A.C. Monza

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Monza

Full name	Associazione Calcio Monza S.p.A.
Nickname(s)	I Bagai (Brianzolo: The Boys) I Biancorossi (The White and Reds) I Brianzoli
Founded	1 September 1912; 108 years ago (1 September 1912), as Monza F.B.C. 3 June 2004; 17 years ago (3 June 2004), as A.C. Monza Brianza 1912 2 July 2015; 6 years ago (2 July 2015), as S.S.D. Monza 1912
Ground	Stadio Brianteo
Capacity	18,568 (10,000 operational)
Owner	Silvio Berlusconi[1]
President	Paolo Berlusconi
Head coach	Giovanni Stroppa
League	Serie B
2020–21	Serie B, 3rd of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Associazione Calcio Monza (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmontsa] (listen)) is a professional football club based in Monza, Lombardy, Italy. Founded in 1912 as Monza Foot Ball Club, they play in the Serie B, the second tier of Italian football, following promotion in the 2019–20 season. In its history, the club has never reached the Serie A and has participated in 40 second division seasons as of the 2021–22 season, the most by any Italian club without ever achieving promotion to the first division.^[2]

In 2020, Monza returned to the Serie B after a 19-year absence; the club's last participation in the Italian second division dated back to the 2000–01 season. Monza holds the record of victories in the Coppa Italia Serie C, winning it four times. They also won four Serie C championships and an Anglo-Italian Cup. Known as i Bagai ("the Boys"), Monza's kit colours have traditionally been red and white. They have played at the Stadio Brianteo since 1988.

History[]

The club's history began in 1912, when the fusion of various city societies gave life to Monza Foot Ball Club.^{[citation needed]} Starting from the Terza Categoria, the club climbed the divisional ladders Italian football during the 1920s and 1930s.^{[citation needed]} In 1939, although still playing in the Terza Divisione, the club reached the Coppa Italia quarter-finals (the only team of this level to be able to achieve the same result was Bari in 1984, to then be overcome in 2016 by Alessandria who reached the semifinals).^[3] In 1951 Monza gained promotion to the Serie B and stayed in the division for fifteen years,^[4] before going back to Serie C.^{[citation needed]}

Returning immediately to the second division, Monza opened its first success cycle in the mid-seventies, when it was noted for its performance in the Coppa Italia Serie C: they played three consecutive finals, winning the first two over Lecce and Sorrento, but losing in 1976 in a second confrontation with the Apulians.^{[citation needed]} At the end of the season, the team won the Anglo-Italian Cup in the final against Wimbledon FC.^{[citation needed]} At the end of the seventies the Lombard club came close to gaining promotion to the Serie A, but lost the chance two matches from the end of the season.^{[citation needed]}

Between the eighties and nineties, Monza saw an era of success between the second and third division: in 1988 and 1991 they won the Coppa Italia Serie C, both times against Palermo.^{[citation needed]} In 1996, the club lost in the Coppa Italia Serie C final against Empoli.^{[citation needed]} At the beginning of the 2000s, the club returned to Serie C1 again and in the mid-2000s, after losing the Coppa Italia Serie C final against Salernitana, Monza entered administration and started again from Serie D.^[5]

In 2017 the club won the Serie D and returned to the Serie C, before losing their fourth Coppa Italia Serie C final in 2019, against Viterbese.^{[citation needed]} In 2020 Monza returned to the Serie B, after a 19-year absence from the competition.^[6] In 2021, they reached the Serie B promotion play-offs, but were unable to achieve three promotions in four years, losing in the semi-finals to Cittadella.^[7]

Colours and badge[]

Badge[]

Monza's first known logo (in use from the 1920s until 1933) had the appearance of a blue shield with a red border, containing the design of the Iron Crown, also colored red.^{[citation needed]} On top there was a white band containing the epigraph "A.C. MONZA" in black letters.^{[citation needed]} When, in 1933, the club changed its colors, replacing blue with white, the emblem was redesigned.^{[citation needed]} The shield became circular, with red and while halves.^{[citation needed]} The Iron Crown was moved downwards and was made golden; above the monogram "ACM" was added, also golden.^{[citation needed]}

Monza's official badge underwent various changes throughout its history, with the epigraphs changing as the club changed its name.^{[citation needed]} The re-foundation of the club in 2004 also involved a redesign of the logo: it had the shape of a shield, rounded on the edges, and its main colour was red, with white being used for details and text.^{[citation needed]} Stylized versions of the Visconteo sword and the Iron Crown were present in the center of the badge, with the text "AC MONZA BRIANZA" above, and the year of foundation (1912) below.^{[citation needed]} In 2013, the badge was changed once again: the Iron Crown was moved to the top of the badge, while inside are present the name of the club, and the double crossed sword.^{[citation needed]} Between 2015 and 2019, the badge remained largely the same, with a single sword being preferred to the double crossed version, and the text on the badge changing as the name of the club changed.^{[citation needed]}

Anthem[]

Since 2006, the club's official anthem has been the song Monza Alè, written and composed ad hoc by the footballer Michele Magrin, who at the time played for Monza, in collaboration with the singer-songwriter Giò Fattoruso.^{[citation needed]} The musical part was performed by the band Amusia (of which Magrin was a co-founder and vocal soloist) with Alessandro Fè on the piano, Carlo Cassera on the bass, Fabrizio Zambuto on the guitar, and Fabio Ariano on the drums and percussion.^{[citation needed]} Other players who played for the club at the time also took part in the recording: Vinicio Espinal, Valerio Capocchiano, Alberto Bertolini and Marco Guidone.^{[citation needed]}

Starting from the official presentation, Monza Alè is used to accompany all the official occasions involving Monza, including home matches: typically it is broadcast by the speakers of the Stadio Brianteo as the teams enter the pitch.^{[citation needed]}

Supporters[]

The organized support in the city has its roots since the early seventies: the first purely ultras group were the Commandos.^{[citation needed]} In 1977, the Brigate Biancorosse were born, alongside smaller groups such as Prima Linea and Fossa Arditi.^{[citation needed]} In the early eighties the various components of the ultras movement in Monza decided to gather behind a single banner, that of the Legione d'Assalto, which was joined shortly after by the Eagles Monza, the most representative group, in terms of longevity and numbers, of tifo in Monza.^{[citation needed]} In those years, nearing the retirement of the Stadio Sada in favor of the new Stadio Brianteo, several minor groups, in addition to the Eagles, were born: Vedano Erotika, Wild Kaos, Libertà Korps, Gruppo Avvinazzato, Inferno Biancorosso, and Indians.^{[citation needed]} Those groups decided to abandon the central steps in favor of the Curva Lambro.^{[citation needed]}

Following the transfer of Monza to the new stadium, the cheering experienced a period of liveliness, especially as regards the Monza Clubs, which came to multiply and count several members throughout Brianza.^{[citation needed]} After the dissolution of the Eagles in 1992, the Gioventù Brianzola was born in 1993 from the union of the remaining ultras groups.^{[citation needed]} They decided to adopt an eagle as a symbol, in tribute to the work done by the Eagles over the years.^{[citation needed]} In 1994 the S.A.B. (Sempre Al Bar, Italian for "Always at the Bar") were born: the split was due to a different way of understanding the tifo and for basic differences.^{[citation needed]} In the beginning it was a closed and goliardic group, dedicated to eating well (and above all to drinking) and that organizing itself with private cars or minibuses for away matches.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001 the Gioventù Brianzola broke up, and the S.A.B. became the driving group of the Curva Davide Pieri: from that moment the organization of transfers by bus and with special trains began.^{[citation needed]} Since 1999 the Graziosa Group also appeared, marked by mutual support with the S.A.B. The Graziosa Group, the S.A.B. remained the only ultra group to attend the Brianteo for a few years, except in 2009 when they were joined by the 1912 group, in 2006 by the C.U.B. and in 2017 by the N.D.O.;^{[citation needed]} until 2017, the latter group occupied the West Stand of the stadium.^{[citation needed]} Recently, several groups were born in the Curva, including Libertà, Ultras Cederna (from the name of the homonymous district), Pollakis (active, until 2019, in the grandstand sector) and Ronco, while the clubs of fans multiplied, with the return of several "Monza Club" in the city and in the province.^{[citation needed]}

The Curva Sud of the Brianteo is also called Curva Davide Pieri, in memory of a young fan who died prematurely in December 1998.^[8] The West tribune bears the name of the historic fan Angelo Scotti, who died in 2018, while the press tribune was named in memory of Claudio Parma, a journalist and Biancorosso fan, who died on 3 July 2008.^[9]

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 24 August 2021^[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ITA Eugenio Lamanna 2 DF  ITA Giulio Donati 3 DF  ITA Armando Anastasio 4 MF  ITA Luca Mazzitelli 5 DF  ITA Luca Caldirola 6 DF  ITA Giuseppe Bellusci 7 MF  EQG José Machín 8 MF  ITA Andrea Barberis 9 FW  DEN Christian Gytkjær 10 MF  ITA Mattia Valoti 11 FW  ITA Mattia Finotto 12 GK  ITA Daniele Sommariva 13 DF  POR Pedro Pereira (on loan from Benfica) 16 GK  ITA Michele Di Gregorio (on loan from Inter Milan) 17 MF  ITA Antonino Barillà 18 DF  ITA Davide Bettella (on loan from Atalanta) 20 MF  GRE Antonis Siatounis 22 GK  ITA Stefano Rubbi

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF  ITA Matteo Scozzarella 28 MF  ITA Andrea Colpani (on loan from Atalanta) 29 DF  ITA Gabriel Paletta 30 DF  BRA Carlos Augusto 31 DF  ITA Mario Sampirisi 33 MF  ITA Marco Brescianini (on loan from AC Milan) 34 DF  ITA Stefano Negro 47 FW  POR Dany Mota 55 MF  ITA Alessandro Di Munno 62 MF  ITA Andrea Palazzi 77 MF  ITA Marco D'Alessandro 80 FW  ITA Samuele Vignato 84 FW  ITA Patrick Ciurria 88 MF  ITA Tommaso Morosini 90 MF  ITA Nicola Rigoni 95 MF  ITA Marco Fossati 98 DF  ITA Lorenzo Pirola (on loan from Inter Milan)

Youth academy[]

As of 1 July 2021

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 60 FW  ITA Luigi Caccavo

No. Pos. Nation Player 61 MF  ITA Vittorio Saul Pucci

Out on loan[]

As of 17 August 2021

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ITA Luca Lombardi (at Vis Pesaro until 30 June 2022)[11] — MF  ITA Nicola Mosti (at Modena until 30 June 2022)[12]

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  ITA Davide Diaw (at Vicenza until 30 June 2022)[13] — FW  CRO Mirko Marić (at Crotone until 30 June 2022)[14]

Hall of Fame[]

The following is a list of players who are part of the Hall of Fame on the club's official website.^[15]

Honours[]

Domestic[]

League[]

• Serie C (Level 3)
  • Winners (4): 1950–51 (Group A), 1966–67 (Group A), 1975–76 (Group A), 2019–20 (Group A)
  • Runners-up (5): 1947–48 (Group F), 1974–75 (Group A), 1981–82 (Group A),^[b] 1987–88 (Group A),^[b] 1991–92 (Group A)^[b]
  • Play-off winners (1): 1996–97 (Group A)^[b]
• Seconda Divisione (Level 3)
  • Winners (1): 1926–27
• Serie D (Level 4)
  • Winners (1): 2016–17 (Group B)
• Prima Divisione Lombardia (Level 4)
  • Runners-up (1): 1941–42 (Group C)

Cups[]

• Coppa Italia Serie C
  • Winners (4; record): 1973–74, 1974–75, 1987–88, 1990–91
  • Runners-up (4): 1975–76, 1995–96, 2013–14, 2018–19
• Scudetto Serie D
  • Winners (1): 2016–17

European[]

• Anglo-Italian Cup
  • Winners (1): 1976
• Anglo-Italian Semiprofessional Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1975

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AC Monza.

• Official website (in English and Italian)