Leonardo Semplici
Who was the head coach of the team S.P.A.L. from Dec 2014 to Feb 2020?
S.P.A.L . Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor , commonly known as S.P.A.L . ( ) , is a professional football club based in Ferrara , Emilia-Romagna , Italy . The team plays in Serie B , the second tier of the Italian football league system . Founded in 1907 , since 1928 they have played their home matches at Stadio Paolo Mazza , named after Paolo Mazza ( chairman of the club 1946–1977 ) . In total , SPAL have participated in 24 top-tier , 26 second-tier , 41 third-tier , 7 fourth-tier and 1 fifth-tier league seasons . The clubs best finish was when they came fifth in the 1959–60 Serie A ; they also reached the 1961–62 Coppa Italia final . The club is owned by Vetroresina S.p.A . and chaired by Walter Mattioli . The current manager is Massimo Rastelli . History . 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 ( SPAL ) . 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 clubs 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 . SPAL finished fifth in 1959–60 , thus obtaining the best finish 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 managed to reach the top of the league table . During those years , the club was a launchpad for many young players who became stars , 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 Ferraras 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 , and were reformed as SPAL 1907 S.r.l. , under the terms of Article 52 of N.O.I.F. . In the summer of 2012 , after suffering a second bankruptcy , the club was refounded for the second time as Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Real SPAL and would begin life in Serie D again under Article 52 of N.O.I.F. . 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 . 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 . In their first season back in Serie A , SPAL avoided relegation by finishing in 17th place . 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 . 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 . Colours , badge and nicknames . The teams colours are light blue and white , which derive from the Salesians emblem . The home kit , since 1962 , has been composed of a vertical striped light blue-white shirt , white trainers and white socks . The only exception to light blue and white was when the club adopted a black and white kit between 1939 and 1943 ( when it was named A.C . Ferrara ) , in honour of Ferraras civic colours . Currently the badge features an oval-shaped light blue escutcheon , with a white band in the upper section , on which is written the acronym S.P.A.L . in golden characters . Also , in the lower section , the black and white emblem of the city is featured . From 1980 until mid-1990s the official badge featured a fawn , another symbol of the club . SPALs most common nicknames are Biancazzurri ( from the club colours , light blue and white ) and Estensi ( from the House of Este , ancient European noble dynasty that ruled Ferrara from 1240 to 1597 ) . Stadium . - Campo di Piazza dArmi ( 1919–28 ) - Stadio Paolo Mazza ( 1928– ) The current home ground of SPAL is the 16,134 seater Stadio Paolo Mazza . The stadium was opened in September 1928 as Stadio Comunale , then took on its current name in February 1982 , in honour of the former president of the club Paolo Mazza , who died two months earlier . Initially it had a capacity of 4,000 . Then , in concomitance with the promotion of SPAL to Serie A , in 1951 it was subjected to a heavy restructuring that brought capacity to 25,000 . Between 1960s and 1980s it was renovated again , reducing the number of possible spectators to 22,000 until the mid-2000s . From 2005 to 2016 the capacity was limited to 7,500 due to safety reasons and cost containment . In 2016–17 , after the clubs promotion to Serie B and then to Serie A , the stadium was restructured again to match the modern needs of comfort and safety . In the summer of 2018 a further remodeling took place , in order to bring the stadium capacity from 13,135 seats to 16,134 . Sponsors . Kit sponsors . - 1981–86 : Adidas - 1986–87 : Marix - 1987–89 : Fitness - 1989–91 : WBS - 1991–04 : Asics - 2004–05 : Zeus - 2005–09 : Legea - 2009–10 : Asics - 2010–12 : Givova - 2012–13 : Legea - 2013–16 : Erreà - 2016–17 : HS Football - 2017–21 : Macron Official sponsors . - 1981–82 : Sauber - 1982–89 : Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara - 1989–90 : Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara , Ravani Acciai - 1990–05 : Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara - 2005–08 : Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara , Tomasi Case - 2008–09 : Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara - 2009–10 : Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara , Lega del Filo dOro - 2010–11 : Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara , Trasea - 2011–13 : Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara - 2013–15 : Vetroresina , Veneto Banca - 2015–16 : Vetroresina , Reale Mutua , BMW ErreEffe Group - 2016–17 : Vetroresina , Magnadyne , 958 Santero , BMW ErreEffe Group - 2017–18 : InterSpar , Tassi Group , BMW ErreEffe Group - 2018–19 : Tassi Group , BMW ErreEffe Group , Pentaferte - 2019–20 : Omega Group , Krifi Caffè , OrOil , VB Impianti , Errebi Technology , Pentaferte - 2020–21 : Omega Group , Adamant BioNRG , Errebi Technology , Pentaferte Players . Notable former players . - Mario Astorri - Osvaldo Bagnoli - Gastone Bean - Savino Bellini - Niels Bennike - Ottavio Bianchi - Alberto Bigon - Kevin Bonifazi - Marco Borriello - Gianfranco Bozzao - Ottavio Bugatti - Ruben Buriani - Fabio Capello - Lucas Castro - Sergio Cervato - Dante Crippa - Carlo DellOmodarme - Luigi Delneri - Beniamino Di Giacomo - Dan Ekner - Bülent Esel - Felipe Dal Bello - Mohamed Fares - Matteo Ferrari - Adolfo Gori - Matthew Kemp - Jasmin Kurtić - Manuel Lazzari - Saul Malatrasi - Thomas Manfredini - Alex Meret - Egidio Morbello - Marco Nappi - Fulvio Nesti - Oscar Massei - Dante Micheli - Egisto Pandolfini - Michele Paramatti - Fausto Pari - Luigi Pasetti - Sergio Pellissier - Andrea Petagna - Armando Picchi - Gennaro Olivieri - Alberto Orlando - Dion Ørnvold - Edoardo Reja - Mario Romani - Nils-Åke Sandell - Andy Selva - David Sesa - Abdon Sgarbi - Mirko Valdifiori - Carl Valeri - Emiliano Viviano - Erwin Waldner - Franco Zaglio Captains . Below a chronological list of SPAL captains since 1950 . Chairmen history . SPAL have had several presidents ( chairmen ) ( or ) over the course of their history . Some of them have been the main shareholder of the club . The longest-serving chairman is Paolo Mazza . Managerial history . SPAL have had many managers and head coaches throughout their history , below is a chronological list of them . Honours . Domestic . League titles . - Serie B - Winners ( 2 ) : 1950–51 , 2016–17 - Serie C / Serie C1 / Lega Pro - Winners ( 5 ) : 1937–38 , 1972–73 , 1977–78 , 1991–92 , 2015–16 - Runners-up ( 5 ) : 1941–42 , 1942–43 , 1969–70 , 1970–71 , 1995–96 - Serie C2 - Winners ( 1 ) : 1997–98 - Runners-up ( 1 ) : 1990–91 Cups . - Coppa Italia - Runners-up ( 1 ) : 1961–62 - Coppa Italia Serie C - Winners ( 1 ) : 1998–99 - Runners-up ( 1 ) : 1988–89 - Supercoppa di Serie C / Lega Pro - Winners ( 1 ) : 2016 European . - Cup of Italian-Swiss Friendship - Winners ( 1 ) : 1968 Youth . - Campionato Primavera B - Winners ( 1 ) : 1964–65 Divisional movements . ✟= Relegation due to bankruptcy . External links . - Official Site