Roma

150px
Full name	Associazione Sportiva Roma SpA
Nickname(s)	i Giallorossi (The Yellow-Reds) La Maggica (The Magic One) i Lupi (The Wolves)
Founded	July 22, 1927; 84 years ago  (1927-07-22) (by Italo Foschi)
Ground	Stadio Olimpico Rome, Italy (Capacity: 72,698)
President	Thomas R. DiBenedetto
Head coach	Vacant
League	Serie A
2011–12	Serie A, 7th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Associazione Sportiva Roma (BIT: ASR, LSE: 0DMN), commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger arranged by the Fascist regime in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s (1951–52). For their 60th season in a row (79th overall), Roma competed in Serie A for the 2011–12 season.

Roma have won Serie A three times, first in 1941–42 then in 1982–83 and again in 2000–01, as well as winning nine Coppa Italia titles and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. On the European stage Roma won an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960–61, coming close to European Cup victory in 1983–84 (lost the one-legged final played at home against Liverpool after a penalty shootout), and finishing as runners-up in the UEFA Cup for 1990–91 (two-legged aggregate defeat against Internazionale).

Home games are currently played at the Stadio Olimpico, a venue they share with city rivals Lazio. With a capacity of over 72,000, it is the second largest of its kind in Italy, with only San Siro able to seat more. In September 2009 the club unveiled plans to build a new 55,000-capacity stadium in the western suburbs of Rome. Its design was modeled after English football stadiums with the objective being to give fans a closer view of the pitch.^[1] In September 2011, it was announced that the new president, Thomas DiBenedetto, had reached an agreement with the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, to have the new stadium completed by 2014. Like the previous plan by Sensi, this new stadium is to be modeled after English stadiums.^[2]

History[link]

A.S. Roma was founded in the summer of 1927 when a secretary of the National Fascist Party, Italo Foschi,^[3] initiated the merger of three older Italian Football Championship clubs from the city of Rome; Roman FC, SS Alba-Audace and Fortitudo-Pro Roma SGS.^[3] The purpose of the merger was to give the Eternal City a strong club to rival that of the more dominant Northern Italian clubs of the time.^[3] The only major Roman club to resist the merger was S.S. Lazio because of the intervention of the army General Vaccaro, member of the club and executive of Italian Football Federation. The club played its earliest seasons at the Motovelodromo Appio stadium,^[4] before settling in the working-class streets of Testaccio, where it built an all-wooden ground Campo Testaccio; this was opened in November 1929.^[5] An early season in which Roma made a large mark was the 1930–31 championship, the club finished as runners-up behind Juventus.^[6] Captain Attilio Ferraris along with Guido Masetti, Fulvio Bernardini and Rodolfo Volk were highly important players during this period.^[7]

First title victory and decline[link]

After a slump in league form and the departure of high key players, Roma eventually rebuilt their squad adding goalscorers such as the Argentine Enrique Guaita.^[8] Under the management of Luigi Barbesino, the Roman club came close to their first title in 1935–36; finishing just one point behind champions Bologna.^[9]

Roma returned to form after being inconsistent for much of the late 1930s; Roma recorded an unexpected title triumph in the 1941–42 season by winning their first ever scudetto title.^[10] The eighteen goals scored by local player Amedeo Amadei were essential to the Alfréd Schaffer coached Roma side winning the title. At the time Italy was involved in World War II and Roma were playing at the Stadio del Partito Nazionale Fascista.^[11]

In the years just after the war, Roma were unable to recapture their league stature from the early 1940s. Roma finished in the lower half of Serie A for five seasons in a row, before eventually succumbing to their only ever relegation to Serie B at the end of the 1950–51 season;^[6][12] around a decade after their championship victory. Under future national team manager Giuseppe Viani, promotion straight back up was achieved.^[13]

After returning to the Serie A, Roma managed to stabilise themselves as a top half club again with players such as Egisto Pandolfini, Dino Da Costa and Dane Helge Bronée.^[6] Their best finish of this period was under the management of Englishman Jesse Carver, when in 1954–55 they finished as runners-up, after Udinese who originally finished second were relegated for corruption.^[6] Although Roma were unable to break into the top four during the following decade, they did achieve some measure of cup success. Their first honour outside of Italy was recorded in 1960–61 when Roma won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by beating Birmingham City 4–2 in the finals.^[14] A few years later Roma won their first Coppa Italia trophy in 1963–64, by beating Torino 1–0.^[15]

Their lowest point came during the 1964–65 season when manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo announced that the club could not pay its players and was unlikely to be able to afford to travel to Vicenza to fulfil its next fixture. Supporters kept the club going with a fundraiser at the Sistine Theatre and bankruptcy was avoided with the election of a new club president Franco Evangelisti.

Their second Coppa Italia trophy was won in 1968–69 when it was competed in a small league like system.^[15] Giacomo Losi set a Roma appearance record during 1969 with 450 appearances in all competitions, the record he set would last for 38 years.^[16]

Time of mixed fortunes[link]

Roma were able to add another cup to their collection in 1972, with a 3–1 victory over Blackpool in the Anglo-Italian Cup.^[17] During much of the 1970s Roma's appearance in the top half of Serie A was sporadic. The best place the club were able to achieve during the decade was third in 1974–75.^[6] Notable players who turned out for the club during this period included midfielders Giancarlo De Sisti and Francesco Rocca.

The dawning of a newly successful era in Roma's footballing history was brought in with another Coppa Italia victory, they beat Torino on penalties to win the 1979–80 cup.^[15] Roma would reach heights in the league which they had not touched since the 1940s by narrowly and controversially finishing as runners-up to Juventus in 1980–81.^[18] Former Milan player Nils Liedholm was the manager at the time, with players such as Bruno Conti, Agostino Di Bartolomei, Roberto Pruzzo and Falcão.^[19]

The second scudetto did not elude Roma for much longer; in 1982–83 the Roman club won the title for the first time in 41 years, amidst celebrations in the capital.^[20] The following season Roma finished as runners-up in Italy^[6] and collected a Coppa Italia title,^[15] they also finished as runners-up in the European Cup final of 1984.^[21] The European Cup final with Liverpool ended in a 1–1 draw with a goal from Pruzzo, but Roma eventually lost the penalty shoot-out.^[21] Roma's successful run in the 1980s would finish with a runners-up spot in 1985–86^[6] and a Coppa Italia victory, beating out Sampdoria 3–2.^[15]

After that a comparative decline began in the league, one of the few league highs from the following period being a third place finish in 1987–88.^[6] At the start of the 1990s the club was involved in an all-Italian UEFA Cup final, where they lost 2–1 to Internazionale in 1991;^[22] the same season the club won its seventh Coppa Italia trophy^[15] and ended runners-up to Sampdoria in the Supercoppa Italiana. Aside from finishing runners-up to Torino in a Coppa Italia final,^[15] the rest of the decade was largely sub-par in the history of Roma; especially in the league where the highest they could manage was fourth in 1997–98.^[6] The early 1990s also saw the emergence of homegrown striker Francesco Totti who would go on to be an important member of the team and the club's iconic captain.

In the new millennium[link]

2000–2010[link]

17 June 2001 – Roma-Parma 3–1: Roma won its third Italian championship in its history. Fans of the Curva Sud are overjoyed

Roma returned to form in the 2000s, starting the decade in great style by winning their third ever Serie A title in 2000–01; the scudetto was won on the last day of the season by beating Parma 3–1, edging out Juventus by two points.^[6] The club's captain, Francesco Totti was a large reason for the title victory and he would become one of the main heroes in the club's history,^[19] going on to break several club records.^[19] Other important players during this period included Aldair, Cafu, Gabriel Batistuta, and Vincenzo Montella.^[23]

The club attempted to defend the title in the following season but ended as runners-up to Juventus by just one point.^[6] This would be the start of Roma finishing as runners-up many times in both Serie A and Coppa Italia during the 2000s; they lost out 4–2 to AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final of 2003^[15] and lost out to Milan again by finishing second in Serie A for the 2003–04 season.^[6] The club also re-capitalized several time in 2003–04 season. In November 20003 €37.5 million was injected by "Roma 2000" to cover the half year loss and loss carried from previous year.^[24] and again on 30 June for €44.57 million.^[25] Through stock market, a further €19.850 million of new shares issued, and at the year end, the share capital was €19.878 million,^[26] which unchanged as of 2011. The following season also saw the departure of Walter Samuel for €25 million and Emerson for €28 million, which decreased the strength of the squad, thus Giallorossi finished as the eighth place, one of the worst of recent season.

Francesco Totti, current captain, with the 2007–08 Coppa Italia

A Serie A scandal was revealed during 2006 and Roma were one of the teams not involved; after punishments were handed out, Roma was re-classified as runners-up for 2005–06;^[27] the same season in which they finished second in the Coppa Italia losing to Internazionale.^[15] In the two following seasons, Roma finished as Serie A runners-up, meaning that in the 2000s Roma have finished in the top two positions more than any other decade in their history^[28] Meanwhile in the UEFA Champions League during both of these seasons, they reached the quarter-finals before going out to Manchester United. Despite the sloppy start in UEFA Champions League 2008–09, Roma managed to reach the knockout stage ahead of Chelsea in their group, thus finishing for the first time in their history as winners of the group stage. However, the Giallorossi would lose to Arsenal in the knockout stage on penalty kicks, ending their Champions League campaign.

After a disappointing start to the 2009–10 season, Claudio Ranieri replaced Luciano Spalletti as head coach. At the time of the switch, Roma lay bottom of the Serie A table after losses to Juventus and Genoa. Despite this setback, Roma would later embark on an incredible unbeaten streak of 24 matches in the league – with the last of the 24 being a 2–1 win over rivals Lazio, whereby Roma came from 1–0 down at half-time to defeat their city rivals after Ranieri courageously substituted both Totti and De Rossi at the interval.^[29] The Giallorossi were on top of the table at one point, before a loss to U.C. Sampdoria later in the season. Roma would finish runners-up to Inter yet again in both Serie A and the Coppa Italia. This rounded out a highly successful decade in Roma's history, following somewhat mediocre results of the 1990s. During the 2000s, Roma had finally recaptured the Scudetto, two Coppa Italia trophies, and their first two Supercoppa Italiana titles. Other notable contributions to the club's history have included a return to the UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals (in the 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 editions) since 1984, six runners up positions in the league, four Coppa Italia finals and three Supercoppa finals – marking Roma's greatest ever decade.

End of the Sensi era[link]

In the summer of 2010, the Sensi family agreed to relinquish their control of AS Roma as part of a debt-settlement agreement. This brought an end to the presidential reign of the Sensi family who had presided over the club since 1993. Until a new owner was appointed, Rosella Sensi would continue her directorial role of the club. The 2010-11 season had once again seen Roma start off with mixed fortunes on both a domestic and European level. These included losses against teams like Cagliari, Brescia and a 2-0 defeat against Bayern Munich in the group stages of the Champions League (a match which saw manager Claudio Ranieri openly criticised by his own players). However, these were accompanied by victories against Inter Milan and a sensational victory against Bayern Munich in the return fixture, which saw Roma fight back from 0-2 down at half-time to emerge as 3-2 winners. Following a series of poor results which saw Roma engage in a winless-streak of five consecutive matches, Claudio Ranieri resigned as head coach in February 2011, and former striker Vincenzo Montella was appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season. It was also during this season that Roma icon, Francesco Totti, scored his 200th Serie A goal against Fiorentina in March 2011 - becoming only the sixth ever player to achieve such a feat.

On 16 April 2011, the takeover contract was signed. The new holding company, "NEEP Roma Holding S.p.A.", was a joint venture of "DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC" and Unicredit S.p.A., in a 60-40 ratio. NEEP itself had €120,000 share capitals.

NEEP would acquired 67.1% shares (or 88,918,686 shares) of A.S. Roma SpA (the club itself, valued €60.3 million), entire ownership of "ASR Real Estate S.r.l." and "Brand Management S.r.l." from Sensi's "Roma 2000 S.r.l." (a subsidiary of Italpetroli) for a total of €70.3 million.

The takeover was led by Thomas R. DiBenedetto, through "DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC" (along with James Pallotta, Michael Ruane and Richard D'Amore, accounting for 25% capitals each).^[30][31] The transaction date was scheduled on 31 July 2011, but delayed to 18 August.^[32][33]

The new ownership immediately went into effect by making significant changes in the club, hiring Walter Sabatini as director of football and former Spanish international and FC Barcelona B coach Luis Enrique as manager; the first high-profile signings from the duo were attacking midfielder Erik Lamela from River Plate, forward Bojan Krkić from Barcelona, goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg from AFC Ajax and unattached defender Gabriel Heinze. The club also sold and released high earner, namely defender John Arne Riise, keeper Doni, forward Jérémy Ménez and Mirko Vučinić.

However, Roma was eliminated from 2011–12 UEFA Europa League play-off round. After the formal takeover on 18 August, Roma bought forward Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, midfielder Miralem Pjanić, Fernando Gago and defender Simon Kjær, as well as youngster Fabio Borini, made the club costed more than 40 million if the loan deal were successfully turned to definitive deal.

In ownership, the "NEEP Roma Holding S.p.A." also started a total takeover as required the statutory, which the company would purchase the shares from the minority shareholder and public market (43,604,610 shares or 32.903%), for €0.6781 per shares, same price that NEEP bought the shares from Sensi. NEEP also stated that de-listing the company is not a must as it was activated by the law.,^[30][34] the same price as takeover price in April. Eventually NEEP did not acquired enough shares and AS Roma remains a listed company.

Presidential history[link]

Roma have had numerous presidents over the course of their history, some of which have been the owners of the club, others have been honorary presidents. Franco Sensi was the chairman until his death in 2008, with his daughter Rosella Sensi in place as honorary president.^[35] Here is a complete list of Roma presidents from 1927 until the present day.^[35]

Managerial history[link]

Main article: List of A.S. Roma managers

Roma have had many managers and trainers running the team during their history, here is a chronological list of them from 1927 onwards.^[13]

Name Nationality Years William Garbutt 1927–29 Guido Baccani 1929–30 Herbert Burgess 1930–32 Lászlo Barr 1932–33 Lajos Kovács 1933–34 Luigi Barbesino 1934–38 Guido Ara 1938–39 Alfréd Schaffer 1939–42 Géza Kertész 1942–43 Guido Masetti 1943–45 Giovanni Degni 1945–47 Imre Senkey 1947–48 Luigi Brunella 1948–49 Fulvio Bernardini 1949–50 Adolfo Baloncieri 1950 Pietro Serantoni 1950 Guido Masetti 1950–51 Giuseppe Viani 1951–53 Mario Varglien 1953–54 Jesse Carver 1954–56 György Sarosi 1956 Guido Masetti 1956–57 Alec Stock 1957–58 Gunnar Nordahl 1958–59 György Sarosi 1959–60 Alfredo Foni 1960–61 Luis Carniglia 1961–63 Naim Kryeziu 1963 Alfredo Foni 1963–64 Luis Miró 1964–65 Juan Carlos Lorenzo 1965–66

Name Nationality Years Oronzo Pugliese 1966–68 Helenio Herrera 1968–70 Luciano Tessari 1970 Helenio Herrera 1971–72 Tonino Trebiciani 1972–73 Nils Liedholm 1974–77 Gustavo Giagnoni 1978–79 Ferruccio Valcareggi 1979–80 Nils Liedholm 1980–84 Sven-Göran Eriksson 1984–86 Angelo Sormani 1986–88 Nils Liedholm 1988 Luciano Spinosi 1988–89 Gigi Radice 1989–90 Ottavio Bianchi 1990–92 Vujadin Boškov 1992–93 Carlo Mazzone 1993–96 Carlos Bianchi 1996 Nils Liedholm 1996 Ezio Sella 1996 Zdeněk Zeman 1997–99 Fabio Capello 1999–04 Cesare Prandelli 2004 Rudi Völler 2004 Luigi Delneri 2004–05 Bruno Conti 2005 Luciano Spalletti 2005–09 Claudio Ranieri 2009–2011 Vincenzo Montella (caretaker) 2011 Luis Enrique 2011–2012

Players[link]

. Also see A.S. Roma and the Italian national football team.

Current squad[link]

As of 01 February 2012

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Bogdan Lobonț 2 DF Cicinho 3 DF José Ángel 4 DF Juan 5 DF Gabriel Heinze 7 MF Marquinho (on loan from Fluminense) 8 MF Erik Lamela 9 FW Pablo Osvaldo 10 FW Francesco Totti (captain) 11 MF Rodrigo Taddei 14 FW Bojan Krkić 15 MF Miralem Pjanić 16 MF Daniele De Rossi (vice-captain) 18 GK Gianluca Curci 19 MF Fernando Gago (on loan from Real Madrid)

No. Position Player 20 MF Simone Perrotta 21 DF Loïc Nego 23 MF Leandro Greco 24 GK Maarten Stekelenburg 26 FW Junior Tallo 29 DF Nicolás Burdisso 30 MF Fábio Simplício 31 FW Fabio Borini 44 DF Simon Kjær (on loan from Wolfsburg) 77 DF Marco Cassetti 87 DF Aleandro Rosi 92 MF Federico Viviani 93 GK Mirko Pigliacelli 94 MF Valerio Verre

Out on loan[link]

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

No. Position Player — GK Júlio Sérgio (at Lecce) — DF Luca Antei (at Grosseto) — DF Alessandro Crescenzi (at Bari)[38] — DF Simone Sini (at Livorno)[38] — MF David Pizarro (at Manchester City) — MF Adrian Stoian (at Bari)[38] — MF Andrea Bertolacci (at Lecce) — MF Marco D'Alessandro (at Verona)

No. Position Player — MF Alessandro Florenzi (at Crotone) — MF Stefano Guberti (at Torino) — MF Stefano Pettinari (at Crotone) — MF Gianluca Caprari (at Pescara) — FW Filippo Scardina (at Viareggio) — FW Stefano Okaka (at Parma) — FW Koffi (at Royal Boussu Dour)

Non-playing staff[link]

Position	Staff
Head coach	Luis Enrique
Assistant Coach	Roberto Moreno Gonzales
Assistant Coach	Aurero Andreazzoli
Goalkeeping Coach	Guido Nanni
Goalkeeping Coach	Franco Tancredi
Mental Coach	Antonio Llorente
Athletical Coach	Rafael Cabanellas
Athletical Coach	Vito Scala
Team Manager	Salvatore Scaglia

Last updated: 16 March 2012
Source: AS Roma Official Website

Retired numbers[link]

6 – Aldair, Centre back, 1990–2003^[19]

Club statistics and records[link]

Historical A.S. Roma positions in Serie A

Francesco Totti holds Roma's official appearance record, having made 610 (as of May 2011) appearances in all competitions, over the course of 19 seasons from 1992 until the present day.^[39] He also holds the record for Serie A appearances with 474, as he passed Giacomo Losi on 1 March 2008, during a home match against Parma.^[40]

Including all competitions, Francesco Totti is the all-time leading goalscorer for Roma, with 262 goals since joining the club, 207 of which were scored in Serie A (another Roma record).^[39] Roberto Pruzzo, who was the all-time topscorer since 1988 comes in second in all competitions with 136. In the 1930–31 season, Rodolfo Volk scored 29 goals in Serie A over the course of a single season, not only was he the league's topscorer that year, but he set a Roma record for most goals scored in a season, which still lasts today.^[39]

Its major founders Fortitudo and Alba having been relegated at the end of 1926–27 campaign, new-founded Roma had to take part to Southern First Division championship (Serie B) for its inaugural season; nevertheless FIGC decided a special enlargement of first level division re-admitting AS Roma as SSC Napoli. The first ever official game participated in by Roma was in the National Division, the predecessor of Serie A, of 1927–28, against Livorno; Roma won 2–0.^[41] The biggest ever victory recorded by Roma was 9–0 against Cremonese during the Serie A season of 1929–30.^[39] The highest defeat Roma have ever suffered is 7–1, this has happened three times; first against Juventus during 1931–32, then against Torino in 1947–48 and most recently against Manchester United in 2006–07.^[39]

Colours, badge and nicknames[link]

Roma's colours of maroon red with a golden yellow trim represents the traditional colours of the Eternal City (Rome), the official seal of the Comune di Roma features the same colours.^[42] The gold symbolizes God in Roman Catholicism,^[43] while the maroon represents imperial dignity.^[44] White shorts and black socks are usually worn with the maroon red shirt, however in particularly high key games the shorts and socks are the same colour as the home shirt.^[45]

The kit itself was originally worn by Roman Football Club; one of the three clubs who merged to form the current incarnation in 1927.^[46] Because of the colours they wear, Roma are often nicknamed i giallorossi meaning the yellow-reds.^[47] Roma's away kit is traditionally white, with a third kit changing colour from time to time.

Maybe because of modern sport marketing, the last few years have seen the golden trim and details substituted by light orange. Modern alternate kits have included all orange and orange-maroon versions.

A popular nickname for the club is i lupi (the wolves), the animal has always featured on the club's badge in different forms throughout their history. Currently the emblem of the team is the one which was used when the club was first founded. It portrays the female wolf with the two infant brothers Romulus and Remus, illustrating the myth of the creation of Rome,^[48] superimposed on a bipartite golden yellow over maroon red shield.^[49]

In the myth from which the club take their nickname and logo, the twins (sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia) are thrown into the River Tiber by their uncle Amulius, a she-wolf saved the twins and looked after them.^[48] Eventually the two twins took revenge on Amulius, before falling out themselves; Romulus killed Remus and as thus was made king of a new city named in his honour, Rome.^[48]

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers[link]

Supporters and rivalries[link]

Roma fans at the Stadio Olimpico

Roma is the fifth most supported football club in Italy behind Juventus, Internazionale, Milan and Napoli with around 7% of Italian football fans supporting the club (according to the Doxa Institute-L'Espresso’s research of April 2006).^[51] Historically the largest section of Roma supporters in the city of Rome have come from the inner-city, especially Testaccio.^[5]

The traditional ultras group of the club was Commando Ultrà Curva Sud^[52] commonly abbreviated as CUCS; this group was founded by the merger of many smallers groups and was considered one of the most historic in the history of European football.^[52] However, by the mid-1990s CUCS had been usurped by rival factions and ultimately broke up. Since that time, the Curva Sud of the Stadio Olimpico has been controlled by more right-wing groups;^[52] A.S. Roma Ultras, Boys, Giovinezza and others. The oldest group Fedayn is apolitical however and politics is not the raison d'être of Roma, just a part of their overall identity. In September 2009 the club unveiled plans to build a new 55,000-capacity stadium in Rome's western suburbs.^[53]

Stadio Olimpico during a Roma match

The most known club anthem and motto is Roma,Roma,Roma^[54] by singer Antonello Venditti. The title roughly means "Roma is not to be questioned, it is to be loved" and is sung before each match, the song Grazie Roma, by the same singer, is played at the end of victorious home games. Recently, the main riff of The White Stripes song Seven Nation Army has also become widely popular at games.^[55]

In Italian football Roma are a club with many rivalries; first and foremost is their rivalry with Lazio, the club who they share the Stadio Olimpico stadium with. The derby between the two is called the Derby della Capitale, it is amongst the most heated and emotional footballing rivalries in the world. The fixture has seen some occasional instances of violence in the past including the death of Lazio fan, Vincenzo Paparelli in 1979–80 as a result of an emergency flare fired from the Curva Sud,^[56] and the abandonment of a game in march 2004, following unfounded rumours of a fatality which led to violence outside the stadium.^[57]

With Napoli, Roma also compete in the Derby del Sole rivalry meaning the "Derby of the Sun".^[58] Nowadays fans also consider other Serie A giants like Juventus (rivalry born especially in the 1980s), Milan and Internazionale (increased in recent years) among their rivals as these four compete for the top four spots in the league table to secure a spot in the Champions League.^[52]

Conflict with English fans[link]

There have been a number of instances of conflict in recent years between some Roma supporters and fans of English clubs, pointing to an apparent dislike for English fans in some Giallorossi supporters.^[59] One reason forwarded for this is the defeat to Liverpool in the 1984 European Cup Final at the Stadio Olimpico,^[59] and the subsequent violence outside the stadium which saw a number of Liverpool fans stabbed.^[60] Since then, there have been further instances of some English supporters being attacked and stabbed in Rome, including incidents in 2001 when Liverpool visited Roma twice and subsequent clashes with Middlesbrough fans in 2006 and Manchester United fans in 2007. In March 2009, a coach carrying Arsenal supporters was attacked by a group of Roma "Ultras" just outside the Stadio Olimpico. The coach's windows were smashed and at least one person entered the vehicle, letting off a flare and stabbed a supporter in the knee.^[60][61] Arsenal had posted advice to their fans on how to avoid routes taken by Roma Ultras.^[62]

Honours[link]

National titles[link]

Serie A:

• Winners (3): 1941–42, 1982–83, 2000–01

Coppa Italia:

• Winners (9): 1963-64, 1968-69, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1983-84, 1985-86, 1990-91, 2006-07, 2007-08

A mural of Francesco Totti painted after Roma's 2000–01 Serie A title victory, their third in total

Supercoppa Italiana:

• Winners (2): 2001, 2007

Coppa C.O.N.I.

• Winners (1): 1928

Campionato Italiano di Serie B:

• Winners (1): 1951–52

Other unofficial titles[link]

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

• Winners (1): 1960–61

Torneo Anglo-Italiano

• Winners (1): 1971–72

Associazione Sportiva Roma as a company[link]

A.S. Roma (Group)

Revenue	€148.331 million (2010–11)[63]
Operating income	(€21.540 million) (2010–11)
Net income	(€30.778 million) (2010–11)
Total assets	€102.560 million (2010–11)
Total equity	(€43.984 million) (2010–11)
Parent	NEEP Roma Holding S.p.A.
Subsidiaries	Soccer S.a.s. di Brand Management Srl

A.S. Roma S.p.A.

Revenue	€128,793,334 (2010–11)[64]
Operating income	(€31,151,457) (2010–11)
Net income	(€30,589,137) (2010–11)
Total assets	€217,675,996 (2010–11)
Total equity	€74,553,452 (2010–11)

Since 1999, during Franco Sensi's period in charge, Associazione Sportiva Roma has been a joint stock company. From 2004 to 2011, Roma's shares are distributed between; 67.1% to Compagnia Italpetroli SpA (the Sensi family holding), 2.5% to Danilo Coppola and 30.4% to other shareholders.^[65]

In April 2008, after months of speculation, George Soros was confirmed by Rosella Sensi, CEO of Italian Serie A association football club A.S. Roma, to be bidding for a takeover.^[66] The takeover bid was successively rejected by the Sensi family, who instead preferred to maintain the club's ownership. On August 17, 2008 club chairman and owner Franco Sensi died after a long illness; his place at the chairmanship of the club was successively taken by his daughter Rosella.

Since the takeover in 2011, NEEP Roma Holding S.p.A. owned all shares Sensi previously hold. NEEP, itself a joint venture, is held by DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC (later renamed to AS Roma SPV, LLC) and Unicredit in 60-40 ratio, which the former had 4 real person shareholders in equal ratio, led by Roma current president Thomas R. DiBenedetto. After the mandatory bid, bought additional shares from the public sector, made the NEEP held 78.038%. (increased from 67.1%)

Along with Lazio and Juventus, i Lupi is one of only three Italian clubs quotated in Borsa Italiana (Italian stock exchange). According to The Football Money League published by consultants Deloitte, in the season 2010–11, Roma was the 15th highest earning football club in the world with an estimated revenue of €143.5 million.^[67]

Since re-capitalization in 2003–04 season, Roma had a short-lived financial self-sustainability. The club had set-up a special amortization fund using art. 18-bis Legge 91/1981 mainly for the abnormal signing in 2002–03 season, (such as Davide Bombardini for €11 million account value, which the flopped player exchange boosted 2002–03 season result) and the tax payment of 2002–03 season was rescheduled. In 2004–05 season Roma made a net income of €10,091,689 and followed by €804,285 in 2005–06 season.^[68] In 2006–07 season the accounting method changed to IFRS, which 2005–06 result was reclassified as net loss of €4,051,905 and 2006–07 season was net income of €10,135,539 (€14.011 million as a group).^[69] Moreover, the special fund (€80,189,123) was removed from the asset and co-currently for the equity as scheduled, made Roma group had a negative equity of €8.795 million on 30 June 2007. In 2007–08 season Roma made a net income of €18,699,219. (€19 million as a group)^[70] However, in 2008–09 season saw the decrease of gate and TV income, co-currently with finished 6th in Serie A, which saw Roma made a net loss of €1,894,330. (€1.56 million as a group)^[71] The gate and TV income further slipped in 2009–10 season, made a net loss of €21,917,292 (already boosted by the sale of Alberto Aquilani; €22 million as a group) despite sporting success (the second in 2009–10 Serie A).^[72] Moreover, despite a positive equity as a separate company (€105,142,589), the AS Roma Group had a negative equity on consolidated balance sheet, fell from +€8.8million to negative €13.2 million. In 2010–11 season Roma was administrated by UniCredit as Sensi family failed to repay the bank and the club was put into the market, which also saw Roma did not had major signing in 2010–11 season. Co-currently with no selling profit on the player, Roma net loss was enlarged to €30,589,137 (€30.778 million as a group) and the new owner already planned a re-capitalization after the mandatory bid on the shares. On the good side, the TV income was increased from €75,150,744 to €78,041,642 as well as gate income increased, from €23,821,218 to €31,017,179. It is because Roma entered 2010–11 UEFA Champions League which counter-weight the effect of the new collective agreement of Serie A.

One of the subsidiary of Roma (joint venture with SS Lazio, 37.5% x2 and Parma, 25%), Società Diritti Sportivi S.r.l. was in the process of liquidation since 2005. The company was a joint-venture of 4 football clubs including Fiorentina. However after the bankruptcy of old Viola, both Roma and Lazio had increased it shares ratio from 25% to 37.5%.

Superleague Formula[link]

A.S. Roma has a team in the new Superleague Formula race car series where teams are sponsored by football clubs. A.S. Roma's current driver is ex IndyCar Series driver Franck Perera. The team has posted 3 podiums and is currently operated by Alan Docking Racing

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: AS Roma

• Official website (Italian)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2006)

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song (the one that the record producer hopes will receive radio airplay and become a "hit"), while the B-side, or flipside, is a secondary song that often does not appear on the artist's LP.

History[link]

The earliest 10-inch, 78 rpm, shellac records were single sided. Double sided recordings, with one song on each side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records and by the late 1910s they had become the norm in both Europe and the USA. There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations (by and large) did not play recorded music until the 1950s (when top 40 radio overtook full-service network radio). In this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important; the "side" did not convey anything about the content of the record.

In 1948, Columbia Records introduced the ten- and twelve-inch long-playing (LP) vinyl record for commercial sales, and its rival RCA-Victor responded the next year with the seven-inch 45 rpm vinyl record, which would come to replace the 78 as the home of the single. The term "single" came into popular use with the advent of vinyl records in the early 1950s. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side and which would be a B-side. (All phonograph (gramophone) records have specific identifiers for each side in addition to the catalog number for the record itself; the "A" side would typically be assigned a sequentially lower number.) Under this random system, many artists had so-called "double-sided hits", where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts (in Billboard, Cashbox, or other magazines), or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places.