Full name Associazione Sportiva Roma SpA
Nickname(s) Giallorossi (Yellow-red),
Founded July 22, 1927
Ground Stadio Olimpico,Rome
Capacity 82,307
Chairman Francesco Sensi
Manager Luciano Spalletti
League Serie A
2007-08 Serie A, 2nd
Current squad
1 GK Gianluca Curci
2 DF Christian Panucci (vice-captain)
3 DF Cicinho
4 DF Juan
5 DF Philippe Mexès
7 MF David Pizarro
8 MF Alberto Aquilani
9 FW Mirko Vučinić
10 FW Francesco Totti (captain)
11 MF Rodrigo Taddei
14 FW Ludovic Giuly
15 DF Vitorino Antunes
16 MF Daniele De Rossi
18 FW Mauro Esposito
20 MF Simone Perrotta
21 DF Matteo Ferrari
22 DF Max Tonetto
25 GK Carlo Zotti
26 MF Adrian Piţ
27 GK Júlio Sérgio
30 MF Mancini
32 GK Doni
33 MF Matteo Brighi
77 DF Marco Cassetti
DF John Arne Riise
Retired numbers
6 – Aldair, centre back, 1990–2003[18]
Season 08/09 Kit
Honours
National titles
Serie A:
Champions (3): 1941–42; 1982–83; 2000–01
Runners-up (11): 1930–31; 1935–36; 1954–55; 1980–81; 1983–84; 1985–86; 2001–02; 2003–04; 2005–06; 2006–07; 2007–08
Coppa Italia:
Winners (9): 1963–64; 1968–69; 1979–80; 1980–81; 1983–84; 1985–86; 1990–91; 2006–07; 2007–08
Runners-up
: 1936–37; 1940–41; 1992–93; 2002–03; 2004–05; 2005–06 Supercoppa Italiana:
Winners (2): 2001; 2007
Runners-up (2): 1991; 2006
Serie B:
Winners (1): 1951–52
European titles
European Cup / UEFA Champions League:
Runners-up (1): 1983–84
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup:
Winners (1): 1960–61
UEFA Cup:
Runners-up (1): 1990–91
Anglo-Italian Cup:
Winners (1): 1971–72
Anglo-Italian League Cup:
Runners-up (1): 1969
Youth titles
Campionato Nazionale Primavera:
Winner
: 1972–73; 1973–74; 1977–78; 1983–84; 1989–90; 2004–05 Coppa Italia Primavera:
Winner (3): 1973–74; 1974–75; 1993–94
Torneo di Viareggio:
Winner (3): 1981; 1983; 1991
Runners-up (7): 1950; 1957; 1978; 1985; 1989; 1992; 2007
History
Foundation
Historical AS Roma positions in Serie AA.S. Roma was founded in July 1927. At the time, the city of Rome had several teams in the Italian football league: S.S. Lazio (1900), Roman F.C. , S.S. Alba-Audace Roma (founded in 1926 through the merger of Alba (1911) and Audace) and Fortitudo-Pro Roma S.G.S. (founded in 1926 through the merger of Fortitudo (1908) and Pro Roma (1912)), however most of them were weak financially and uncompetitive. Spurned on by the government's desire for each Italian city to be represented by one major club (as was done in Florence, Naples and Bari), Alba-Audace, Fortitudo-Pro Roma and Roman merged to form A.S. Roma. After a short use of the Motovelodromo Appio stadium, the yellow-red team settled in the working-class streets of Testaccio, where it built the extraordinary all-wooden homonym ground. The area still remains the club's spiritual heartland. Other grounds that have been used by A.S. Roma are the Stadio Flaminio and the Stadio Olimpico (the latter was built in 1952).
1920's-1950's
A.S. Roma took part in their first national league in the 1929-30 season and won their first Scudetto in 1941-42. However, they would have to wait a considerable 41 years for their second triumph in the 1982-83 season and 18 years for their third in 2000-01. They have been runners-up in 1930-31, 1935-36, 1980-81, 1983-84, 1985-86, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2005-06 (after the final verdict on the match-fixing scandal) and 2006-07. A.S. Roma have been relegated only once in their 80 year history: this came at the end of the 1950-51 season, though they made a swift return to Serie A the following season.
1950s to 1970s
After returning to Serie A in 1952, Roma spent the remainder 1950s and early 1960s in the top half of Serie A. From 1963 to 1979 AS Roma endured a period of mediocrity with 3rd place in 1974-75 being the best they could manage, punctured by either mid-table mediocrity or flirtation with relegation. Notable players in this period include defender Giacomo Losi and midfielders Franco Cordova and Giancarlo De Sisti.
1980s and onwards
Roberto Pruzzo was Roma's most effective striker in the 1980s.With talented players including Bruno Conti, Agostino Di Bartolomei, Roberto Pruzzo and Falcao, Roma would begin the 1980s in its best position to challenge for the title since 1942. After narrowly (and controversially) missing out in 1981 to Juventus, they broke through in 1983 amidst joyous celebrations in the capital. They reached the European Cup final the following year, only to lose to Liverpool on penalties. In the 1990-1991 season, Roma reached the UEFA Cup final in which they lost to Inter Milan 2-1 on aggregate.
They have more or less remained in the top half of Serie A ever since, occasionally mounting a serious challenge for the title, which they won again in the 2000/2001 season by beating Parma 3-1 on the last day of the season, edging out Juventus by two points.
Francesco Totti was one of the main reasons for Roma's victory that season and has since become an icon of the club equal in status to Pruzzo and Conti before him. He is a hero to Roma supporters, even more today thanks to Italy's 2006 FIFA World Cup success. Since then Totti has become Roma's top scorer beating Pruzzo's previous tally of 106 goals.
Roma came close to a successful defense of their title, but lost out as another title race with Juve went to the wire. They missed out by just one point and had to settle for second place and an automatic UEFA Champions League spot. Since they won the scudetto Roma have finished second every season in either the Serie A or the Coppa Italia. They lost out to AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final in the 2002-2003 season (losing 4-2 on aggregate), and again in the Serie A in the 2003-2004 season where they finished second.
2004-2005 was an abysmal campaign where Roma flirted with relegation before finishing in 8th place. They managed to secure a UEFA Cup spot by reaching the Coppa Italia final which they lost to Inter Milan 3-0 on aggregate. Their Champions League campaign was even worse as they only managed 1 point from 6 games before finishing last in their group. Their first game was a 3-0 victory for Dynamo Kiev as they got penalized because an object from the stands hit the referee. The match was called off, victory was given to the Ukrainian outfit, and Roma had to play 2 home games behind closed doors. Their only point came from the 1-1 draw at home with Bayer Leverkusen thanks to a late goal by Vincenzo Montella.
AS Roma also made to the final of the 2005/06 Coppa Italia to face Inter Milan. They drew the First leg 1-1 but lost the return leg 3-1, losing 4-2 on aggregate. This was the second year in a row they lost to Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia final.
AS Roma beat Olympique Lyonnais to reach the quarter finals of the Champions League in 2007, but after taking a 2-1 lead over Manchester United at home and being undefeated in 10 games in all competitions, they suffered a 7-1 defeat in the second leg at Old Trafford (8-3 on aggregate). This was their first defeat in Europe since losing 1-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stage. It was also the biggest margin of victory in a quarter final match of either the European Cup or Champions League, since 1957-58, when Real Madrid beat Sevilla 8-0 (10-2 on aggregate).
The team secured second place in Serie A with three games to go, behind Inter Milan. Although the nerazzurri dominated the championship, they lost the match against Roma 1-3 in San Siro. The two clubs also faced each other in the two legs of the 2007 Coppa Italia final. Roma won the cup after an impressive 6-2 in the first leg, while lost 2-1 the second leg. It was the eighth Coppa Italia in Roma's history.
Supporters
The club plays at the 82,656 seater Stadio Olimpico, shared with S.S. Lazio. The two teams face off against each other at least twice a season in the Derby della Capitale (Derby of the Capital) which is notorious for being one of the most fiery and emotional rivalries in world football. Two extreme incidents in particular have left their mark on the history of this heated fixture. In 1979, Lazio fan Vincenzo Paparelli was hit in the eye by a flare fired by a Roma fan from the opposite end of the stadium, subsequently becoming the first fatality in Italian football history. In 2003 an unprecedented event occurred when the Roma Ultras forced the game to be suspended after spreading false rumours among the crowd that a child had been killed by the police prior to the beginning of the game.
AS Roma's principal ultras group until the middle of the 1990s was the left-leaning CUCS (Commando Ultrà Curva Sud). However the group was slowly usurped by rival factions and ultimately broke up. The Curva Sud has been controlled since then by various groups which lean markedly to the right (AS Roma Ultras, Boys, Giovinezza, etc.) This change is comparable to what had happened a few years earlier at neighbors Lazio when the a-political "Eagles Supporters" were purged by the far right "Irriducibili", who on the other hand, have enjoyed complete control of the Curva Nord since 1992. It is worth bearing in mind that in both team's cases the political leanings of the actual groups, though more likely to generate media attention, is usually not their raison d'être and more just a part of their overall identity.
The club anthem, "Roma (non si discute, si ama)" by Antonello Venditti, is played and sung before each match, and "Grazie Roma", by the same singer, is played at the end of home games when the team wins. A recent addition to the supporters repertoire was the riff to the White Stripes song, 'Seven Nation Army' which was later used by supporters of the Italian national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It started when Totti was heard on camera during a warmup for one Roma's league games 'free-styling' his own words to the song and the Roma supporters began singing Totti's version at games.
