Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

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 ...

, Italy. The team plays in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, since 1928 they have played their home matches at Stadio Paolo Mazza, named after

Paolo Mazza Paolo Mazza (21 July 1901 – 31 December 1981) was an Italian football manager. He was co-manager of the Italy national football team at the 1962 FIFA World Cup, together with Giovanni Ferrari. Mazza career as a footballer was served entirely i ...

(chairman of the club 1946–1977). In total, SPAL have participated in 24 top-tier, 28 second-tier, 41 third-tier, 7 fourth-tier and 1 fifth-tier league seasons. The club's best finish was when they came fifth in the

1959–60 Serie A The 1959–60 Serie A season was won by Juventus. Teams Atalanta and Palermo had been promoted from Serie B. Events A modern professional structure was introduced, together with a third relegation. Final classification Results Top goalsco ...

; they also reached the 1961–62

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

final. The club is chaired by the American Joe Tacopina, the current manager is Daniele De Rossi.

History

From foundation to World War II

The club was founded in March 1907 as Circolo Ars et Labor (

latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for ''Art and Work Club'') by the

Salesian , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turin ...

priest Pietro Acerbis. In the early stages, it was mainly a cultural and religious association, then in 1913 it became a multi-sports company, taking the name of Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor (SPAL). The team began its professional activity under the aegis of the Italian Football Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio) in 1919, competing in the second-tier tournament. SPAL played in the top flight league from 1920 to 1925, reaching the qualification playoff for the National Finals in 1921–22. From 1925 until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, they played in

and

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega P ...

: in this period, the club's all-time top striker Mario Romani scored 130 goals in 189 games during two different periods with the white-blues (1925–32 and 1937–38). Between 1939 and 1943 the club temporarily changed its name to A.C. Ferrara, wearing the black and white colours of the city. After the suspension of the championships due to war, in 1945 the club returned to the name SPAL and to the light blue and white kits.

The golden period in Serie A

In 1946

became chairman of the club. After five consecutive seasons in

, SPAL won promotion to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

after finishing the championship first in 1950–51. The white-blues subsequently stayed in the top division for most of the 1950s and 1960s, competing in 16 out of 17 Serie A seasons from 1951 to 1968. SPAL finished fifth in 1959–60, thus obtaining the best finish in its history. Also, in 1961–62 they played in the

final, losing against Napoli. In the early stages of 1962–63 season, in which the club finished in eighth place, the white and blues managed to reach the top of the league table. During those years, the club was a launchpad for many young players who became stars, among them

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career whi ...

. In 1963–64 they were relegated to Serie B, but they came back to Serie A after only one year, and remained in the top division until 1968. At the end of the last season in the top flight, SPAL won the Cup of Italian-Swiss Friendship.

From 1970s to 21st century

During 1970s, 1980s and 1990s SPAL played mostly in

and

/ C1.

quit the presidency in December 1976 and was replaced by Primo Mazzanti. The former chairman died in December 1981 and three months later

's Stadio Comunale was named after him. In 1990, Giovanni Donigaglia became chairman of the club: between 1990 and 1992 SPAL obtained back-to-back promotions from

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

to Serie B, under the management of Giovan Battista Fabbri. Donigaglia left the presidency in 2002 with the squad in Serie C1. He was replaced by Lino di Nardo.

Recent years

The club went bankrupt in 2005, and were reformed as SPAL 1907 S.r.l., under the terms of

Article 52 of N.O.I.F. ("Article 52 of the Italian Football Federation regulations for internal organisation") governs the status of phoenix clubs in football in Italy. The article was revised in 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2014. Comma 1 describes the matter of the article, wh ...

In the summer of 2012, after suffering a second bankruptcy, the club was refounded for the second time as Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Real SPAL and would begin life in

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti ...

again under

At the end of the 2012–13 season the club took back its original name. Giacomense, a club founded in 1967 at Masi San Giacomo, a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a '' comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate terri ...

'' of

Masi Torello Masi Torello ( Ferrarese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ferrara in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northeast of Bologna and about east of Ferrara. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,355 and an ...

, had moved to the city of

; on 12 July 2013, owner Roberto Benasciutti made a deal with the Colombarini family for a merger between SPAL and Giacomense, with the latter giving its sports title to SPAL and continuing to play in

. The club changed its name to S.P.A.L. 2013, in order to continue the football history of SPAL. They finished the

2013–14 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione The 2013–14 Seconda Divisione season is the thirty-sixth and final football league season of Italian Seconda Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the sixth since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It is divided into two phases: th ...

season in sixth place, thus qualifying for the inaugural unified

2014–15 Lega Pro The 2014–15 Lega Pro was the first season of the unified Lega Pro division in place of the old Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione. The league is composed of 60 teams divided into three different groups of 20 each. Teams A total of 60 teams ...

season. In 2015–16, the squad won promotion to

for the first time since the

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

season, after finishing first in group B of the Lega Pro. The following year they came first in Serie B, thus obtaining promotion to

after a 49-year absence. In their first season back in Serie A, SPAL avoided relegation by finishing in 17th place. At the end of the 2018–19 season they confirmed their presence in the top flight for a third consecutive year, finishing 13th. The club had mixed fortunes in the 2019–2020 season and, after gaining just 15 points in 23 games, coach Leonardo Semplici was dismissed in February 2020, replaced by

Luigi Di Biagio Luigi Di Biagio (; born 3 June 1971) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. A former defensive midfielder, Di Biagio last played for Ascoli Calcio 1898 in 2007, and previously also played for several other Italian clubs ...

. SPAL were relegated to Serie B, finishing in last place with 20 points. The club reached the 2020–21 Coppa Italia quarter-finals, becoming the only team from

to advance to that stage in the competition.

Colours, badge and nicknames

The team's colours are light blue and white, which derive from the Salesians' emblem. The home kit, since 1962, has been composed of a vertical striped light blue-white shirt, white trainers and white socks. The only exception to light blue and white was when the club adopted a black and white kit between 1939 and 1943 (when it was named A.C. Ferrara), in honour of

's civic colours. Currently the badge features an oval-shaped light blue escutcheon, with a white band in the upper section, on which is written the acronym ''S.P.A.L.'' in golden characters. Also, in the lower section, the black and white emblem of the city is featured. From 1980 until mid-1990s the official badge featured a

fawn Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindee ...

, another symbol of the club. SPAL's most common nicknames are ''Biancazzurri'' (from the club colours, light blue and white) and ''Estensi'' (from the

House of Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

, ancient European noble dynasty that ruled

from 1240 to 1597).

Stadium

0 Stadio Paolo Mazza - Ferrara - SPAL - 2018 - 07

* Campo di Piazza d'Armi (1919–28) * Stadio Paolo Mazza (1928–) The current home ground of SPAL is the 16,134 seater Stadio Paolo Mazza. The stadium was opened in September 1928 as Stadio Comunale, then took on its current name in February 1982, in honour of the former president of the club

, who died two months earlier. Initially it had a capacity of 4,000. Then, in concomitance with the promotion of SPAL to

, in 1951 it was subjected to a heavy restructuring that brought capacity to 25,000. Between 1960s and 1980s it was renovated again, reducing the number of possible spectators to 22,000 until the mid-2000s. From 2005 to 2016 the capacity was limited to 7,500 due to safety reasons and cost containment. In 2016–17, after the club's promotion to

and then to Serie A, the stadium was restructured again to match the modern needs of comfort and safety. In the summer of 2018 a further remodeling took place, in order to bring the stadium capacity from 13,135 seats to 16,134.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable former players

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* Osvaldo Bagnoli *

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* Niels Bennike * Ottavio Bianchi * Alberto Bigon * Kevin Bonifazi *

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* Gianfranco Bozzao *

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* Lucas Castro *

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* Giacomo Cipriani * Dante Crippa * Carlo Dell'Omodarme *

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* Federico Di Francesco * Beniamino Di Giacomo * Dan Ekner * Bülent Esel * Felipe Dal Bello * Mohamed Fares *

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* Adolfo Gori * Matthew Kemp * Jasmin Kurtić * Manuel Lazzari * Saul Malatrasi *

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* Thomas Manfredini *

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* Egidio Morbello *

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* Fulvio Nesti * Oscar Massei * Dante Micheli * Alberto Paloschi *

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* Michele Paramatti * Fausto Pari * Luigi Pasetti *

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* Gennaro Olivieri *

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* Dion Ørnvold * Edoardo Reja * Mario Romani * Giuseppe Rossi * Nils-Åke Sandell *

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* Abdon Sgarbi *

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* Franco Zaglio

Captains

Below a chronological list of SPAL captains since 1950.

Technical staff

Chairmen history

SPAL have had several presidents (chairmen) ( it, presidenti, lit=presidents or it, presidenti del consiglio di amministrazione, lit=chairmen of the board of directors) over the course of their history. Some of them have been the main shareholder of the club. The longest-serving chairman is

Managerial history

SPAL have had many managers and head coaches throughout their history, below is a chronological list of them.

Honours

Domestic

League titles

** Winners (2): 1950–51, 2016–17 *

/ Serie C1 / Lega Pro ** Winners (5): 1937–38, 1972–73, 1977–78, 1991–92, 2015–16 ** Runners-up (5): 1941–42, 1942–43, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1995–96 *

** Winners (1): 1997–98 ** Runners-up (1): 1990–91

Cups

** Runners-up (1): 1961–62 *

Coppa Italia Serie C Coppa Italia Serie C ( it, Serie C Italian Cup), formerly named Coppa Italia Lega Pro, is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie C in Italian football first held in 1972. Format There are a total of six rounds in the ...

** Winners (1): 1998–99 ** Runners-up (1): 1988–89 *

Supercoppa di Serie C The Supercoppa di Serie C, formerly named Supercoppa di Lega Pro, is an Italian football competition played by the three group winners of Serie C, inaugurated in 2000. Forerunners The FIGC introduced a third-level national football championship f ...

/ Lega Pro ** Winners (1): 2016

European

* Cup of Italian-Swiss Friendship ** Winners (1): 1968

Youth

* Campionato Primavera Serie B ** Winners (1): 1964–65 * Campionato De Martino Serie A ** Winners (1): 1967–68 * Campionato Nazionale Under-18 ** Winners (1): 2021–22

Divisional movements

89 out of 90 years of professional football in Italy since 1929 ✟= Relegation due to bankruptcy.

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:S.P.A.L. Football clubs in Italy Football clubs in Emilia-Romagna Association football clubs established in 1907 Italian football First Division clubs Serie A clubs Serie B clubs Serie C clubs Serie D clubs 1907 establishments in Italy Phoenix clubs (association football) 2005 establishments in Italy 2012 establishments in Italy Coppa Italia Serie C winning clubs