From foundation to World War II

The club was founded in March 1907 as Circolo Ars et Labor (Latin for Art and Work Club) by the Salesian priest Pietro Acerbis. In the early stages, it was mainly a cultural and religious association, then in 1913 it became a multi-sports company, taking the name of Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor (Latin for Sports Club Society of Art and Work) The team began its professional activity under the aegis of the Italian Football Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio) in 1919, competing in the second-tier tournament.

SPAL played in the top flight league from 1920 to 1925, reaching the qualification playoff for the National Finals in 1921–22. From 1925 until the Second World War, they played in Serie B and Serie C: in this period, the club's all-time top striker Mario Romani scored 130 goals in 189 games during two different periods with the white-blues (1925–32 and 1937–38).

Between 1939 and 1943 the club temporarily changed its name to A.C. Ferrara, wearing the black and white colours of the city. After the suspension of the championships due to war, in 1945 the club returned to the name SPAL and to the light blue and white kits.

The golden period in Serie A

In 1946 Paolo Mazza became chairman of the club. After five consecutive seasons in Serie B, SPAL won promotion to Serie A after finishing the championship first in 1950–51. The white-blues subsequently stayed in the top division for most of the 1950s and 1960s, competing in 16 out of 17 Serie A seasons from 1951 to 1968.^[5]

SPAL finished fifth in 1959–60, thus obtaining the best placement in its history. Also, in 1961–62 they played in the Coppa Italia final, losing against Napoli. In the early stages of 1962–63 season, in which the club finished in eighth place, the white and blues reached the top of the league table. During those years, the club was a launchpad for many young players, among them Fabio Capello.

In 1963–64 they were relegated to Serie B, but they came back to Serie A after only one year, and remained in the top division until 1968. At the end of the last season in the top flight, SPAL won the Cup of Italian-Swiss Friendship.

From 1970s to 21st century

During 1970s, 1980s and 1990s SPAL played mostly in Serie B and Serie C/C1.

Paolo Mazza quit the presidency in December 1976 and was replaced by Primo Mazzanti. The former chairman died in December 1981 and three months later Ferrara's Stadio Comunale was named after him.

In 1990, Giovanni Donigaglia became chairman of the club: between 1990 and 1992 SPAL obtained back-to-back promotions from Serie C2 to Serie B, under the management of Giovan Battista Fabbri. Donigaglia left the presidency in 2002 with the squad in Serie C1. He was replaced by Lino di Nardo.

Recent years

The club went bankrupt in 2005,^[6] and were reformed as SPAL 1907 S.r.l., under the terms of Article 52 of N.O.I.F.^[7] In the summer of 2012, after suffering a second bankruptcy, the club was refounded for the second time as S.s.d. Real SPAL and would begin life in Serie D^[8] under the same N.O.I.F. article.^[9]

At the end of the 2012–13 season the club took back its original name. Giacomense, a club founded in 1967 at Masi San Giacomo, a frazione of Masi Torello, had moved to the city of Ferrara; on 12 July 2013, owner Roberto Benasciutti made a deal with the Colombarini family for a merger between SPAL and Giacomense, with the latter giving its sports title to SPAL and continuing to play in Ferrara. The club changed its name to S.P.A.L. 2013, in order to continue the football history of SPAL. Walter Mattioli became president, with Simone and Francesco Colombarini as main shareholders.

They finished the 2013–14 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione season in sixth place, thus qualifying for the inaugural unified 2014–15 Lega Pro season. In 2015–16, the squad won promotion to Serie B for the first time since the 1992–93 season, after finishing first in group B of the Lega Pro. The following year they came first in Serie B, thus obtaining promotion to Serie A after a 49-year absence.^[10] In their first season back in Serie A, SPAL avoided relegation by finishing in 17th place.^[11] At the end of the 2018–19 season they confirmed their presence in the top flight for a third consecutive year, finishing 13th. The club had mixed fortunes in the 2019–2020 season and, after gaining just 15 points in 23 games, coach Leonardo Semplici was dismissed in February 2020, replaced by Luigi Di Biagio.^[12] SPAL were relegated to Serie B, finishing in last place with 20 points. The club reached the 2020–21 Coppa Italia quarter-finals, becoming the only team from Serie B to advance to that stage in the competition.

In August 2021, the club was acquired by the American lawyer and businessman Joe Tacopina. Some media say that the real owners behind Mr. Tacopina are brothers Alessandro Bazzoni and Lorenzo Bazzoni, Italian businessmen presumed to be linked with the government of Nicolas Maduro.^[13][14] On January 25, 2024 Tacopina revealed the name of the new co-owner of the club, American broker and businessman Marcello Follano, with whom he founded a new parent company controlling SPAL, Tacollano Holdings LLC.^[15]

Kit sponsors

• 1981–86: Adidas
• 1986–87: Meyba
• 1987–89: Fitness
• 1989–91: WBS
• 1991–04: Asics
• 2004–05: Zeus
• 2005–09: Legea
• 2009–10: Asics^[19]
• 2010–12: Givova^[20]
• 2012–13: Legea^[21]
• 2013–16: Erreà^[22]
• 2016–17: HS Football^[23]
• 2017–24: Macron^[24]

Current squad

As of 1 February 2024^[25]

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

More information No., Pos. ...

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ITA Enrico Alfonso 2 DF  ITA Alessandro Fiordaliso 3 DF  ITA Matteo Bruscagin 4 DF  ARG Nahuel Valentini 5 MF  ITA Nicolò Contiliano 6 MF  ITA Marco Bertini (on loan from Lazio) 7 FW  ITA Mirco Antenucci (captain) 8 MF  ITA Riccardo Collodel 9 FW  ITA Alessandro Orfei 10 FW  CRO Tomi Petrović (on loan from Trento) 11 FW  ITA Simone Rabbi 12 GK  ITA Cesare Galeotti 13 DF  ITA Alessandro Bassoli 16 DF  ITA Filippo Saiani 17 MF  ITA Giuseppe Iglio 19 FW  ITA Nicola Dalmonte (on loan from Vicenza) 20 FW  LVA Dario Šits (on loan from Parma)

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 FW  ITA Massimo Zilli (on loan from Cosenza) 22 GK  ITA Marco Meneghetti 23 DF  ITA Matteo Arena 24 DF  ITA Luca Ghiringhelli (on loan from Südtirol) 25 MF  ITA Marco Carraro 26 FW  ITA Luca Siligardi 27 DF  POL Patryk Peda (on loan from Palermo) 28 GK  ITA Mattia Del Favero 29 MF  TOG Steven Nador 33 DF  ITA Alessandro Tripaldelli 34 DF  AUT Philipp Breit 37 MF  ITA Fabio Maistro 71 FW  ITA Simone Edera 75 FW  ITA Emanuele Rao 77 MF  LIE Marcel Büchel 90 FW  ITA Tommaso Angeletti

Close

Out on loan

As of 1 February 2024

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

More information No., Pos. ...

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ITA Lorenzo Abati (at Torino) — GK  ITA Michele Pezzolato (at Forlì) — GK  SEN Demba Thiam (at Juve Stabia) — DF  POL Dawid Bugaj (at Lechia Gdańsk) — DF  ITA Lorenzo Dickmann (at Brescia) — DF  MDA Daniel Dumbravanu (at Messina) — DF  ITA Nicola Santella (at Treviso) — DF  SVK Michal Svoboda (at Bologna) — DF  ITA Filippo Tosi (at Genoa) — MF  MDA Cristian Antonciuc (at Sassuolo)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ITA Alessandro Boccia (at Frosinone) — MF  ITA Simone Cecere (at Fidelis Andria) — MF  ITA Antonio Imputato (at Mestre) — MF  ITA Alessandro Murgia (at Hermannstadt) — MF  ITA Fabio Parravicini (at Genoa) — MF  ITA Filippo Puletto (at Trento) — FW  ITA Ludovico D'Orazio (at Latina) — FW  SEN Serigne Deme (at Victor San Marino) — FW  ITA Andrea La Mantia (at Feralpisalò) — FW  ITA Marco Rosafio (at Messina)

Close

Captains

Below a chronological list of SPAL captains since 1950.^[27]

More information Name, Years ...

Name Years Giovanni Emiliani 1950–53 Marcello Castoldi 1953–54 Edoardo Dal Pos 1954–59 Oscar Massei 1959–61 Sergio Cervato 1961–65 Oscar Massei 1965–68 Carlo Dell'Omodarme 1968–69 Enrico Cairoli Jul. 1969–Oct. 1973 Lucio Mongardi Oct. 1973–Jun. 1975 Sergio Reggiani 1975–76 Ottavio Bianchi 1976–77 Franco Pezzato 1977–79 Mauro Gibellini 1979–81 Rosario Rampanti 1981–82 Mirco Brilli 1982–83 Giuseppe De Gradi 1983–85 Elio Gustinetti 1985–86 Fabio Perinelli 1986–87 Arturo Vianello 1987–88 Massimo Pellegrini 1988–89 Francesco Cini 1989–90 Franco Fabbri 1990–91 Giuseppe Brescia 1991–93

Name Years Andrea Mangoni 1993–94 Giuseppe Brescia 1994–96 Eugenio Sgarbossa 1996–97 Fausto Pari 1997–98 Alfonso Greco 1998–99 Massimo Gadda 1999–00 Emanuele Cancellato Jul. 2000–Jan. 2002 Cristian Servidei Jan. 2002–Jun. 2002 Francesco Zanoncelli 2002–03 Manuel Milana 2003–06 David Sesa 2006–08 Luis Fernando Centi Jul. 2008–Feb. 2009 Marco Zamboni Feb. 2009–Jun. 2012 Davide Marchini 2012–13 Massimiliano Varricchio 2013–14 Nicolas Giani 2014–17 Luca Mora Jul. 2017–Jan. 2018 Mirco Antenucci Jan. 2018–Jun. 2019 Sergio Floccari 2019–21 Francesco Vicari 2021–22 Salvatore Esposito Jul. 2022–Jan. 2023 Lorenzo Dickmann Jan. 2023–Jul.2023 Mirco Antenucci 2023–

Close

League

Below is a table showing the participation of SPAL in the Italian football leagues.^[31]

Individual

Below is a table showing the recordmen of matches played and goals scored for SPAL in the Italian football leagues.^[31]

Domestic

European

• Cup of Italian-Swiss Friendship
  • Winners (1): 1968

Youth

• Campionato Primavera Serie B
  • Winners (1): 1964–65
• Campionato De Martino Serie A
  • Winners (1): 1967–68
• Campionato Nazionale Under-18
  • Winners (2): 2021–22, 2022–23