Modena FC 2018 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Modena

Full name	Modena Football Club 2018 S.r.l.
Nickname(s)	I Canarini (The Canaries) Il Gialloblù (The Yellow & Blue) I Geminiani (The Geminians)
Founded	5 April 1912; 113 years ago (1912-04-05) (original) 2018 (refounded)
Ground	Stadio Alberto Braglia
Ground Capacity	21,092
Chairman	Carlo Rivetti
Manager	Paolo Mandelli
League	Serie C Group B
2018–19	Serie D Group D, 2nd of 18 (promoted via play-offs)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Modena Football Club 2018, often called Modena, is an Italian football team. It is based in the city of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The club was first started in 1912. It was then restarted in 2018 after some difficulties. For most of its history, Modena has played in Serie B, which is Italy's second-highest football league. The team currently plays in Serie B. They earned their spot by winning the Group B title in the 2021–22 Serie C season.

History of Modena Football Club

How the Club Started

Modena Football Club was created on April 5, 1912. It was formed when two local clubs, Football Club Audax Modena and l' Associazione Studentesca del Calcio Modena, joined together. The new team chose yellow and blue as its official colors. Modena played its very first friendly match on November 3, 1912, against Venezia.

Modena first joined the Italian football league in the 1912–13 season. They competed in the top division right away. In these early years, a great player named Attilio Fresia joined the club. He is still considered one of the best players in Modena's history. During World War I, the team won the 1916 Coppa Federale.

In the 1920–21 season, Modena reached the championship semi-finals but lost to Alessandria. Later, Italian football faced some disorganization. Modena disagreed with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and moved to a different league called the CI Comitato Calcistico Italiano. In the 1929–30 season, Modena played in Serie A for the first time. This was a single league with 18 teams, and Modena finished in 12th place.

Moving Between Leagues

In the 1931–32 season, Modena was moved down to Serie B. They stayed there until 1937. In the 1936–37 season, Modena's new stadium, Stadio Alberto Braglia, was opened. It was named after Cesare Marzari, a former player who died in a war. During these years, the club's name was changed to Modena Calcio. This was because of rules that wanted to remove foreign words from sports names. In the 1937–38 season, Modena returned to Serie A. This was thanks to their Hungarian player and coach, János Nehadoma. The next season, Modena barely avoided being moved down again. In the 1939–40 season, player numbers first appeared on shirts. However, Modena was moved back to Serie B at the end of that season.

The Mid-Century Years

Modena returned to Serie A in the 1940–41 season, even though World War II made it hard to find players. The next year, they were moved back to Serie B. After the war ended, Modena had a great season, finishing third in Serie A. They were just behind famous teams like Torino and Juventus. But in the 1948–49 season, the president and coach left. This led to the team being moved back to Serie B.

The club stayed in Serie B throughout the 1950s. Famous opera singer Luciano Pavarotti even played for the team as a winger. In the 1957–58 season, a sponsor offered a lot of money for the team to get promoted to Serie A. However, Modena only finished seventh. In 1959–60, the sponsor left, and the team was moved down to Serie C for the first time.

The 1960s started with Modena in Serie C. In the 1960–61 season, under coach Malagoli, the team was promoted to Serie B. The very next year, Modena was back in the top league, Serie A. This was largely due to their striker Enrico Pagliari, who scored many goals. The following year, with help from Brazilian player Chinesinho, Modena managed to stay in Serie A. But in the 1963–64 season, Modena was moved back to Serie B after losing a playoff game to Sampdoria. For the rest of the 1960s, the club played in Serie B.

The Later Decades

In the 1971–72 season, after changing coaches three times, Modena was moved down to Serie C again. After two seasons finishing seventh in Serie C, Modena was finally promoted back to Serie B in 1974–75. In 1976–77, Modena stayed in Serie B by beating Monza on the very last day. The 1977–78 season saw financial problems, and the club was moved down to Serie C. The next season, they were moved even further down to Serie C2. This was the lowest point for the club since it began.

The early 1980s saw Modena return to Serie C1 and recover from its money troubles. Modena even won the Anglo-Italian Cup twice, in 1981 and 1982. In 1985–86, they returned to Serie B, helped by Sauro Frutti's 21 goals. The next season, the club dramatically avoided being moved down on the final day, beating local rivals Bologna. But in 1987–88, Modena was moved back to Serie C1.

The 1989–90 season saw Modena promoted back to Serie B. Their manager Renzo Ulivieri and goalkeeper Marco Ballotta were key to this success. Ballotta set a record by letting in only 9 goals in 34 games. In 1991–92, after Ulivieri left, Modena again avoided being moved down on the final day, beating Messina 2–1. The rest of the 1990s were tough for the club financially and in terms of sports. In 1993–94, the team was moved to C1. A year later, Modena was surprisingly moved to C2 after losing a play-out game. However, the Italian Football Federation saved the club due to another team's penalty, keeping Modena in C1. The following year, a loss in the play-offs stopped the club from being promoted.

Recent History and Rebirth

In the 2000–01 season, despite the death of their chairman Luigi Montagnani, the team had two great years. First, they were promoted from Serie C1 to Serie B. The next year, the club returned to Serie A for the first time in 38 years. Modena started their return to the top league with a tough 0–3 loss to Milan. But they followed it up with a historic 2–1 victory against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. The rest of the season was difficult, but Modena managed to stay in Serie A on the last day. The next season, the club finished third from bottom and was sent back to Serie B. They remained there until they were moved to the third division at the end of the 2015-16 season.

On November 5, 2017, Modena faced serious problems. The club was declared bankrupt because it could not pay players or stadium bills. This led to players going on strike and the stadium being locked. The club missed three Serie C matches, and after missing a total of four, it was officially removed from the "Lega Pro" on November 6.

After this, the Mayor of Modena, Gian Carlo Muzzarelli, asked business people to help restart football in Modena. The job went to former club president Romano Amadei. He restarted the club and registered it in time for the 2018–19 Serie D season. Former Modena sports director Doriano Tosi returned, and former manager Luigi Apolloni was appointed manager. Armando Perna, a former Modena player, was the first player to sign for the new team.

Modena finished the season in first place, tied with Pergolettese. This meant they had to play a special playoff game, which Modena lost 1–2. However, Modena was allowed to join Serie C in July 2019 because there was an open spot in the league.

In 2022, Modena finally earned a spot back in Italy's second division. This happened after a very successful 2021–22 Serie C season. Under the experienced manager Attilio Tesser, they won the Group B title by two points over their rivals Reggiana.

Current Squad

No. Position Player 2 DF Gady Beyuku 3 DF Fabio Ponsi 4 DF Antonio Pergreffi (captain) 5 MF Thomas Battistella 6 MF Luca Magnino 8 MF Simone Santoro 10 MF Antonio Palumbo 11 FW Pedro Mendes 16 MF Fabio Gerli 19 DF Giovanni Zaro 20 FW Giuseppe Caso 24 MF Marco Oliva 25 DF Alessandro Dellavalle (on loan from Torino) 29 DF Matteo Cotali 33 DF Cristian Cauz 78 GK Fabrizio Bagheria 92 FW Grégoire Defrel

No. Position Player GK Leandro Chichizola GK Michele Pezzolato DF Davide Adorni DF Bryant Nieling DF Shady Oukhadda DF Daniel Tonoli DF Francesco Zampano MF Romeo Giovannini MF Yanis Massolin MF Steven Nador MF Ousmane Niang MF Edoardo Olivieri FW Fabio Abiuso FW Thomas Alberti FW Lorenzo Di Stefano FW Luca Strizzolo MF Niklas Pyyhtiä (on loan from Bologna)

Players on Loan

No. Position Player MF Kleis Bozhanaj (at Carrarese until 30 June 2026)

No. Position Player FW Alessandro Ghillani (at Lumezzane until 30 June 2026)

Modena Primavera (Youth Team)

No. Position Player 12 GK Mirko Castelnuovo 45 FW Taha Zidouh

No. Position Player 80 MF Ioannis Sarris

Club Staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Paolo Mandelli
Assistant head coach	Michele Troiano
Technical assistant coach	Leonardo Fontanesi
Goalkeeping coach	Andrea Rossi
Match analyst	Andrea Pulga
Team manager	Paolo Ricchi
Athletic coach	Alessandro Brandoli Domenico Bronzi Francesco Benassi
Head of physiotherapist	Riccardo Levrini
Physiotherapist	Jacopo Bigliazzi Andrea Martinelli
Head of medical	Paolo Minafra
Team doctor	Claudio Guicciardi Massimiliano Pergreffi
Kit manager	Davide Marzani Claudio Pifferi

Club Achievements

League Titles

• Serie B (2): 1937–38, 1942–43
• Serie C1 (5): 1960–61, 1974–1975, 1989–1990, 2000–01, 2021–22
• Serie C2 (1): 1979–80

Cup Wins

• Supercoppa di Serie C (2): 2001, 2022
• Anglo-Italian Cup (2): 1981, 1982.

Other Trophies

• Geneva International Friendship Tournament (1): 1947

Club Records

• Player with most games played: Renato Braglia, 484 matches
• Player with most goals scored: Renato Brighenti, 82 goals
• Biggest win at home: 6–0 against Livorno, in Serie A 1929–30
• Biggest loss at home: 5–0 against Napoli, in Serie A 1929–30
• Biggest win away from home: 4–0 against Venezia, in Serie A 1939–40
• Biggest loss away from home: 9–1 against Lazio, in Serie A 1931–32

Modena's League Journey

Series	Years	Last Season Played	Promotions	Relegations
A	13	2003–04	–	6 (1932, 1940, 1942, 1949, 1964, 2004)
B	53	2024–25	5 (1938, 1941, 1943, 1962, 2002)	6 (1960, 1972, 1978, 1988, 1994, 2016)
C +C2	25 +1	2021–22	6 (1961, 1975, 1986, 1990, 2001, 2022) 1 (1980 C2)	1 (1979 C1) 1 (2018✟)
Modena has played 92 out of 93 years of professional football in Italy since 1929.
The club was a founding member of the Football League’s First Division in 1921.
D	1	2018–19	1 (2019)	never

Famous Players

Notable Former Managers

See also

In Spanish: Modena Football Club para niños