I found the next Wrexham-like story in Italy, you must read this
Carlo De Marchis
Advisor. 35+ years in sports & media tech. "A guy with a scarf" Public speaker. C-suite, strategy, product, innovation, OTT, digital, B2B/D2C marketing, AI/ML.
A small team from Verona caught my attention, Virtus Verona .
What a story.
You may know Verona in Italy for the Arena, for Romeo and Juliet, or for the other more reknown football teams: Hellas Verona FC (Serie A this season, they just lost to my team A.S. Torino Calcio this past weekend) and AC ChievoVerona (was also in Serie A for a while but now after financial issues is out of the league).
They are playing Serie C ( Serie C ) and are in the playoffs to go to Serie B ( Lega Nazionale Professionisti B ) - so form level 3 to level 2 of the Italian football league system. In comparison Wrexham AFC is going from level 5 to level 4.
As we stand on May 15 they just won the second match in the playoff against Padova and they now will play Pescara (coach Zeman) May 18 and 22. Still a long way to go, it won't be easy to reach Serie B. But still... (https://www.tuttocampo.it/Italia/SerieC/GironeAPlayoff/Giornata3)
The story
So why it's a story.
Absolute underdog: they always played in the non-professional leagues level and recently reached Serie C (Level 3).
Small club. Stadium capacity is 1200. A lively peculiar area of the city Borgo Venezia.
Great fan base. A kind of radical left-wing vibe, which is rare in that area.
The coach: Luigi Fresco is managing and coaching the team
Let's see if we can get Sky Italia , DAZN or others to create a documentary on them.
The history
Virtus Verona, also known as Unione Sportiva Virtus Borgo Venezia, was founded in 1921. The football club is located in Borgo Venezia, a district of Verona in Veneto, Italy. It is sometimes referred to as Virtus Vecomp Verona for sponsorship reasons. The club competes in Serie C, the third tier of Italian soccer.
Virtus Verona is the third football club in Verona, following Chievo and Hellas Verona. It is unique in Italy for having a chairman
The club was promoted into professionalism
The social colors of Virtus Verona
Virtus Verona supporters are known for their hardline anti-fascist and left-wing leanings. The group?Virtus Fans?created in 2006, was split up in 2015, from which 2 new groups emerged:?Virtus Verona Rude Firm 1921?and the?Lost Boys. The?Virtus Verona Rude Firm 1921?have friendships with?antifa?supporters groups all over the world:?Livorno Calcio,?Cosenza Calcio,?Wrexham,?Olympique Marseille,?FC St. Pauli,?RSV Goettingen 05.
From their website
"A lot of time has passed since that "first time", from the first brick laid in the Virtus Verona house: it was 1921 when the red and blue club emitted its first cry. It was born suddenly, in the heart of the Borgo Venezia neighborhood, the eastern outskirts of the city of Verona, thanks to some football enthusiasts. Almost as a joke, mainly for the love of "football" relegated at that time to cramped spaces and often unsuitable for playing football. The important thing, however, was to kick that ball, no matter where, no matter against whom.
It soon became a legend; a legend full of sports but above all human content. A thousand people, a thousand stories. Faith and passion mix, as often happens in these cases. The years pass and the company grows, expands. Naming names is never easy, just as reciting some significant dates from memory: Virtus has always been a big family, for better or worse.
The story of Virtus today takes the form of a postcard, yellowed by time at its edges but very much alive in the images, strong and significant, that do not give space to the advance of time. Virtus Verona has passed ONE HUNDRED years of life and is a club that moves forward, towards the future, writing new chapters of a romantic and fascinating football novel.
VIRTUS VERONA OF LUIGI FRESCO
A decisive stage in the history of Virtus is the appointment of Luigi Fresco to the position of president. Two stories, that of the red and blue club and that of its coach-president, intertwine, inevitably.
In 1979, at the age of 18, Luigi Fresco was elected councilor of Virtus Verona. A year later, at 19, he was chosen as head of the youth sector. Fresco had been collaborating with Passuello for some years in coordinating youth activities, then in 1980 he became the sole person in charge.
These are the years of renewal, in the Virtus home a long series of activities begin swirling, from the editing of the Sutrival newsletter to the gym activities for adults and children. And then the spring and snow trips for all the teams, periodic parents' meetings, paper collection for self-financing, women's soccer.
Since 1982 Luigi Fresco has been president and at the same time coach of Virtus Verona. A uniqueness for Italian football at every level and category that has earned him the attention of the main national and recently also international media, not only sports. Because of the dual role he has risen to the limelight with the friendly nickname of "Italian Ferguson"."
I had alternate headlines for this post:
Original article in Italian by Emanuele Gamba La Repubblica
Italian football leagues system
The system is organized by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and consists of several levels. The structure is hierarchical, meaning teams can move up and down (be promoted or relegated) between the different levels based on their performance.
Here is a brief rundown of the main leagues from top to bottom:
This system can change over time, with adjustments to the number of teams in each league or the number of teams promoted and relegated, so please verify with the most recent source if needed.
Article on Virtus Verona
VERONA - Borgo Venezia is a huge district of thirty thousand inhabitants on the eastern outskirts of Verona, at the center of which stands a small stadium with a thousand seats or slightly more that tells a lot of stories, because there the Virtus Verona plays, wearing red and blue jerseys, the second club of a city that when Chievo was still around was the only one to have three among the professionals, and above all the homeland of Luigi Fresco, known as Gigi, who has been presiding and coaching here non-stop since 1982. The concept must be reiterated, because it's incredible and borders on the inconceivable: Fresco has been both president and coach of Virtus for 41 years, a unique case in the world. The club was born in the oratory of the church of San Giuseppe, then it moved to a sandwich bar and now it resides in this sports center (there is also a rugby field and a baseball field, in addition to the facilities of the sports science faculty) where anyone who passes by greets Gigi, asks about Gigi, is on first-name terms with Gigi. The boys who work at the bar wear a red and blue Virtus t-shirt with the phrase "Hasta la victoria siempre" on the back. In the stadium's only stand, it happens that No TAV, rainbow flags or flags with Che's image are waved. The ultras, so to speak, are members of the ska/street punk group Los Fastidios, who also wrote a song for Gigi, El Presidente, which goes like this: "The story of a man who started from nothing/A coach, the President/In this neighborhood our commander/Who shouts forward for our heart/
The team united will never be defeated/In unity is the strength of the anti-fascist neighborhood”.
Forty-one years ago, when Gigi almost simultaneously sat behind the desk and on the bench, Virtus was at the lowest level of Italian football, while now it is preparing to play the playoffs to move up to Serie B (first round tonight at home against Novara, one-off match) and even has, like Juventus, a second team, which plays in Promozione. What happens here has never happened anywhere: “The story of football in this neighborhood/ You read it on the walls you feel it in the heart/It's made of love passion sweat/The story of football in this neighborhood/Not just football, real people, ideal values and humility”.
Interview with Luigi Fresco
How did it all begin, Gigi?
"I'll tell you about my first time as president: I was 21 and took the train to Varese to meet the sports director Sogliano, coach Fascetti, and the head of the youth sector, a Marotta with long hair. I loaned out a young player, Posenato, for a million. The following year I took him back and sold him to Malesani, who was the young manager of a nearby team, for 23".
Do you also nominally own Virtus?
"At the beginning we were four equal partners, now I own eighty percent of the club".
How did the story begin?
"When I was 12 and playing with the boys, they asked me to help with the football school. I was born in 1961 and coached the children of '65. In three years I won the championship and then they put me in charge of the younger kids. I was 15. We immediately lost a match and then for three and a half seasons no more".
Coach of children and player in the youth teams, right?
"I was a center back. Once I scored a goal against Verona in a tournament, but when I got to the first team the coach of the time told me: either you play or you coach. I wanted to do both so I went to the reserve team, where the technical level was terrible. At half-time they gave us soda to drink, such burps... Massimo Bubola was also on that team. He used to tell us he was going to De André but we didn't believe him and made fun of him, until one evening Rai broadcast a documentary on Pasolini: the two of them were singing the theme song, A Wrong Story. We were stunned".
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When did you stop with the reserves and playing football?
"At 21 they put me in charge of the first team to try to save it from relegation to Terza Categoria, but we didn't make it. At that point the coaches and directors all ran away, so a new council had to be elected and the group I was part of was elected by plebiscite. They chose me as president. And that's where it all started".
From Terza Categoria up to?
"The climb was gradual: one year in Terza, four in Seconda, four in Prima, nine in Promozione, six in Eccellenza, seven in Serie D, one in C2, another four in D and five in Serie C. At least five, for now. Then we'll see how the playoffs go. There was a time when Adailton, do you remember him?, came to help me for a while. He said he wanted to learn the trade and then start from D. I told him it took me 27 years to get there, in D".
Do you know you're about to break Guy Roux's world record, who coached Auxerre for 44 years?
"I've already surpassed Guy Roux, because he didn't coach for a year and a half as he had been dismissed. I'm the only one in the world to have continuously led the same team for so long, because even Maley of Celtic had to interrupt, him because of the war. I'd like to meet Roux. I will contact him".
But what do your colleagues say?
"When they ask me what it's like to be a coach and president together I answer that it works very well: I never have any trouble from the club".
Have you ever thought about firing yourself?
"A few times, but then on Sunday I won and confirmed myself".
Even when you were relegated?
"It only happened once, when we went back from C2 to D, but only because that year the championships were reformed and the two levels abolished, so effectively the teams were halved. However, once we were relegated on the field but then we were reinstated: every year, in C, there is always someone who can't register and those who have their accounts in order take over".
How do you live off Virtus Verona?
"By having another job. Until two years ago, I was the administrative director in a school, but now I'm on leave".
So do you earn well?
"In D, I paid myself 500 euros a month, now 1200: I can't give it up, because by law the Serie C coach must earn at least the minimum wage. As a director, I don't take a penny".
Have you ever thought about a career elsewhere?
"I don't think anyone would offer me a bench. Nor that I would accept. In the past, I had an offer from Casertana after we beat them in the playoff to go to C2. The president told me: if you ever leave there, I will always have a place for you. Many years ago Mantova called me, but at that time I was following a boy who was undergoing chemotherapy and I didn't feel like leaving him".
Do you have more dealings with fellow presidents or fellow coaches?
"With coaches. I'm friends with Prandelli, but I also talk to Castori, Alvini, Dionigi, Italiano, the very good Nicolato. Juric always sends me Christmas greetings. I was also very good friends with Bagnoli, Ballardini told me he wanted to meet me".
How did you learn the trade?
"Self-taught, studying books or going to see the work of others, especially Delneri and Malesani. I was able to do the various courses because I earned them gradually with results, even though for the UEFA A license, which is valid for coaching in C, I had to pull some strings, because the session was by invitation: I asked Tavecchio to put me on the list. I remember the entire Sacchi's Milan was there: Evani, Baresi, Colombo, Eranio. I used to go jogging with Baresi and he laughed like crazy when I told him that I had never played football. Ten years later I accumulated the points to participate in the Coverciano master's: I went up and down by car with Roberto Baggio, with whom I immediately bonded and we spoke in dialect. Before leaving, Mimmo Di Carlo told me: you will see that at the beginning no one will consider you, but at the end of the course you will be considered the leader. And in fact, they asked me to give the speech at the final dinner with the teachers: if you don't do it, who do you want to do it, they told me. There were Pecchia and Nicola, Cerezo, Zè Maria, Cauet, Mangia, Bertotto, Festa, but for example Benny Carbone surprised me: I found out that he had a big fight with a teacher to defend me from an accusation, yet we didn't have a particular relationship. Anyway, I have the license to coach in A too".
Isn't being in C not bad, considering where you started from, right?
"Serie C is a declining category and you always have to come up with something to survive: having more and more sponsors or making capital gains. A season costs us two million euros. The wage bill is 700,000 euros gross, I believe it's the second lowest in our league. The federation gives us 700-800 thousand euros based on the young players we have. Thanks to the tax credit, we were able to get many sponsorships because it's beneficial for companies, but if they abolish it, it becomes tough. If we went to B, we would solve every problem, provided we adopt a wise policy like that of Cittadella, which also twice risked going to A".
Are you really thinking about B?
"29 teams participate in the play-offs and only one goes up, so we have about 3 chances out of 100 to get promoted. However, we came up from D through a play-off with 36 teams: the success rates were lower".
How are the relationships with Hellas?
"Good. We are anti-racist and anti-fascist and for years the police did not let us have friendlies with Verona because they feared ideological clashes between ultras, but one year we found ourselves together at Fiera di Primiero and nothing happened. On the contrary, Hellas ultras came to tell us that they respected us, "because you have remained who you were". They hadn't accepted that Chievo had adopted the yellow-blue colours and the ladder symbol".
What does it mean that you have always been the same?
"That we have never betrayed our origins and our habits. I organized the first summer retreat in 1977 with the youth team and now it's 43 years that I take the whole society to the mountains in the summer, from children to adults. For the first 13 years, the mothers cooked, including mine, and the boys did the housework, then we found someone to host us in a hotel and for 28 years we have been going to Fiera di Primiero".
If you went up to B, would you play at Bentegodi?
"When we arrived in C we spent a million to fix the stadium. Rather than moving, I would prefer to build an additional stand in our stadium. They put up a 5000 seat one in Fermo, it would be more than enough".
But you like traveling a lot, don't you?
"As long as we played in Excellence I never paid the players, but at the end of the season I took them all on vacation together and the ritual continued until the pandemic. We've been to a lot of places: we started from Lloret de Mar, Amsterdam and Paris and then we started going to Tunisia, to Cuba, where we were received by Sotomayor and I tried to meet Fidel without success, to Brazil, to Panama, to Thailand, to the Dominican Republic, to Jamaica, to Argentina, to the United States, to Israel. We've been to Cuba several times, we brought 300 kilos of medicines: a month and a half before departure I gave the boys the task of gathering everything they could find. We also went to Kosovo and Sarajevo with Tommasi and Di Francesco, to contribute to the reconstruction of sports facilities after the war. But often we also do a shorter trip in the middle of the season. In 2018 we were in crisis and we went to visit the Dachau camp: it was a very emotionally strong experience. When we returned we won seven games in a row".
Dachau and Sarajevo are not random destinations.
"We have always been socially engaged
Do you also have well-known players who have known Serie A, like Hallfredsson, Juanito Gomez or Nalini: how do you convince them, even though you pay them very little and they play in front of less than a thousand spectators?
"I'm not so presumptuous to believe that it's my merit: we have a reputation for being a serious company and then many who have played in these parts stay to live in Verona, where life is very good. Nalini, then, I know him since he was a kid: he grew up here. At the Thursday dinners, Hallfredsson also brings the children, while Juanito Gomez every seven between goals and assists organizes a barbecue for everyone: the bonuses we give him are invested like this".
What are the Thursday dinners?
"Another one of my indelible rituals. Forty-two years ago we had them in a garage and my mom cooked risotto for everyone, then we found the restaurant that hosted us. I have never stopped doing them, no valid excuse is allowed not to participate and we all get up from the table together. Why do I do it? Team building, isn't that what it's called?".
How is Verona reacting to your escalation?
"By now the whole city supports us a bit, from this point of view we have partly replaced Chievo, but we remain a neighborhood team and mostly friends and relatives come to see us. We have a small group of ultras whose leaders are part of a band that has a certain international following, Los Fastidios: they travel the world doing concerts, in reality they have more audience than us".
How much do you think about Serie B?
"Dreaming costs nothing. After thirteen games we were last and us and Cremonese were the worst among the professional teams, then we won in Trento and since then only Napoli has scored more points than us".
Do you really feel like a good coach?
"In my opinion, yes, but I also have excellent collaborators. I am aware that many come to work with me to prepare for a career elsewhere, because I give a lot of space to my assistants".
Will Virtus be able to survive you?
"Yes, because I am already preparing for the future
This is "A guy with a scarf" episode No.29 for my LinkedIn newsletter.
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??how we are compare now to Wexhan????all the best to verona????
Realtor Associate @ Next Trend Realty LLC | HAR REALTOR, IRS Tax Preparer
1 年Thanks for Sharing.
Custom Jersey Connoisseur & Founder of Big League Shirts | Making teams look & feel like champions, one stitch at a time! ??
1 年?????? Wow! The underdogs rising to the occasion and making a mark in football is truly inspiring! ???? It's incredible to witness the determination and resilience of Virtus Verona, defying the odds and leaving a lasting impact. ???? The journey of underdogs reminds us that anything is possible with hard work, passion, and belief. ???? Keep pushing boundaries, inspiring others, and leaving a legacy in the world of football! ??????
Head of Brand and Marketing at Sony Sports
1 年Not sure I like this ?? Forza Padova!