Paolo Sammarco, Cesare Rickler, and Marco Malago of Chievo Verona look dejected after being relegated to Serie B. (Getty Images)
Soccer: John F. Molinaro
Flying Donkeys get wings clipped
Last Updated Friday, June 1, 2007
by John F. Molinaro
That loud thud heard across Italy last Sunday was the sound of flying donkeys crashing to the ground.
After six consecutive seasons in Serie A, Chievo Verona, the small neighbourhood club that astonishingly rose to the upper ranks of Italian soccer, was relegated to Serie B following a 2-0 loss to Catania.
Chievo needed only to earn a draw against the Sicilian outfit to beat the drop, but it couldn't muster a goal even though it dominated possession and dictated the pace of the game.
"It is a real shame for the fans who follow this side with such passion, as they did not deserve this result. … The club has shown it has honoured the top flight with its presence and hopes this will only be a year-long sabbatical," manager Luigi Del Neri told reporters after the game.
Based in a suburb of Verona, Chievo is one of two clubs from the city made famous by William Shakespeare - archrival Hellas is the other.
Founded in 1903, Hellas Verona was a modest provincial club that bounced between Serie A and Serie B before rising to fame in 1985 when it won the scudetto. Chievo Verona, formed in 1929, competed in several amateur leagues and slowly crept up the ladder of Italian soccer before earning promotion to the third division in 1989.
Hellas was far from being a powerhouse in the Italian game, but it didn't stop the club's fans from looking down their noses at Chievo supporters. Even when the two teams played alongside each other in Serie B in the mid-1990s, Hellas fans took to taunting their Chievo counterparts, boldly declaring that "donkeys would fly before Chievo made it to Serie A."
Hellas eventually fought its way back to Serie A in 1999, believing that it had left its city rivals behind for good. Two years later, though, Chievo, under the tutelage of Del Neri, was promoted to Italy's top division after finishing third in Serie B.
Hellas's worst nightmare came true: donkeys were flying.
Chievo embraced the nickname i Mussi Volanti (the Flying Donkeys) as a badge of honour and shocked critics in its first Serie A campaign. Chievo came flying out of the gates at the start of the 2000-01 season - at one point it topped the standings ahead of traditional heavyweights Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan - and went on to finish fifth to earn a spot in the UEFA Cup.
Chievo's historic first season in Serie A was made even sweeter for their fans when Hellas was relegated at the end of the campaign.
The Flying Donkeys proved their fifth-place finish wasn't a fluke, recording top 10 finishes in four of their six seasons in Serie A. The tiny club from Verona made an indelible impression on Italian soccer, winning over fans from all over the country the old-fashioned way: with hard work and plenty of spirit.
Although owned by Paluani, the company world famous for making panettone Christmas cakes, Chievo was kept on a strict financial leash by the Italian baker. With limited resources to draw upon, Chievo relied on a core of unknown but talented players over the years as it fought for respect in Serie A.
Youngsters Simone Perrotta and Simone Barone cut their teeth at Chievo en route to becoming members of Italy's World Cup-winning team last year. Journeyman midfielder Eugenio Corini came of age at Chievo as the team's captain, Salvatore Lanna and Lorenzo D'Anna anchored the defence, while forward Bernardo Corradi and defender Nicola Legrottaglie first shot to fame in a Chievo jersey.
But, as is so common in Italian soccer, Chievo became a victim of its own success.
Looking back at this past season, it's easy to point to Chievo's anaemic start to the campaign, when it went winless its first 12 games, as the reason for its relegation. But, in fact, the seeds were sown long ago.
As Chievo kept defying the odds with its top 10 finishes, Italy's big clubs took notice and quickly got out their chequebooks. Unable to offer competitive wages, Chievo was forced to sell off its most prized players, while others left when their contracts ended: Perrotta was bought by AS Roma, Barone and Chievo ended up in Palermo, Corradi headed off to Lazio and Legrottaglie was scooped up by Juventus.
Lanna and D'Anna remained, as did Brazilian midfielder Luciano and forward Federico Cossato. But Chievo's inability to bring in replacements for the players who left meant they were doomed to go down at the end of this season.
And so it came to pass last weekend.
"The Chievo fairytale isn't over. Now we've got to start over and return where we've shown we belong," Del Neri promised after Sunday's loss to Catania.
With any luck, the donkeys will be flying high in Serie A again.
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