The Prodigal Gaffer Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Bolzano is located in the province of South Tyrol, which forms part of the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of northern Italy. Sharing a boarder with Switzerland and Austria lends itself to the Germanic name for the area of Südtirol, while the native Italians call it Alto Adige. Until 1918 the region was part of the Austro-Hungarian princely County of Tyrol. However this largely German-speaking territory was occupied by Italy at the end of the war and was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1919. Bolzano is regarded as the capital city of South Tyrol and sits nestled in the mountainous peaks of the Alps and is regarded as the gateway to the Dolomites. The city breaks the mould of the local region, where the majority of its inhabitants speak Italian. German tongues dominate most other areas. The fascist regime attempted to Italianise the region, encouraging immigration from other Italian regions hoping to dominate the cities demographic. The German language was banished from public service, German teaching was officially forbidden and German newspapers were censored. All of this prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, where Hitler and Mussolini formed an alliance that declared that South Tyrol would not be annexed to the rule of the Third Reich. However in 1943 the Italian government signed an armistice with the Allies that saw the region annexed to the German Reich until the end of the war. Italian rule was restored in 1945 followed the collapse of the Nazi regime. Since then the region has thrived and remains one of the richest provinces of Italy and the European Union. This has resulted in the city of Bolzano being voted first place in recent quality-of-life surveys in the peninsula. The Vision – Virtus Bolzano With a population in excess of 105,000 the city of Bolzano certainly has scope to support a top-class football club. However this has never been realised. In recent time the cities only professional representation came in the form of FC Südtirol/Alto Adige. This was the brainchild of a group of local businessmen who in 1995 brought the license of S.V. Milland from the local town of Brixen, rebranding them to represent the whole of South Tyrol. Thus the club sported both the German and Italian name for the region. The club relocated to Bolzano to play in the South Tyrol’s only major city. Other Bolanzo-based clubs which play in the lower tiers of the amateur Eccellenza and Promozione leagues included; Bozner FC; FC Bolzano; FC Neugries and Virtus Don Bosco. None of these teams ever graced the professional ranks of the Italian game, however FC Bolzano considered themselves the true club of the city, having originated in the city and found minor success at their level. The vision envisaged the football community of Bolzano to pooling their resources together to form a new club that would stand a better of chance of surviving, succeeding and striving towards the upper echelons of Italian and European football. This new club would take the moniker of Virtus Bolzano and be based at the city’s premier sporting facility; Stadio Druso. It was hoped that all five clubs would encourage their respective fans to engage in the project, continuing their support and embrace the “One City, One Club” ethos. The license of FC Südtirol/Alto Adige would gain the club immediate professional status in the Lega Pro. The other four, amateur clubs would be dissolved and cease to exist. All financial resources would be pooled together to fund and secure the future of the new club. All directors and both non-playing and playing staff would be offered employment in the most suitable capacity identified. This proposal was originally made by the Chairman of FC Südtirol/Alto Adige and ex-politician Walter Baumgartner. Backed by the remaining board members and local businessmen behind the original FC Südtirol/Alto Adige project, the cities other football clubs were approached. By highlighting the sole aim of securing and improving the future of professional football within the city and region beyond, little opposition was received. The notion was met with approval and support on all fronts and received the backing of the FIGC. And so the club, Unione Calcio Virtus Bolzano, was born. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenthreeleader Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Forza UCVB! Carry on Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenArsenal Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 This looks pretty good. Will try to follow with interest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prodigal Gaffer Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 Thanks for the feedback guys. I am busily working away with the editor to manipulate the database to include Virtus Bolzano as we speak. To ensure accuracy I am taking my time and may not have another update until after the weekend. In the meantime I have a question for you all. As I am pooling all five club's resources together, such as attendances, bank balances and staff, should I also total all the clubs reputation stats? This would see the new club have a reputation of 5,200, as opposed to donor club FC Südtirol/Alto Adige's reputation of 3,350. The figure of 5,200 is a good match with the other higher reputation teams at this level with Novara, AlbinoLeffe and Cremonese rated as 5,100, 4,950 and 4,850 respectively. I feel this would be a reasonable thing to do as all individual clubs have earned a reputation in the footballing world and deserve to bring this with them into the new club. If people feel this is unrealistic and would give me an unfair advantage then please do give me feedback. However bear in mind that at the latest count I will inherit a squad of 90+ players! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenArsenal Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Frankly, we're an easy-going bunch here on FMS, and stuff like that shouldn't really affect the story too much. Do what you feel is right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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