Novara FC facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Novara

Full name	Novara Football Club
Nickname(s)	Gli Azzurri (The Blues/The Light Blues) I Gaudenziani (The Gaudentians)
Founded	1908; 117 years ago (1908)
Ground	Stadio Silvio Piola, Novara, Italy
Ground Capacity	17,875
Chairman	Famiglia Boveri
Manager	Giuseppe Mascara
League	Serie C Group A
2018–19	Serie C Group A, 9th of 20
Home colours Away colours

Novara Football Club, often just called Novara, is an Italian football team. It's based in the city of Novara, which is in the Piedmont region of Italy.

The club was started in 2021 by the City of Novara. This happened because the older team, Novara Calcio, lost its professional status.

Club History

The story of Novara football began in December 1908. Eight students from Liceo Carlo Alberto, who were about 15 or 16 years old, created a group called F.A.S. (Football Association Studenti). Among them were Gianni Canestrini and Piero Zorini.

Back then, Novara had many small football clubs. The best players from these teams came together to form Novara Calcio. They played their first official game in the Italian league on 3 November 1912. Their first match was against Torino, a team that was already well-known, and Novara lost 2–1.

Between World War I and World War II, Novara was part of a group of strong teams in the Piedmont region. This group was known as the "Piedmont Quadrilateral" and included Pro Vercelli, Alessandria, and Casale. In 1939, Novara even played in a Coppa Italia final against Inter Milan. The club's best finish in the top league, Serie A, was in 1952 when they came in eighth place.

Italy's and club's legend Silvio Piola spent 7 seasons with Novara in the post–World War II era

A big reason for Novara's success in those years was Silvio Piola. He scored many goals, over 300 in his career, which greatly helped the team. After he passed away in 1996, Novara's home stadium was named after him to honor his contributions.

In 1956, Novara was moved down to Serie B, the second division. Five years later, they went down to Serie C because of a problem with a player from another team, Sambenedettese.

Novara had a few good seasons in Serie B after that. But in 1977, they were moved down to Serie C again. Things got even tougher in 1981 when they dropped to Serie C2. In the 1995–96 season, Novara made it back to Serie C1, but this joy didn't last long as they were moved down again the next year.

The club spent many years in the lower divisions of Italian football. Then, in the 2002–03 season, they won their league, which was a big step forward.

Climbing from Serie C1 to Serie A

After winning their league, Novara became a strong team in Serie C1 (which later became Lega Pro Prima Divisione). In the 2009–10 season, the club made a historic return to Serie B after 33 years!

On 12 June 2011, Novara achieved something amazing. They earned promotion to Serie A, the top league, after 55 years away! They won against Padova in the play-off final. Both of these promotions happened with coach Attilio Tesser leading the team. He stayed on as coach for their Serie A season.

On 20 September 2011, Novara played their first home game in Serie A in 55 years. They had a fantastic 3–1 victory over Inter.

However, this great start didn't show how the rest of their season would go. Novara only won one more game until the end of January, which was another victory against Inter at their stadium, San Siro. Coach Attilio Tesser was replaced by Emiliano Mondonico, but Tesser was brought back a month later. Despite these changes, the team was moved back down to Serie B after just one season.

In the 2012–13 season, Novara finished 5th in Serie B. They made it to the promotion play-offs but lost to Empoli. The next season, 2013–14, was very tough. Novara finished 19th in Serie B and lost a play-out match against Varese, which meant they were moved down to Lega Pro.

But Novara bounced back quickly! They were crowned champions of Group A of Lega Pro in 2014–15 and immediately returned to Serie B. In their first season back in Serie B, they reached the play-offs but lost to Pescara in the semi-final. The following season, they finished 9th, just missing the play-offs. In the 2017–18 Serie B season, Novara was moved down to Lega Pro again after finishing 20th.

In the summer of 2021, Novara lost its professional status. A new club was then started in Serie D (a lower league) following the rules of Italian football. They worked hard and were promoted back to Serie C in May 2022, after finishing at the top of their group in Serie D.

Current Squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Stefano Minelli 5 DF Davide Bertoncini 7 FW Filippo Gerardini 8 MF Alessandro Di Munno 9 FW Raúl Asencio 10 FW Christian Donadio 11 FW Adam Pálsson 12 GK Edoardo Negri 15 DF Omar Khailoti 17 FW Francesco Attanasio 19 MF Riccardo Calcagni 20 FW Marco Da Graca 21 MF Roberto Ranieri 23 FW Leonardo Morosini 24 DF Luca Ghiringhelli 25 FW Aurelio Leo Virisario

No. Position Player 26 DF Filippo Lorenzini 28 DF Adrian Cannavaro 29 MF Tommaso Maressa 31 GK Axel Desjardins 62 DF Nicola Camolese 72 DF Giuseppe Agyemang 77 FW Raffaele Sibilio 90 FW Simone Ganz 99 MF Gianmarco Basso GK Elia Boseggia GK João Vitor DF Gracien Deseri MF Riccardo Collodel MF Enej Jelenič MF Nicolò Ledonne FW Thomas Alberti

Managers

Club Honours

Novara Football Club has won several titles throughout its history:

League Titles

• Serie B
  • Winners: 1926–27, 1937–38, 1947–48
• Serie C
  • Winners: 1964–65, 1969–70, 2009–10, 2014–15
• Serie C2
  • Winners: 1995–96
• Serie D
  • Winners: 2021–22

Cup Titles

• Supercoppa di Serie C
  • Winners: 2010, 2015

Team's Journey Through Leagues

This table shows how Novara has moved between different Italian football leagues over the years.

Series	Years	Last Season There	Promotions	Relegations
A	13	2011–12	-	5 (1929, 1937, 1941, 1956, 2012)
B	34	2015–16	5 (1927, 1936, 1938, 1948, 2011)	5 (1962, 1968, 1977, 2014, 2018)
C +C2	21 +21	2020–21	4 (1965, 1970, 2010, 2015) 2 (1996 C2, 2003 C2)	3 (1981 C1, 1997 C1, 2021✟)
Novara has played 89 out of 90 years in professional Italian football since 1929.
D	1	2021–22	-	-

See also

In Spanish: Novara Football Club para niños