Verona is a world famous city steeped in history thanks to its stunning architecture and – of course – its mentions in Romeo and Juliet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare. There are more dramatic stories to tell from the northern city – the history of Hellas Verona Football Club founded in 1903 by a group of high school students.
Hellas’ proudest chapter in their long history is from 1985, the year they snatched an unexpected Scudetto by four points, their only ever trophy win in their history. Despite a drastic decline almost immediately after their title glory, names like striker Preben Elkjær, Hans-Peter Briegel and coach Osvaldo Bagnoli are remembered fondly by Calcio fans of a certain vintage.
However despite the tales of success from their Scudetto-winning season, there are also plenty of painful anecdotes of a club floundering in the lower echelons of Italian football, none more so than in 1991. Just six years on from the greatest ever achievement by a club from one of Italy’s greatest cities, they folded and were reborn Verona FC.
They reverted back to their traditional name in 1995, but it didn’t change their fortunes, as they continued to float between Serie A and Serie B before in 2007 after 64 years in the top two tiers, they were relegated to Serie C1 following a 2-1 loss and a 0-0 draw in a two-legged relegation play-off against Spezia.
Despite expecting to jump straight back up, Verona survived back-to-back relegations by the skin of their teeth after occupying last place in the table for the vast majority of the season. After three seasons of third-division football, in 2009-10 they were set to make the jump back up. They had a seven-point lead in Spring and were ready for a return to Serie B.
However, a last day defeat in front of a crowd larger than many Serie A sides could manage meant that they were condemned to 3rd place and a play-off, in which they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Pescara and a fourth season in Serie C1 beckoned. Despite this setback, the club were making progress and surely the inconsistency which had dogged them over the last years were behind them?
Afraid not. The 2010-11 season promised much after another squad revamp and coaching switch with Roma legend Giuseppe Giannini taking the helm. However it appeared Verona were set for another Shakespearean-style tragedy as they struggled early in the season. That was before former Inter defender Andrea Mandorlini took charge and the Gialloblu mounted their charge, up the table in true fairytale fashion.
They went from bottom to fifth place and finally after years of play-off heartbreak, this time around they beat Salernitana 2-1 on aggregate to return to Serie B. The fallen giants had an average attendance of over double that of the next best in Serie C1, and appear to now be on the rise once more.
Hellas are up and down as much as a Swiss clock, and next season will be very intriguing – will they float to the top or sink to the bottom? It’s anyone’s guess, but let’s hope that the once-great Scaligeri will be able to relieve the glory days of the 1980s once more.
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