Hubbry Logo
search
logo

US Alessandria Calcio 1912

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
US Alessandria Calcio 1912

Unione Sportiva Alessandria Calcio 1912, commonly referred to as Alessandria, is an Italian football club based in Alessandria, Piedmont. It currently plays in Eccellenza, the fifth tier of Italian football.

Founded in 1912, Alessandria spent 13 seasons in Serie A between 1929 and 1960 and 21 in Serie B (last in 2022); it also reached one Coppa Italia final in 1936. To date, the most successful period in the team's history was between World War I and World War II, when it was, with Novara, Pro Vercelli and Casale, part of the so-called Quadrilatero Piemontese ("Piedmont Quadrilateral"), which forged great players and won important trophies.

The greatest player to have worn the club's characteristic and unique grey shirt is the 2 time FIFA World Cup & 1 time Central European International Cup winner Giovanni Ferrari, other notabilities include FIFA World Cup & Central European International Cup winners Felice Borel & Luigi Bertolini, FIFA World Cup & 1936 Summer Olympics winner Pietro Rava, Central European International Cup winner & 1928 Summer Olympics Bronze medalist Adolfo Baloncieri & UEFA European Championship winner & FIFA World Cup runner-up Gianni Rivera. Other players making it the national team like Carlo Carcano also appeared for Alessandria. With the promotion in 2009 in Lega Pro Prima Divisione, the team finally left behind a long period of financial troubles and internal problems that had led the club to bankruptcy in 2003.

Football arrived in Alessandria in the end of 19th century; there are reports regarding a match played in which a team of Alessandria played against one from Genoa. In 1896, the Unione Pro Sport Alessandria was created, followed by the football teams of the athletic club Forza e Concordia, which wore dark-grey shirts, and Forza e Coraggio, with pearl-grey shirts. Unione Pro Sport took part in some exhibition tournaments with teams based in Turin and Genoa between 1897 and 1898; in 1897, it won the football trophy at the National Gym Competition in Genoa. On 15 March 1898, it was invited to join the constituents of FIF, then took part in the first official championship qualification round and, feeling itself penalized in favor of F.B.C. Torinese and Genoa CFC, it preferred to leave and keep on participating in tournaments organized by FGNI.

In 1908 Forza and Coraggio members decided to set up a team which could finally dispute the Italian Championship.[clarification needed] It happened on 18 February 1912 with the foundation of Alessandria Foot Ball Club by Enrico Badò, Amilcare Savojardo and Alfredo Ratti, who was elected first director (chairman). The first shirts, bought from Vigor Torino, were azure, with a large vertical white stripe in the center. The team was admitted to the Promozione (second division) for the 1912–13 season, immediately gaining a promotion after a decisive match played against Vigor Torino in Novara, of which the score was 3–0. In the same year, businessman Giovanni Maino offered eleven grey shirts, similar to those worn by his famous cycling team, to Alessandria FBC.

In 1913 the team recruited the English player-coach George Arthur Smith, coming from the ranks of Genoa; he proved to be a great football teacher and, thanks to him, talented players like Adolfo Baloncieri and Carlo Carcano—who, in the 1930s, coached Juventus FC in the "Quinquennio d'Oro" period and who became on 31 January 1915 the first Alessandria footballer wearing the national football team's jersey—soon exploded in the 1920s. Already in the 1914–15 season, the grey team in Piedmont was very good, missing for only two points the admission to the final round.[clarification needed]

After World War I, Alessandria F.B.C. continued to improve its performances: in the 1919–20 season, it prevailed in the elimination round and then lost to Genoa in the semifinals. In November 1920, FBC merged with another Alessandria team, US Alessandria, established in 1915, keeping the grey shirt and changing its name to Alessandria US. At the end of the 1920–21 season, the club gained admission to the North Italy championship semifinals after a playoff in Milan against Modena F.C. On 10 July 1921, Alessandria US lost the chance to qualify for the Northern Italy final, losing to U.S. Pro Vercelli in a violent match bitterly contested by Alessandria: they chose to withdraw in protest after just an hour of play (0–4), after a serious head injury occurred in Carcano.[clarification needed]

In subsequent years Alessandria U.S. continued to show excellent performances, but never succeeded in winning a championship, as the tournament was dominated by Pro Vercelli and Genoa, from Bologna CFC and Turinese teams.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.