History of AS Roma facts for kids
A.S. Roma is a famous football club from Rome, Italy. It was started on June 7, 1927. The idea was to bring together three older clubs from Rome – Roman, Alba-Audace, and Fortitudo – to create one strong team. This new team could then compete better against the powerful clubs from Northern Italy. Only one big Roman club, Lazio, decided not to join.
In their early days, Roma played at the Motovelodromo Appio stadium. Later, they built their own wooden stadium called Campo Testaccio, which opened in 1929. One of their first big achievements was finishing second in the league in the 1930–31 season. Key players from this time included captain Attilio Ferraris IV, Guido Masetti, Fulvio Bernardini, and Rodolfo Volk.
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First Big Wins and Tough Times
After a period of not playing as well, Roma rebuilt their team. They added great goal scorers like Enrique Guaita. Under manager Luigi Barbesino, Roma almost won their first league title in 1935–36, finishing just one point behind Bologna.
Roma then became strong again and surprisingly won their first ever league title, called the scudetto, in 1941–42! Local player Amedeo Amadei scored 18 goals, which was super important for the team led by manager Alfréd Schäffer. At this time, Italy was in World War II, and Roma played their home games at the Stadio del Partito Nazionale Fascista.
After the war, Roma found it hard to play as well as they did in the early 1940s. They finished in the lower half of the league for five seasons in a row. Sadly, they were relegated to Serie B (the second division) at the end of the 1950–51 season. This was their only time ever being relegated. But they quickly bounced back and were promoted right away under future Italy national team manager Giuseppe Viani.
After returning to Serie A, Roma became a stable team, often finishing in the top half of the league. Players like Egisto Pandolfini, Dino Da Costa, and Helge Bronée helped them. Their best finish during this time was second place in 1954–55, under English manager Jesse Carver.
Even though Roma didn't finish in the top four much in the next ten years, they did win some cups! Their first trophy from outside Italy was the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960–61, where they beat Birmingham City 4–2 in the final. A few years later, Roma won their first Coppa Italia in 1963–64 by beating Torino 1–0. They won their second Coppa Italia in 1968–69. During this time, Giacomo Losi set a club record with 450 appearances for Roma, a record that stood for 38 years!
Ups and Downs in the 1970s and 80s
Roma won another cup in 1972, beating Blackpool 3–1 in the Anglo-Italian Cup. For most of the 1970s, Roma's league performance was mixed. The best they could do was third place in 1974–75. Important players from this period included midfielders Giancarlo De Sisti and Francesco Rocca.
A new successful time for Roma began with another Coppa Italia win in 1979–80, beating Torino in a penalty shootout. Roma then reached league heights they hadn't seen since the 1940s, finishing second to Juventus in 1980–81. Nils Liedholm was the manager, and key players included Bruno Conti, Agostino Di Bartolomei, Roberto Pruzzo, and Paulo Roberto Falcão.
Roma's second scudetto didn't take long to arrive! In 1982–83, the club won the league title for the first time in 41 years, leading to huge celebrations in Rome. In the next season, 1983–84, Roma finished second in Italy, won another Coppa Italia, and even reached the final of the European Cup. The European Cup final against Liverpool ended 1–1, with a goal from Pruzzo, but Roma sadly lost in a penalty shootout. Roma's great run in the 1980s ended with another second-place finish in the league in 1985–86 and another Coppa Italia victory, beating Sampdoria 3–2.
After this golden period, Roma's league performance declined a bit. One of their few high points was finishing third in 1987–88. In the early 1990s, the club reached an all-Italian UEFA Cup final in 1991, but lost 2–1 to Internazionale. In the same season, they won their seventh Coppa Italia and finished second in the Supercoppa Italiana. Apart from reaching another Coppa Italia final (losing to Torino), the rest of the 1990s were not as successful for Roma, especially in the league, where their highest finish was fourth in 1997–98.
Success in the New Millennium
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Roma returned to top form in the 2000s. They signed important players like striker Gabriel Batistuta, Hidetoshi Nakata, Walter Samuel, and Emerson for the 2000–01 season. The club's shares were also listed on the stock market. They started the decade in amazing style by winning their third Serie A title in 2000–01! They won the scudetto on the very last day of the season, beating Juventus by two points after a 3–1 victory over Parma. Club captain Francesco Totti was a huge reason for this title win and became one of the biggest heroes in the club's history, breaking many club records. Other key players included Aldair, Cafu, Batistuta, and Vincenzo Montella.
The club tried to win the title again in the next season (2001–02) but finished second to Juventus by just one point. Roma would finish as runners-up many times in both Serie A and the Coppa Italia during the 2000s. They lost 4–2 to Milan in the Coppa Italia final of 2003 and finished second to Milan again in Serie A for the 2003–04 season.
Around 2002–03, the club started facing some financial challenges. To save money, Batistuta was loaned out, and Cafu left. In 2004–05, Roma sold Emerson and Walter Samuel for a lot of money and brought in new players like Matteo Brighi, Simone Perrotta, Matteo Ferrari, and Philippe Mexès. The club also had some issues with player transfers that were looked into by authorities. The original coach for that season, Cesare Prandelli, resigned for family reasons, and Roma had several different managers, including Rudi Völler, Luigi Delneri, and Bruno Conti. Roma finished eighth, which was their lowest league position in recent times, but they still got to play in the UEFA Cup because they were Coppa Italia runners-up.
In 2005–06, Roma faced a temporary ban on signing new players because of how they signed Philippe Mexès. However, the ban was lifted, and Roma had to pay his old club, Auxerre, some money. That season, Luciano Spalletti became the new coach and started rebuilding the team. They signed players like Rodrigo Taddei, Samuel Kuffour, and Shabani Nonda. They also let go of some players who were causing problems. Coach Spalletti used players like Mancini and Rodrigo Taddei in attack, and Doni as the main goalkeeper. The team finished fifth in Serie A.
In the 2006 Italian football scandal, Roma was one of the teams not involved. After other teams were punished, Roma was re-classified as runners-up for the 2005–06 season. They also finished second in the Coppa Italia that year, losing to Inter. The club then signed new players like David Pizarro, Mirko Vučinić, and Marco Cassetti.
In the 2006–07 Champions League, Roma reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by Manchester United. They also finished second in Serie A again. This meant that in the 2000s, Roma finished in the top two positions more than at any other time in their history!
During the 2007–08 season, Roma sold some of its top players, including Cristian Chivu, and brought in new defenders like Juan and attackers like Ludovic Giuly and Cicinho. In 2008–09, Mancini was sold, and Ludovic Giuly also left. Roma bought Júlio Baptista, Jérémy Ménez, and defender John Arne Riise. Despite these changes, Roma slipped to sixth place in 2008–09, mainly because of their defense. An injury to goalkeeper Doni also made things harder.
In 2009–10, talented midfielder Alberto Aquilani was sold. No major signings arrived until defender Nicolás Burdisso joined on loan. The backup goalkeeper, Júlio Sérgio, played very well and became the main choice. The central defense of Burdisso and Juan also made Roma stronger under coach Claudio Ranieri.
Changes in Ownership
The Sensi family, who owned the club, faced financial difficulties and could not pay back the club's debt. Because of this, a bank called Unicredit put A.S. Roma up for sale. Several offers were received. The club didn't spend much money on new players in January 2011 but sold or loaned out some highly paid players.
On April 16, 2011, a new agreement was signed. Thomas R. DiBenedetto, through his company AS Roma LLC, bought most of the shares of A.S. Roma. This meant a new group, a joint venture between AS Roma LLC and Unicredit, became the new owners of the club.
