 | |||
| Full name | Società Sportiva Calcio BariSpA[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | I Galletti (The Cockerels) I Biancorossi (The White and Reds) | ||
| Founded | 15 January 1908; 117 years ago (1908-01-15) asBari Foot-Ball Club 16 January 1924; 101 years ago (1924-01-16) asFoot-Ball Club Bari 27 February 1928; 97 years ago (1928-02-27) asUnione Sportiva Bari 16 July 2018; 7 years ago (2018-07-16) asSocietà Sportiva Calcio Bari | ||
| Ground | Stadio Comunale San Nicola | ||
| Capacity | 58,270 | ||
| Owner | Filmauro S.r.l. | ||
| Chairman | Luigi De Laurentiis Jr. | ||
| Manager | Fabio Caserta | ||
| League | Serie B | ||
| 2024–25 | Serie B, 9th of 20 | ||
| Website | sscalciobari.it | ||
 Current season | |||
Società Sportiva Calcio Bari,[2] commonly referred to asSSC Bari and simplyBari, is anItalian football club based inBari,Apulia. Bari currently plays in theSerie B. The team finished the 2021–22 season in first place inSerie C and earned promotion to Serie B for the 2022–23 season.
Bari was originally founded in 1908 and reestablished several times, most recently in 2018. The clubspent many seasons bouncing between the top two divisions inItalian football,Serie A and Serie B. The club was formerly known asAS Bari orFC Bari 1908 as well as other names, due to re-establishing. Bari usually plays in all-white with red detailing.
Statistically, Bari is the most successful club from the Apulia region in terms of all-time Serie A records. The club is among the elite inSouthern Italian football and is ranked 17th in the all-time Serie A records. The club won theMitropa Cup in 1990.
Bari Foot-Ball Club was founded in the city on 15 January 1908.[3] Like the majority of early Italian football clubs, foreign people were involved in the foundation of the club. Amongst the main founders were German Floriano Ludwig, Swiss Gustavo Kuhn, and a native trader of Bari called Giovanni Tiberini.[4] Originally, the club wore red shirts with white shorts; early on, they would play against English sailors at the San Lorenzo field in the San Pasquale area of Bari.
Although the club was founded early on, clubs from Southern Italy were not significantly represented in the early Italian football championships; due to that, Bari did not immediately participate in the early national leagues. DuringWorld War I, the original club became inactive before being reorganized in 1924 under the same name.
By this time, other clubs from the city had begun playing too, includingFoot-Ball Club Liberty which originally wore blue and white stripes and were founded as a dissident club from the original Bari in 1909[5] and their rivalsUnione Sportiva Ideale who wore green and black stripes and was founded in 1908. It was FBC Liberty who became the first ever side from theProvince of Bari to take part in theItalian Football Championship; this was during the1921–22 CCI season when the main clubs in the country had a falling out withFIGC.
Thefollowing season Ideale became the first side from Bari to progress to the Southern Italian semi-finals round but lost out toLazio. All three clubs featured in the championship for the first time in1924–25; while FBC Bari were relegated and ceased to exist again in 1927, Liberty, on the other hand, reached the Southern semi-finals before losing out heavily toAlba Roma.
During the 1926-1928 period, the whole of Italian football was changing and beginning to become more organized. Several mergers were taking place inNaples,Florence, and Rome around the same time. FBC Liberty opted to change their name to Bari FC and first used it on 6 February 1927 in a match againstAudace Taranto; then, on 27 February 1928, Bari FC merged with US Ideale to createUnione Sportiva Bari. The US Bari retook the red and white colours of FBC Bari.
After the Italian Championship of1928–29, the league system was reorganized and Bari was placed inSerie B. One of their players was called up in theItaly national football team that season for the first time, in the form ofRaffaele Costantino; this made Bari the first Serie B club to contribute a player and a scorer to the national side.[6]
The 1930s and 1940s were Bari's golden age, spending much of that time inSerie A, with a finish of seventh in 1947 being the best they achieved.
In the 1950s, Bari went into a sharp decline and an equally rapid revival towards the end of the decade to spend three more years in Serie A (1958–61). Stars of the team in this period includedBiagio Catalano andRaúl Conti. The club returned to Serie A twice more in this period (1963–64 and 1969–70), with the latter proving especially harrowing with only 11 goals scored, the lowest of any top-flight club. In 1974, Bari descended toSerie C, finishing that season with only 12 goals scored and 26 conceded in 38 games.
By the late 1970s, Bari were back in Serie B and on something of an upward swing, narrowly missing promotion in 1982. They managed promotion to Serie A in 1985 and acquired English playersGordon Cowans andPaul Rideout, but they were unable to prevent an instant return toSerie B.
A return to Serie A in 1989 with stars including stalwart defenderGiovanni Loseto, midfielderPietro Maiellaro and Brazilian strikerJoão Paulo saw a respectable 10th-place finish in 1990, their last season at theDella Vittoria. The following season saw Bari move to theSan Nicola stadium, built for the1990 World Cup, but by 1992, despite the signing ofDavid Platt, they would be relegated once more.
Promotion in 1994 saw another two-year stay in Serie A withIgor Protti clinching league topscorer in1995–96 season, and another promotion in 1997 saw the emergence of promising youngsters likeNicola Ventola,Diego De Ascentis,Gianluca Zambrotta,Simone Perotta andAntonio Cassano. This time, they managed a four-year stay in Serie A under the guidance ofEugenio Fascetti, despite his uneasy relationship with many sections of the club's support. The club has since had a generally indifferent spell in Serie B. However, having been near the top of the Serie B table for much of the 2008–09 season, they gained promotion to Serie A on 8 May 2009, under the guidance ofAntonio Conte.
In November 2009, a take-over bid was rejected.[7] ATexas-based company JMJ Holdings also gave an intent to take over in August 2009.[8][9]
WithLeonardo Bonucci andAndrea Ranocchia as centre-back andBarreto as striker, Bari performed well in the first half of the season. Eventually, Bari finished 10th. However, Bari lost €19 million in 2009 financial year,[10] which meant Bari was quiet in the 2010 summer window and in the January 2011 transfer window, they failed to find a replacement of Bonucci and Ranocchia. The company recovered from negative equity due to an increase in TV income, as well as the sale of Bonucci (a profit of €6.45 million). Bari had a positive equity of €870,653 on 31 December 2010 and a net income of 14 million in the 2010 calendar year due to extraordinary income from selling the brand.[11]
Bari were relegated toSerie B after the 2010–11 season, finishing 17 points short of 17th placedLecce. During the season, managerGiampiero Ventura was replaced byBortolo Mutti in a failed attempt to save the club from relegation. On 4 March 2011, Bari played its 1,000th game in Serie A.
On 13 June 2011, President Vincenzo Matarrese and the rest of the board of directors resigned after 28 years of controlling the club.Vincenzo Torrente was brought in to manage the side in the summer of 2011, and much of the playing roster was let go due to financial difficulties at the club and replaced by young players. Despite six and seven-point penalties in the following two seasons, Bari under Torrente was able to achieve mid-table Serie B finishes; however, disconcertingly, attendances continued to dwindle. In the summer of 2013, Torrente resigned and was replaced byCarmine Gautieri, who also resigned after two weeks. The top job was then assigned to Roberto Alberti Mazzaferro.
The financial position of the club continued to decline, and the Mattarese family reduced the amount of money they put into the club. The club's debt reached €30m in February 2014. The club was declared bankrupt on 10 March 2014. The first bankruptcy auction, on 18 April 2014, was declared deserted due to the lack of a bid that met all of the criteria. The second auction, on 12 May 2014, also failed to find a successful bidder. The club was in real danger of disappearing.
The third bankruptcy auction was held on 20 May 2014 with an asking price for the club of just €2m.[citation needed] A consortiumFC Bari 1908 S.p.A. led by former Serie A refereeGianluca Paparesta successfully acquired the club assets and sports title. A strong spell of form towards the end of the season, where the club lost just two of its last 15 Serie B matches, meant that Bari qualified for the 2013–14 Serie B play-offs. Bari met Crotone in the quarter-finals and won 3–0, setting up a clash against Latina, the side that finished 3rd in the regular season. The first leg of the play-off semifinal was a sell-out with over 50,000 people attending the match, an incredible achievement considering the club recorded an attendance of less than 1,000 just a few months earlier. Bari were knocked out due to two draws (2–2 and 2–2).
In 2014–15, the team ended the season in 10th place. In 2015–16, Bari gained 5th place in the league and subsequent access to the play-off preliminary match againstNovara but lost 3–4 afterextra time at Stadio San Nicola.
In December 2015, Cosmo Giancaspro acquired 5% of Bari's shares.[12] In April 2016Noordin Ahmad signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 50% shares of the club[13][14] but the deal collapsed; In June 2016 Cosmo Giancaspro became the sole director (Italian:Amministratore Unico) of the club, after the entire share capital were acquired by an Italian company Kreare Impresa S.r.l.[15] According toLa Repubblica, Kreare Impresa was owned by Giancaspro, but both Giancaspro and his company was involved in a money laundering investigation.[16]
On 16 July 2018, Bari were excluded by Co.Vi.Soc. from participating in2018–19 Serie B due to financial reasons.[17] The shareholders also tried to recapitalize the club[18] and appeal the exclusion to Collegio di Garanzia ofItalian National Olympic Committee (CONI), however, it was rejected.[19]
Thanks to theArticle 52 of N.O.I.F.,Aurelio De Laurentiis, the owner of football clubNapoli and film companyFilmauro, had won the rights to establish a phoenix club of Bari and restart in2018–19 Serie D.[20][21] He also re-established the current Napoli in 2004. The new club will be namedSSC Bari, with De Laurentiis stating his intention to return it to Serie A as soon as possible.[2] The club was subsequently assigned to Group I of2018–19 Serie D, traditionally destined to teams from Sicily andCalabria.[22]
On 23 August 2018, as part of a press conference, Aurelio De Laurentiis announced his eldest son, film producer Luigi De Laurentiis Jr.,[23] as the new Bari chairman.[24]
Bari was promoted toSerie C at the end of the 2018–19 season. In the following seasons, the club was always touted as a major contender for promotion to Serie B.
In the 2019–20 campaign, Bari ended the season in second place behindReggina and then made it all the way to the playoff final, where they were defeated byReggiana after extra time, thus missing on immediate promotion to the Italian second division. Following a fourth-place finish in the next season, the club hiredMichele Mignani as head coach and strengthened the squad even further: this proved to be successful, as Bari won Group C and gained promotion to Serie B on 3 April 2022, with four games yet to go.[25] In their first season return to Serie B, Bari made it to the promotion playoff finals at home, lossing toCagliari due to an injury-time goal byLeonardo Pavoletti, thus missing out on a second consecutive promotion.
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| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 1978–1979 | Puma | None |
| 1980–1981 | Pouchain | None |
| 1981–1984 | Adidas | MAN SE |
| 1984–1987 | Cassa di Puglia | |
| 1987–1990 | Sud Leasing | |
| 1990–1992 | Sud Factoring | |
| 1992–1995 | Wuber | |
| 1995–1997 | CEPU | |
| 1997–1998 | Lotto | Transport Gio.Bi |
| 1998–2003 | TELE +,Sammontana | |
| 2003–2005 | Pasta Ambra | |
| 2005–2006 | Erreà | |
| 2006–2009 | Gaudianello | |
| 2009 | Radionorba | |
| 2009–2012 | Banca Popolare di Bari, Radionorba | |
| 2012–2013 | Fashion District | |
| 2013–2015 | SuisseGas | |
| 2015–2016 | Nike | Puglia Promozione, Balkan Express |
| 2016–2017 | Umbro | Betaland |
| 2017–2018 | Zeus Sport[26] | Peroni 3.5 |
| 2018–2019 | Kappa[27] | Sorgesana,DAZN,Banca Popolare di Puglia e Basilicata |
| 2019-2020 | Sorgesana, DAZN, Banca Popolare di Puglia e Basilicata,Birra Peroni | |
| 2020-2021 | Sorgesana, Primiceri, Banca Popolare di Puglia e Basilicata, Birra Peroni, Granoro | |
| 2021-2022 | Acqua Amata, Decò, Granoro, Molino Casillo, Primiceri | |
| 2022-2023 | Molino Casillo, Acqua Amata, Decò, MV Line, Granoro | |
| 2023-2024 | Corgoň, Tekvicovo-Tökmagmánia, Klass bistro & restaurant, Granoro |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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The official presidential history of Bari, since 1929 until the present day.
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Fabio Caserta |
| Sporting director | Giuseppe Magalini |
| Assistant manager | Salvatore Accursi |
| Head of athletic trainer | Aldo Reale |
| Athletic trainer | Francesco Saverio Cosentino |
| Goalkeeper coach | Roberto Maurantonio |
| Technical assistant | Luigi Viola Nicola Fiorentino Filippo Giordano |
| Athletic trainer manager | Paolo Nava |
| Doctor | Emanuele Caputo Giovanni Battista Ippolito Vito Ungaro |
| Physiotherapist | Alessandro Schena Francesco Sorgente |
| Osteopath | Francesco Loiacono |
Bari have had many managers and trainers, some seasons they have had co-managers running the team, here is a chronological list of them from 1928 onwards:[29]
Mitropa Cup: 1
| Series | Years | Last | Promotions | Relegations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 30 | 2010–11 | - |  12 (1929,1933,1941,1950,1961,1964,1970,1986,1992,1996,2001,2011) |
| B | 47 | 2022–23 |  12 (1928,1931,1935,1942,1958,1963,1969,1985,1989,1994,1997,2009) | 5 (1951,1965,1974,1983,2018✟) |
| C | 11 | 2021–22 | 5 (1955,1967,1977,1984,2022) | 1 (1952) |
| 88 out of 91 years of professional football in Italy since 1929 | ||||
| D | 3 | 2018–19 | 2 (1954,2019) | never |
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