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Atalanta

Full name	Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio S.p.A.
Nickname(s)	La Dea (The Goddess), Orobici, Nerazzurri (The Black and Blues)
Founded	17 October 1907; 110 years ago (1907-10-17)[citation needed]
Ground	Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore (European competition matches)
Ground Capacity	21,300[1]
President[2]	Antonio Percassi
Head Coach	Gian Piero Gasperini
League	Serie A
2017–18	Serie A, 7th
Website	Club website
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. The club currently plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B in 2010–11.

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 21,300 seat 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 by far the most consistent among italian clubs not based in a metropolitan area, having played 58 times in Serie A, 28 times in Serie B and only once in Serie C.

The club won the Coppa Italia in 1963 and reached the Cup Winners' Cup semi-final in 1988, when it was still competing in Serie B. This is still the best ever performance by a non-first division club in a major UEFA competition (together with Cardiff City). Atalanta also participated in four seasons of UEFA Europa League (previously known as UEFA Cup), reaching the quarter-finals in the 1990–91 season.

History

The club was founded in 1907.^[3] A football club had existed in Bergamo since 1903. Founded by Swiss immigrants, it was known as Foot Ball Club 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 Serie A until 1959; after a single season in Serie B, the club was promoted and lasted a further decade in Serie A before relegation in 1973 led to an uncertain period of promotion and relegation between the two levels.

The club achieved its highest position at the time in 1948, finishing in fifth place, a feat only bettered in 2017. In 1981, the club fell into Serie C1, a blow which revitalised the club. The team returned to Serie B the next season and made it back to Serie A in 1984. The club's form in Serie A remained uncertain, as it was relegated in 1987, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2005 and 2010. After a change of ownership,^[4] in 2011, Atalanta immediately came back to Serie A, where it has been ever since.

The 1962–63 Coppa Italia

In terms of titles the club has won little, their sole major silverware is the 1963 Coppa Italia. The club has had a few good runs in Europe, on several occasions being eliminated by the eventual winners.

Welsh club Merthyr Tydfil caused an upset in the 1987–88 European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Atalanta 2–1 in the first leg of their first round match at Penydarren Park. After winning the second leg 2–0 in Bergamo, Atalanta went on to reach the semi-finals, losing to eventual winners Mechelen of Belgium, but in the process becoming one of only two teams in the competition's history to reach the penultimate round while playing their football outside of the national top flight league. Oddly enough, the only other team to do so being Merthyr Tydfil's countrymen at Cardiff City.

Atalanta reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in the 1990–91 season, losing to local rivals Internazionale, who went on to beat another Italian side, Roma, in the final to win the tournament. The club never played European club competitions between 1991 and 2017, although turned down the opportunity to play in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2001 after finishing in seventh place in Serie A, regional rivals of Brescia played the tournament instead, losing only in the final against French side Paris Saint-Germain.

In recent years, the club was relegated after the 2002–03, 2004–05 and 2009–10 seasons, but gained the promotion to Serie A after only one season every time.

In 2011–12, Atalanta was docked six points in the league table due to the outcome of an Italian football scandal. Nevertheless, the club managed to secure another year in Serie A by gaining 52 points in 38 games. The following year, for the same reasons, the club was docked two points in the league but avoided relegation reaching the 15th spot in the final table. In the 2013–14, Atalanta enjoyed another strong campaign, finishing in 11th place.

Atalanta struggled during the 2014–15 season despite some impressive results. At the beginning of the season, manager Stefano Colantuono committed his future to the club. On 4 March 2015, however, he was sacked after a poor run of form which left Atalanta only three points above the relegation zone. He was replaced by Edoardo Reja, who secured the club's status in Serie A for 2015–16, where Atalanta finished 13th.

In 2016–17 Atalanta stuttered at the beginning of the season and new coach Gian Piero Gasperini was on the verge of dismissal, but with an amazing run of positive results the team secured an impressive 4th-placed finish with 72 points, thus celebrating its return to Europe after 26 years, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.

Players

Current squad

As of 17 August 2018^[5][6]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Etrit Berisha 3 DF Rafael Tolói (vice-captain) 4 MF Luca Valzania 5 DF Andrea Masiello 6 DF José Luis Palomino 7 MF Arkadiusz Reca 8 MF Robin Gosens 9 FW Andreas Cornelius 10 MF Alejandro Gómez (captain) 11 MF Remo Freuler 15 MF Marten de Roon 19 DF Berat Djimsiti 20 FW Marco Tumminello 21 DF Timothy Castagne

No. Position Player 22 MF Matteo Pessina 23 DF Gianluca Mancini 31 GK Francesco Rossi 33 DF Hans Hateboer 72 MF Josip Iličić 88 MF Mario Pašalić (on loan from Chelsea) 91 FW Duván Zapata (on loan from Sampdoria) 95 GK Pierluigi Gollini 99 FW Musa Barrow DF Davide Bettella MF Emiliano Rigoni (on loan from Zenit St. Peterburg) DF Ali Adnan (on loan from Udinese) DF Marco Varnier (on loan from Cittadella)

Other players under contract

As of 11 August 2018

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

No. Position Player — GK Mirco Miori — GK Luca Zanotti — DF Luca Milesi — DF Constantin Nica

No. Position Player — MF Janis Cavagna — FW Gabriel Lunetta — FW Guido Marilungo

On loan

As of 17 August 2018

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

No. Position Player — GK Stefano Mazzini (at Pordenone until 30 June 2020)[7] — GK Boris Radunović (at Cremonese until 30 June 2019)[8] — GK Mikel Sangalli (at Borgosesia until 30 June 2020)[9] — GK Alessandro Santopadre (at Paganese until 30 June 2019)[10] — GK Marco Sportiello (at Frosinone until 30 June 2019)[11] — GK Roberto Taliento (at Giana Erminio until 30 June 2019)[12] — GK Alessandro Turrin (at Virtus Francavilla until 30 June 2019)[13] — GK Matevž Vidovšek (at Reggina until 30 June 2019)[14] — DF Alberto Alari (at Carrarese until 30 June 2019)[15] — DF Alberto Almici (at Hellas Verona until 30 June 2019)[16] — DF Patrick Asmah (at Senica until 30 June 2019)[17] — DF Andrea Boffelli (at Pro Patria until 30 June 2019)[18] — DF Enrico Bulgarella (at Sandonà until 30 June 2019)[19] — DF Alberto Carminati (at Rezzato until 30 June 2019)[20] — DF Matteo Di Gianfelice (at Avezzano until 30 June 2019)[21] — DF Alberto Dossena (at Pistoiese until 30 June 2019)[22] — DF Fabio Eguelfi (at Hellas Verona until 30 June 2019)[23] — DF Alessandro Eleuteri (at Ravenna until 30 June 2019)[24] — DF Riccardo Gatti (at Monopoli until 30 June 2019)[25] — DF Anton Krešić (at Cremonese until 30 June 2019)[26] — DF Stefano Marchetti (at Rimini until 30 June 2019)[27] — DF Federico Mattiello (at Bologna until 30 June 2019)[28] — DF Lorenzo Migliorelli (at Venezia until 30 June 2020)[29] — DF Andrea Rizzo Pinna (at Inter Primavera until 30 June 2019)[30] — DF Matteo Salvi (at SPAL until 30 June 2019)[31] — DF Mbaye Seck (at Giana Erminio until 30 June 2019)[32] — DF Emanuele Suagher (at Carpi until 30 June 2019)[33] — DF Eyob Zambataro (at Padova until 30 June 2019)[34] — DF Enrico Zanoni (at Modena until 30 June 2019)[35]

No. Position Player — MF Nicolò Fazzi (at Livorno until 30 June 2019) — MF Davide Agazzi (at Livorno until 30 June 2019)[36] — MF Isnik Alimi (at Rimini until 30 June 2019)[37] — MF Modou Badjie (at Rimini until 30 June 2019)[38] — MF Thomas Bolis (at Triestina until 30 June 2019)[39] — MF Bryan Cabezas (at Fluminense until 30 June 2019)[40] — MF Marco Carraro (at Foggia until 30 June 2019)[41] — MF Bryan Cristante (at Roma until 30 June 2019)[42] — MF Nicolas Haas (at Palermo until 30 June 2019)[43] — MF Denis Hergheligiu (at FeralpiSalò until 30 June 2019)[44] — MF Simone Isacco (at Torino Primavera until 30 June 2019)[45] — MF Franck Kessié (at Milan until 30 June 2019)[46] — MF Nicolas La Vigna (at Pontedera until 30 June 2019)[47] — MF Filippo Melegoni (at Pescara until 30 June 2019)[48] — MF Christian Mora (at Pro Patria until 30 June 2019)[49] — MF Giorgio Pagliari (at Vastese until 30 June 2019)[50] — MF Mario Pugliese (at Carrarese until 30 June 2019)[51] — MF Roberto Ranieri (at Teramo until 30 June 2019)[52] — MF Andrea Rinaldi (at Imolese until 30 June 2019)[53] — MF João Schmidt (at Rio Ave until 30 June 2019)[54] — MF Tommaso Tentoni (at Alessandria until 30 June 2019)[55] — MF Luca Tomas (at Adrense until 30 June 2019)[56] — FW Salvatote Elia (at Juve Stabia until 30 June 2019)[57] — FW Emmanuel Latte Lath (at Pistoiese until 30 June 2019)[58] — FW Panagiotis Louka (at Palermo until 30 June 2019)[59] — FW Simone Mazzocchi (at Sudtirol until 30 June 2019)[60] — FW Gaetano Monachello (at Pescara until 30 June 2019)[61] — FW Giacomo Parigi (at Paganese until 30 June 2019)[62] — FW Andrea Petagna (at SPAL until 30 June 2019)[63] — FW Tiziano Tulissi (at Reggina until 30 June 2019)[64] — FW Luca Vido (at Perugia until 30 June 2019)[65] — FW Christian Capone (at Pescara until 30 June 2019)[66]

Youth team

Retired numbers

12 – Dedication to fans, in particularly for Pisani Curve ones
14 – Federico Pisani, Forward (1991–97) – posthumous honour.
80 – Elio Corbani, radio journalist.^[67]

Noted players

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

Youth System

A young Gaetano Scirea, one of the most famous footballers produced by the Atalanta youth system, during the 1972–73 season

The Atalanta youth system consists of four men's teams that participate in separate national leagues (Primavera, Allievi Nazionali A and B, and Giovanissimi Nazionali) and two that participate at a regional level (Giovanissimi Regionali A and B).^[68]

The first person who was committed to set up the Atalanta youth teams was Giuseppe Ciatto. Every organisational aspect was dealt with and resolved by him, and he also took care to train the various teams. In 1949 Atalanta won the Campionato Ragazzi.

In the late 1950s former Atalanta player Luigi Tentorio (then Special Commissioner of the club) felt the need to start investing more systematically in youth: he decided to create a real youth sector, with its own independent structure from the first team. The youth sector was entrusted to Giuseppe Brolis, who created a partnership with various clubs in the Veneto and Friuli regions, building a network of scouts and young coaches.

A crucial step in the history of the Bergamo youth sector took place in the early 1990s when the president Antonio Percassi implemented a new investment policy, especially at the youth level. He managed to convince Fermo Favini to leave Como and entrusted him with the responsibility of the youth sector.

The Atalanta youth system not only continued to increase the production of players for the first team, but began to win several honours in the most important national leagues. From 1991 to 2014, the various youth teams have won 17 national titles.

Apart from successes at youth level, the Atalanta youth system is also one of the most highly regarded in Europe: according to a ranking by the study centre in Coverciano, Atalanta have the top youth system in Italy and the sixth in Europe, behind Real Madrid, Barcelona and three French teams. The parameters used were the amount of first division players produced by the club.^[69] In the 2007–08 season, 22 players from Atalanta's youth played in Serie A, 32 in Serie B and 3 abroad.^[69]

In 2014, a global study of the "CIES Football Observatory", placed the Atalanta youth system eighth place in the world, with 25 former youth players who play in the top 5 European leagues.^[70]

Presidential history

Atalanta have had several presidents (chairmen) (Italian: presidenti, lit. 'presidents' or Italian: 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 Ivan Ruggeri, who was relieved of his duties after he suffered a stroke in January 2008, being replaced by his son Alessandro^[71]
who was named chairman of Atalanta in September 2008. Alessandro's father was unable to manage the team due to the consequences of the stroke.^[72]
In June 2010, after another relegation to Serie B, Alessandro Ruggeri sold his share of the club to Antonio Percassi, who became the new chairman 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 Cesare Lovati 1923–27 Imre Payer 1927–29 Enrico Tirabassi 1928–29 Luigi Cevenini 1929–30 József Viola 1930–33 Imre Payer 1933 Angelo Mattea 1933–35 Imre Payer 1935–36 Ottavio Barbieri 1936–38 Géza 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 Charles Neville[73] 1951–52 Carlo Ceresoli 1952 Luigi Ferrero 1952–54 Francesco Simonetti Luigi Tentorio 1954 Luigi Bonizzoni 1954–57

Name Nationality Years 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 Héctor Puricelli 1965–66 Stefano Angeleri 1966–67 Paolo Tabanelli 1967–68 Stefano Angeleri 1968–69 Silvano Moro 1969 Carlo Ceresoli 1969 Corrado Viciani 1969–70 Renato Gei 1970 Giovan Battista Rota 1970 Giulio Corsini 1970–74 Heriberto Herrera Udrizar 1974–75 Angelo Piccioli 1975 Giancarlo Cadè 1975–76 Gianfranco Leoncini 1976 Giovan Battista Rota 1976–80 Bruno Bolchi 1980–81 Giulio Corsini 1981

Name Nationality Years Ottavio Bianchi 1981 – 30 June 1983 Nedo Sonetti 1 July 1983 – 30 June 1987 Emiliano Mondonico 1 July 1987 – 30 June 1990 Pierluigi Frosio 1990–91 Bruno Giorgi 1991–92 Marcello Lippi 1 July 1992 – 30 June 1993 Francesco Guidolin 1 July 1993 – 30 September 1993 Andrea Valdinoci Cesare Prandelli 1 November 1993 – 30 June 1994 Emiliano Mondonico 1 July 1994 – 30 June 1998 Bortolo Mutti 1 July 1998 – 30 June 1999 Giovanni Vavassori 1 July 1999 – 30 November 2002 Giancarlo Finardi 1 December 2002 – 30 June 2003 Andrea Mandorlini 1 July 2003–05 Delio Rossi 6 December 2004 – 30 June 2005 Stefano Colantuono 1 July 2005 – 30 June 2007 Luigi Delneri 1 July 2007 – 30 June 2009 Angelo Gregucci 1 July 2009 – 21 September 2009 Antonio Conte 21 September 2009 – 7 January 2010 Valter Bonacina (interim) 7 January 2010 – 10 January 2010 Bortolo Mutti 11 January 2010 – 10 June 2010 Stefano Colantuono 14 June 2010 – 4 March 2015 Edoardo Reja 4 March 2015 – 14 June 2016 Gian Piero Gasperini 14 June 2016 –

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,^[74] and there are strong rivalries also with supporters of Verona, Genoa, Fiorentina, Roma,^[75]Lazio, Napoli, Milan, Internazionale, 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^[76].

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

Honours

Domestic

• Coppa Italia

Winners (1): 1962–63

Runners-up (2): 1986–87, 1995–96

• Serie B

Winners (6):^[77] 1927–28, 1939–40, 1958–59, 1983–84, 2005–06, 2010–11

Runners-up (4): 1936–37, 1970–71, 1976–77, 1999-00

• Serie C1

Winners (1): 1981–82

• Campionato Nazionale Primavera (Youth competition)

Winners (2): 1992–93, 1997–98

Runners-up (3): 2001–02, 2004–05, 2012–13

• Coppa Italia Primavera (Youth competition)

Winners (3): 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03

• Torneo di Viareggio (Youth competition)

Winners (2): 1969, 1993

• Campionato Nazionale Dante Berretti (Youth competition)

Winners (3): 2005–06, 2009–10, 2012–13

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atalanta B.C..

• 
  Official website (in Italian)
  


• 
  Official fans site (in Italian)
  


• 
  Tutto Atalanta: Atalanta News & Gossip (in Italian)
  


• 
  Russian fans site (in Russian)