A brief history of Vicenza
Updated: 4 hours ago
Vicenza were founded in 1902 by a school headmaster Tito Buy and a P.E teacher Antonio Libero Scarpa.
Early years
They were originally named Associazione del Calcio in Vicenza and abbreviated to Acivi. They played their first game on May 18 1903 but their first official competitive game was on February 12 1911 when they beat Bologna. They went on to face Pro Vercelli for the national title but lost 1-5 on aggregate.
They spent the pre-WW1 years in the Veneto section of the top flight but in 1922 were relegated. In the same year they integrated the Unione Sportiva Studentesca Vicentina into the club.
They spent the 1920s in the 2nd and then then 3rd tier of football. In 1928 they integrated another club Circolo Cotonificio Rossi di Vicenza and became Associazione Calcio Vicenza.
The early 1930s saw them in the top flight but by 1935 they were in Serie C. In 1932 they had been forced to change their name to Associazione Fascista Calcio Vicenza.
In 1940 they were promoted to Serie B and in 1943 to Serie A before WW2 interrupted national sporting activities.
Later history
In 1948 they were relegated to Serie B and did not come back up again until 1955 when they won the second flight championship. Meanwhile in 1953 they became Associazione Calcio Lanerossi Vicenza.
The "Lane" then had 20 consecutive years in Serie A with best positions of 6th (1964, 1966), 7th (1958, 1959, 1963) and 8th (1970, 1971).
In 1974 -75 they were relegated but came up again in 1976-77 winning Serie B under Giovan Battista Fabbri and a young goalscorer called Paolo Rossi.
The following year 1977-78 was their best season in history. They finished 2nd in Serie A with Rossi scoring 24 league goals. The president in these years was Giuseppe Farina (1968-81).
The dream did not last long as a year later they were relegated and by 1981-82 they were in Serie C. The same year however they won the Serie C Coppa Italia (Campobasso 3-1).
In 1984-85 they made it back up to B and the following year to A with 3rd place but they were then penalised for their involvement in the Calcioscommesse and stayed in the 2nd tier and by 1987-88 they were back in C. In 1989 they became Vicenza Calcio.
They resurfaced to B in 1993-94 and were back in A in 1995-96. There followed a great three years. They finished 9th, 8th and 14th and in 1997 won the Coppa Italia (Napoli 3-1 on aggregate) and in 1998 reached the semifinals of the Cup Winners Cup (Chelsea 2-3 on aggregate). They also played the Italian Supercoppa but lost to Juventus 0-3. The manager in this period was Francesco Guidolin.
In 1998-99 the Biancorossi were relegated and have since only spent one more season in A (2000-01). They have been in Serie B for 19 years (2001-2013, 2014-17 and 2020-22 and 2026-27) and 6 in C (2013-14, 2017-20 and 2022-25). In 2018 they went bust and reformed with Bassano del Grappa becoming L.R Vicenza Virtus
Round up
Vicenza have spent 30 seasons in Serie A with their best result being a 2nd place (1977-78). They have played 38 seasons in Serie B winning it 3 times (1955, 1977 and 2000) and 22 seasons in Serie C. They have won a Coppa Italia (1997).
Players
The most famous players to have played for Vicenza are undoubtedly Paolo Rossi (1976-79) and Roberto Baggio (1982-85).
The top 10 for appearances are: 336 Stefano Giacomelli (2012-23), 317 Giulio Savoini (1953-66), 314 Luigi Menti (1952-57, 1958-69), 311 Alfonso Santagiuliana (1940-44, 1946-54), 285 Giorgio Sterchele (1988-94, 2000-07), 268 Domenico Di Carlo (1990-99), 255 Gianfranco Volpato (1962-75), 253 Daniele Martinelli (2005-13), 249 Alberto Marchetti (1938-46, 1949-52) and 248 Sergio Carantini (1963-72).
The top 10 goalscorers are: 123 Pietro Spinato (1926-37), 106 Bruno Quaresma (1941-44, 1945-46, 1948-51, 1953-54), 105 Alberto Marchetti (1938-46, 1949-52), 74 Stefan Schwoch (2001-08), 68 Luís Vinicio (1962-66, 1967-68), 66 Mariano Rossi (1931-43), 60 Paolo Rossi (1976-79), 59 Antonio Rondon (1983-88) and 51 Massimo Margiotta and 46 Sergio Campana (1953-59, 1961-67).
Some of their other great players include; Romeo Menti (1934-38), Renato Faloppa (1970-79), Luciano Marangon (1975-80), Roberto Filippi (1975-78), Ernesto Galli (1975-79, 1980-81), Giuseppe Lelj (1976-78), Franco Cerilli (1976-79), Giovanni Lopez (1991-97), Roberto Murgita (1994-97), Marcelo Otero (1995-99), Gabriele Ambrosetti (1995-99, 2002), Massimo Beghetto (1996-2001), Lamberto Zauli (1997-2001), Massimo Ambrosini (1997-98), Pasquale Luiso (1999-01), Luca Toni (2000-01).
A possible top XI tactics aside could be: 1) Ernesto Galli 2) Giulio Savoni 3) Alfonso Santagiuliana 4) Domenico Di Carlo 5) Giovanni Lopez 6) Sergio Campana 7) Romeo Menti 8) Roberto Menti 9) Paolo Rossi 10) Roberto Baggio 11) Luís Vinício
Managers
The first manager was founder Antonio Libero Scarpa (1902-08) followed by Giulio Fasolo (1908-15).
Other important managers were; Wilmas Wilhelm (1923-24, 1928-31, 1949, 1949-50), Piero Spinato (1939-44, 1945-47), Manlio Scopigno (1962-65, 1975), Héctor Puricelli (1969-71, 1973-75), Giovan Battista Fabbri (1976-79), Francesco Guidolin (1994-98) and Edy Reja (1999-2001).
The most successful managers have been Giovan Battista Fabbri (2nd place in 1977-78) and Francesco Guidolin (Coppa Italia 1997).
Colours
Their colours since 1902 have always been red and white. Their classic strip is a shirt with red and white vertical stripes, white shorts and red socks. Their nicknames are "Lane", "Berici" "Nobile Provinciale" or simply "Biancorossi". Their mascot is "Gatton Gattoni", a cat in a Vicenza jersey.
Fans
The organised fan movement started in Vicenza in 1974 first with the group "Ultras" and then "Marines". In 1978 the "Vigilantes" also appeared. Other groups included "Fabio Group", "Caneva Berica", "Kopovolti" and "Ultras 1993"
In the late 1980's the D.U.C.S (Direttivo Ultrà Curva Sud) was set up and in 2004 the Curva Nord Vicenza group was formed.
In modern day the main groups are now; "Vecchia Guardia", "South Terrace", "Crew", "Banda Thiene" and "Youth", all in the Curva Sud.
Their main friendships are with Pescara (from 1977), Cremonese (1984), Reggiana (1985), Udinese and Ravenna (1993). They also have special relationships abroad with Metz (France), Roda Kekrade (Holland) and Olympique Lyonnais (France).
Their main rivals are Verona in the "derby del Veneto" clash. They also have rivalries with Napoli (with a violent history), Padova, Brescia, Triestina, SPAL, Cesena, Bologna, Atalanta and Venezia. Abroad they still have bad blood with Chelsea.
Playing fields and Stadiums
Vicenza first played at the Campo di Borgo Casale, basically a field.
In 1919 they moved to a new ground at San Felice. It was nicknamed "Stadio dea Carbonea" (Stadio della Carbonella-charcoal), as they used to fill the holes left by the football boots with charcoal from the nearby foundries.
From 1935 they played at the Stadio Romeo Menti, still in the Borgo Casale area of town. It was initially called the Campo Sportivo del Littorio. It was bombed and damaged during WW2 and subsequently repaired and called "Il Comunale" in 1946. In 1949 the name was changed to Romeo Menti, a former player who died in the Grande Torino air crash at Superga.
It has since gone through various modernisations but Vicenza still play there to this day. It now has a capacity of 12,788.
Modern day
In 2026-27 Vicenza are in Serie B. Since 2018 they are owned by entrepreneur Stefano Rosso and the head coach is Fabio Gallo.
Head to Head with Lazio
Lazio have played Vicenza 58 times: 50 in Serie A, 6 in Serie B and twice in Coppa Italia.
First game and first Lazio home win: Lazio Vicenza 2-1 in Serie A on Sunday, December 6, 1942
First Lazio Away Win: Vicenza Lazio 1-2 in Serie A on Sunday, December 29, 1963
Latest Lazio Home Win and last match played: Lazio Vicenza 2-1 in Serie A on Sunday April 22, 2001
Latest Lazio Away Win: Vicenza Lazio 1-4 in Serie A on Sunday, December 10, 2000
Total Lazio Wins: 24 (16 home, including one in Naples, 8 away)
Total Draws: 13 (6 home, 7 away)
Total Vicenza Wins: 21 (7 home, 14 away)
Best Lazio Win: Lazio Vicenza 4-0 in Serie A on Sunday December 21, 1997
Match with greater number of goals: 7 (Lazio Vicenza 4-3 in Serie A on Sunday, October 29, 1978 and Lazio Vicenza 3-4 in Serie B on Sunday, March 9, 1986)
Worst defeat: Lazio Vicenza 1-3 (on Sunday, October 23, 1955 and Sunday, March 12, 1978) and Vicenza Lazio 3-1 (on Sunday March 4, 1979), all in Serie A.
Sources
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