2%, Modena 2% and Mantova 2%.

Gran Parma Amatori Parma Rugby is a historical Italian rugby union team founded in 1971. History From Amatori to Gran Ducato Gran Parma Rugby was founded in 1999 following the merger of ''Amatori Parma Rugby'' and ''Rugby Noceto''. From 1999 to 2002 they ...

and Colorno have merged as a result of the formation of Aironi to form GranDucato Rugby Parma.

and Noceto have merged to form Crociati (Crusaders) Rugby Parma. These mergers were essential as the Super 10 (now

Top12 The Top10, known as the Peroni Top10 for sponsorship reasons, and formerly Top 12, is Italy's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Top 10 is run by Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2019� ...

) division would have attracted far less sponsorship.

History

After several failed attempts, there was doubt that a deal for Italian entry into the Celtic League would be completed in time for the 2010–11 season, with the Scots delaying support for entry until changes were made to the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

management structure. In February 2010 it was announced that the planned expansion of the Celtic League was to be pust on hold. The reasons were the insistence by existing members that the Italian teams could be ejected after three years. Also the financial demands the league placed on the Italians could not be met. The existing teams said this was to cover the need to have larger squads to cover the extra fixtures and additional travel expenses. Agreement was reached in early March 2010 to allow Italian teams entry to the Celtic League in time for the 2010–11 season. The clubs would also be guaranteed places annually into the

that had previously been awarded to the two top teams in the National Championship of Excellence. Italy had failed to make an impact in the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

tournament since joining 10 years earlier. This was largely blamed on the fact their best players did not have a competitive enough domestic tournament or were forced to play abroad. The fact that the Six Nations decider in 2009 between Wales and Ireland featured 42 Celtic League players out of 44 in their squads supported this notion. Most Italian players played in France's

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. In order to ensure the new teams delivered players for the national side the

Federazione Italiana Rugby The Italian Rugby Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Rugby) or FIR is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Italy. The FIR has one seat on the 28-member World Rugby Council, the governing body of World Rugby. (All other members of ...

put incentives in place for the new teams. The successful franchises would receive financial support from the FIR to recruit national team players at the time playing abroad and fresh home-grown talent. Signing one of Italy's top players, most of whom play abroad, would net clubs €50,000, while other lesser players, mostly plying their trade in the Italian Super 10 series (Italy's top flight league at the time), would scoop €30,000 and €20,000 bonuses. It was proposed initially that Aironi would join along with a new team

Praetorians Roma The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

, but Benetton Treviso were nominated instead of Roma. Treviso and Duchi Nord-Ovest could not agree to form one club to represent the

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

region and lost out in the first round of bidding despite the region being the traditional home of Italian rugby. However Roma failed to satisfy the evaluators of their financial muscle and Treviso were nominated in their stead. This was boosted by Treviso's defeat of

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, Franc ...

in the

. Roma were to be based at the

Stadio Flaminio The Stadio Flaminio is a stadium in Rome. It lies along the Via Flaminia, three kilometres northwest of the city centre, 300 metres away from the Parco di Villa Glori. The interior spaces include a covered swimming pool, rooms for fencing, amat ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where Six Nations matches had been staged.

2010–11 Debut Season

Aironi had a very difficult debut season. They initially struggled to compete in the

. Their coach, Franco Bernini, was sacked in November after a run of disappointing losses. They suffered a number of heavy defeats but often when they did lose (particularly at home) they did so by a single score. This is evidenced by the 8 Losing Bonus points received in 22 games. They finally registered their first win against French team

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

in December in the Heineken Cup. This was a massive shock as Biarritz had contested the previous year's final. Their first Celtic League win came at home against

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

on 26 March, which they won 25–13. They finished bottom of the league in 12th.

Squad

*Players in bold capped internationally. *Players with the symbol * are qualified to play for Italy on residency or dual nationality so not counted as a Non-Italian player in squad. *Notes: **Players in ''Italic'' joined in the winter.

Magners League The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

2010–11 Heineken Cup pool stage - Pool 4

2011–12 Final Season

Aironi again struggled in the Pro12 league and finished last. However they did record four victories, including a notable home win over defending champions

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

and eventual

Semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

ists

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. In a very tough Heineken Cup group they failed to record any win, or even a losing bonus point. In March Aironi announced they were in financial difficulty. The FIR decided to withdraw their licence for the upcoming season, the death knell for Aironi. Viadana, the primary club behind Aironi applied to take the vacant place in the Pro12 but this was rejected by the FIR. In June 2012 it was announced that the new franchise would be known as

, which would be based in Parma and be built around Italian players.

Squad 2011–12 - Final Season

**''World Cup Cover''

Transfers

Players Out 2012–2013

* Alberto de Marchi to Benetton Treviso *

Giulio Toniolatti Giulio Toniolatti (born 15 January 1984) is an Italian rugby union footballer who plays as a winger. A native of Rome, Toniolatti made his debut for Italy in 2008 against Australia and was part of the Italian squad at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. ...

to Benetton Treviso *

Carlo Del Fava Carlo Antonio Del Fava (born 1 July 1981) is a South African-born Italian former rugby union player. His preferred position was Lock. After hanging his boots up he then decided to take up coaching. Del Fava was born in Mthatha, South Africa to ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

* Lorenzo Romano to

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

* Fabio Staibano to

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

* George Biagi to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Joshua Furno Joshua Furno (born 21 October 1989) is an Italian rugby union player who plays Lock for US Dax in Pro D2. He also represents Italy as a member of the Italian national team. Career Raffaele Joshua Furno was born in Australia but grew up in It ...

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in France, commune in Southern France in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. It lies from Paris in the Aude Departments of Franc ...

* Nick Williams to

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

* Frans Viljoen to * Matías Agüero to

*Andrea de Marchi to

Salvatore Perugini Salvatore Perugini (born 6 March 1978 in Benevento) is a former Italian rugby union player. He made his debut for the Italian national team in 2000 against Ireland. Perugini usually played at prop. He previously played for Italian club Calvisano ...

* Tommaso D'Apice to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

*Antonio Denti to

Marco Bortolami Marco Bortolami (; born 12 June 1980) is a rugby union coach and retired Italian international player, whose career includes experience playing in the national top-level Italian (Petrarca Padova), French (RC Narbonne), and English (Gloucester Rug ...

Quintin Geldenhuys Quintin Geldenhuys (born 19 June 1981) is a South Africa-born Italian rugby union player. Geldenhuys, who played lock, represented the Italian URC franchise Zebre. He made his debut for Italy against Australia on 13 June 2009. He qualified for ...

*Nicola Cattina to

Filippo Ferrarini Filippo Ferrarini (born 7 September 1990) is an Italian rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Rugby Noceto in Serie A. In 2016 he also played for Ohio Aviators in the US PRO Rugby competition and he previously played with Zebre in th ...

Tito Tebaldi Tito Tebaldi (born 20 September 1987) is an Italian rugby union player. He plays as scrum-half. He made his debut for Italy against Australia on 13 June 2009. Career Tebaldi is the nephew of former Italy fullback Daniele Tebaldi, began his c ...

Luciano Orquera Luciano Orquera (born 12 October 1981 in Córdoba) is an Argentine-Italian rugby union player. He plays as a fly-half for Zebre, an Italian club in the Pro14. Rugby Union career Amateur career Born in Argentina of Italian descent, he first pl ...

*Gilberto Pavan to

* Matteo Pratichetti to

*Roberto Quartaroli to

Giovanbattista Venditti Giovanbattista Venditti (born 27 March 1990) is a retired Italian rugby union player for of Italian national rugby union team. He represented Italy on 44 occasions and he normally played as a wing. In January 2012 he was called up to the Italian ...

Alberto Benettin Alberto Benettin (born Padova, 25 November 1990) is an Italian rugby union player. He plays as a fly-half. He currently plays for Zebre in the Pro14. Benettin made his debut for Italian national rugby union team against Canada Canada ...

Paolo Buso Paolo Buso (born 28 July 1986) is an Italian rugby union, rugby player. He currently plays for Zebre. Career After joining Rugby Calvisano, Calvisano at age 17 in 2003, Buso made the first team in 2006, and scored 30 points in 14 league match ...

* Ruggero Trevisan to

*Naas Olivier to

References

External links

Rugby Viadana siteAironi siteAironi Rugby official facebook pageAironi Rugby official photo album
{{Rugby union in Italy United Rugby Championship teams Italian rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 2010 Sports clubs disestablished in 2012 Sport in Lombardy