Roma Football Club: The Complete Guide

Associazione Sportiva Roma, or commonly known as Roma, is an Italian soccer club originating and based in Rome. Since being founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has been in top-tier Italian soccer every year except for a little blip in the 1951-52 season. Now, more than 90 years later, Roma continues to be one of the top sides to beat in the Italian Serie A. 

Today, we will be learning about all things AS Roma. Below is an in-depth guide into the history of this illustrious club. We will be discussing its home grounds, the many trophies the club has won over the years, the kit, and much, much more.

We will be detailing the club’s timeline from its inception in 1927 right up to now as well as the top players past and present who have represented this great club. As with any football, we will be chartering the highs and lows that have come with 94 years of soccer matches and competitions.

As you can guess, there is quite a lot of history to get through. But, we will be focusing on the current squad and background staff so you can become familiar with Roma in modern times. Everything you wanted to know about Roma is detailed below so let’s not waste any time and get right into the action.

Basic Facts 

Before we study AS Roma in detail, let’s take a look at some of the stand-out facts for this club:

  • AS Roma was established in 1927 as part of a merger of three clubs – Alba-Audace Roma, Fortitudo-Pro Roma, and Roman.
  • Their home ground is called Stadio Olimpico and has a capacity of 70,634 people
  • They have won the Serie A title on three occasions (1941/42, 1982/83, 2000/01), Serie B once (1951,52), Coppa Italia 9 times (1963/64, 1968/69, 1979/80, 1980/81, 1983/84, 1985/86, 1990/91, 2006/07, 2007/08), Suppercoppa Italiano twice (2001, 2007), and the Inter-Cities fairs Cup once (1961)
  • The current head coach is Jose Mourinho

Home Grounds 

All in all, Roma has used four different stadiums since 1927. Their first only lasted one season from 1927-28 and that was at Motovelodromo Appio. From 1929 to 1940, the team played their home matches at Camp Testaccio before moving to Stadio Nazionale del PNF from 1940 to 1953.

Apart from 1989-90 when the Stadio Olimpico was having a renovation, AS Roma have played their home games at Stadio Olimpico since 1953.

In 2012, it was announced that a new stadium, Stadio della Roma, was being constructed with a cavity of 52,500 spectators. However, the stadium suffered setback after setback but was due to be ready for the 2020-21 season. But, in February 2021, it was announced that the stadium project had once again been halted.

Main Trophies  

Roma’s main trophies have come in Serie A (3 times), Serie B (once), Coppa Italia (9 times), Supercoppa Italiana (twice), and the Inter-Cities fairs Cup (once). 

The club’s most successful period was between 1979 and 1991 where they won the Coppa Italia 5 times. 

Club History 

Founded by Italo Foschi on 7th June 1927, Roma managed to make their mark on Italian soccer pretty early on. They reached many high positions in the top league until finally winning their first Scudetto in 1942.

This gradual rise was met with a decline in the post-war period where the club was consistently around the bottom of the league. These struggles culminated in the club getting relegated in 1951.

To this date, this is the only time the club have been relegated. However, after just one season, Roma returned to the first division and have remained there ever since. Quite a magnificent achievement. 

The 1960s saw Roma enjoy various Cup successes such as the Inter-Cities Fair Cup in 1961 as well as two Coppa Italia titles in 1964 and 1969. The 1970s was quite barren in terms of trophies but their fortunes changed during the 1980s. 

Under the leadership of their manager Nils Liedholm, Roma became like a new side and entered the upper echelon of Italian soccer. It didn’t start so well as they lost the title race to Juventus in 1981 due to a dubiously disallowed goal.

However, the club finally won silverware again with their second Scudetto title in 1983. They would go on to win four more Coppa Italia trophies before returning mediocre results in the latter half of the 1980s and the whole of the 90s. 

Out of nowhere, Roma won their third Scudetto trophy in 2001 over the much favored Juventus. This was mainly down to the work of one player, Francesco Totti, otherwise known as the King of Rome. He spent his whole career at Roma and broke many of the club’s records along the way.

Despite being one of the most respected teams in international soccer, AS Roma are still waiting to win one of the three major European cups. They came very close to winning the European Cup in 1983-84 but lost in the final to Liverpool on penalties. 

Club Timeline 

With the merger of three Rome-based teams, Fortitudo-Pro Roma, Football Club di Roma, and Alba-Audace, Roma was founded on 7th June 1927 (as reported by the major daily newspaper of the time and the Rome edition of the Gazzetta Dello Sport).

Italo Foschi was the club’s first president after he had several meetings in the preceding months trying to get Rome’s players together to create one united team. The main goal was to beat the northern Italian sides.

The new club, AS Roma, took on the Capitoline Wolf Symbol as its crest as well as the colors of Rome – yellow and red. 

On 22nd July 1927, Foschi signed the Ordine del Giorno n.1. This structured the club into three main areas:

  • Sports operations
  • Finance
  • Headquarters 

It paid off as Roma won their first title in the 1927-28 season – the CONI Cup defeating Modena in the final. The star of the team was Attilio Ferraris, a member of Italy’s national side and a Rome native. He would later go on to become a world cup champion with the Azzurri.

After the first season, Roma were joined by a Roman legend, Fulvio Bernardini. For the next 11 seasons, he was their star player and guiding light. 

During the early period of the club, Campo Testaccio was the pride of Roma’s supporters. It was where Roma trained between 1929 and 1940 and both the fiesta and last games played there ended with 2-1 Roma victories.

Just a month after moving to Testaccio, the first Derby between Roma and Lazio happened. This rivalry began with a match in Rondinella and, on that day, the game was decided by a goal from Roma’s Rodolfo Volk.

The 1930s saw the beginning of the great rivalry between Roma and Juventus. One match in 1931 even inspired a movie by Mario Bonnard. This was believed to be one of the first instances where football had made a significant cultural impact.

Fifteen years after being formed, Roma won their first Scudetto. The team was very strong and the striker Amedeo Amadei made the key difference with 18 goals. 

Then came a fallow period. 

Roma suffered due to the war and were left penniless with no players. This came to a head when they were relegated in the 1950-51 season, their only relegation in their history. They bounced back to rejoin Serie A the next year but had to settle for a best of second place over the next 10 years.

In 1960, the club experienced its first international success by beating Union St. Gilloise, Colon, and Hibernian. The final saw Roma meet the English side, Birmingham City. In the first leg, Roma led by two goals but Birmingham scored two to make it a tie. The return match saw Roma win 2-0.

The 1960s saw Roma win two Italian Cups in 1964 and 1969. This was mainly down to investing in talents such as Francisco Lojacono, Antonio Angelillo, Juan Alberto Schiaffino, Giacomo Losi, and ‘Picchio’ De Sisti. The 1969 season was marred by the tragic passing of Giuliano Taccola who suffered a seizure. 

The 1970s saw the arrival of coach Nils Liedholm and their fortunes turned successful. Young players such as Francesco Rocca and Agostino Di Bartolomei shone thanks to the faith shown in them by Liedholm.

In 1979, Roma reached the top of Italian soccer and won the Italian Cup final against Torino. Then, the 1980s rolled in. This saw outstanding players like Paulo Roberto put the Roma shirt on and help Roma to their second scudetto in 1983.

The rest of the decade saw Roma win 5 titles.

In 1991, Roma reached the UEFA Cup Final against Inter Milan but they couldn’t quite beat the force of Inter Milan in their two legs. They did manage to win silverware in the 1990-91 season as they beat Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia final.

In 1993, the beloved Franco Sensi became the chairman of the club. A true Roma fan, Sensi appointed local coach Carlo Mazzone and invested in some big-name players such as Abel Balbo and Daniel Fonseca. Under Mazzone’s guidance, the results didn’t go to plan first but the emergence of Francesco Totti blossomed.

New coach Zdenek Zemen took over from Bianchi after one season which saw new, great players join the club such as Cafu, Tommasi, and Marco Delvecchio. Totti became the club’s captain.

The new millennium saw another new coach, the most successful in Italian history – Fabio Capello. The team ended the 1999-00 season with 75 points, the most ever registered during an 18-team championship.

The summer of 2000 saw Roma win the Italian Super Cup before playing in the Champions League for the first time.

In 2005, Luciano Spalletti arrived as coach and the team completed a record 11 victories in a row in Serie A, qualifying for the 2006-07 Champions League. The team finished their Serie A campaign in second place but the highlight was a wonderful eighth Coppa Italia success.

The 2007-08 season began with a Supercoppa success against Inter but sad news followed in the 2008-09 season with the passing of President Franco Sensi. His daughter, Rosella took over his role at this point.

2011 signaled the start of the Jim Pallotta era. This was guided by the arrival of new American owners with new President Thomas DiBenedetto. The next few years saw little success until new coach Rudi Garcia helped the side win 10 successive wins in Serie A.

Garcia left in January 2016 with Luciano Spalleti taking over the reins. Roma enjoyed two successful seasons before Eusveio Di Francesco took over as coach. His first season was a successful one as the team reached the Champions League semi-final.

Another new coach, Shakhtar Donetsk guided Roma to a fifth-place finish in the disrupted 2019-20 Serie A season but the team went out in the last 16 of the Europa League.

A new era began in 2020 as the club’s ownership changed with the takeover by The Friedkin Group.

A seventh-place finish in the 2021 league saw a change in coach with the world-renowned Jose Mourino taking over to guide the ambitious plans of the club and new owners.

Club Net Worth

Under the ownership of The Friedkin Group, AS Roma currently has a net value of $4.1 billion.

Stadium

The home stadium of Roma is Stadio Olimpico, The largest sports facility in Rome, the stadium can seat over 70,000 spectators and is located within the Foro Italico sports complex in the northern part of the city.

Owners

The current owner of AS Roma is American billionaire Dan Friedkin. A new era began in 2020 as The Friedkin Group took ownership of the club. The group has an 86.6% majority stake in the club with Dan Friedkin wanting to “make it one of the greatest names in world football.” 

The Friedkin Group are the latest in a long line of owners since the club began in 1927. You can find a complete list of the club’s chairman, some of which have been owners through its 94-year history below:

  • Italo Foschi – 1927–28
  • Renato Sacerdoti – 1928–35
  • Vittorio Scialoja – 1935–36
  • Igino Betti – 1936–41
  • Edgardo Bazzini – 1941–44
  • Pietro Baldassare – 1944–49
  • Pier Carlo Restagno – 1949–52
  • Romolo Vaselli – 1952
  • Renato Sacerdoti – 1952–58
  • Anacleto Gianni – 1958–62
  • Francesco Marini-Dettina – 1962–65
  • Franco Evangelisti – 1965–68
  • Francesco Ranucci – 1968–69
  • Alvaro Marchini – 1969–71
  • Gaetano Anzalone – 1971–79
  • Dino Viola – 1979–91
  • Flora Viola – 1991
  • Giuseppe Ciarrapico – 1991–93
  • Ciro Di Martino – 1993
  • Franco Sensi – 1993–08
  • Rosella Sensi – 2008–11
  • Roberto Cappelli – 2011
  • Thomas R. DiBenedetto – 2011–12
  • James Pallotta – 2012–2020
  • Dan Friedkin – 2020-present

Best Players

Trying to choose the best Roma player is nigh on impossible but certain candidates stand out. One thing is certain, Roma have produced some world-class soccer players over the years.

In the modern era, one of the team’s greatest player has arguably been Daniele De Rossi. Born and bred in Rome, Rossi rose through the soccer ranks at Roma before making his professional debut in 2001. He remained with the club until 2019 when he left for Boca Juniors and ultimately retired. 

Another prominent player is Giuseppe Giannini who played for the club from 1981 to 1996. Often referred to as “Il Principe” (The Prince), Giannini is well renowned for his elegance, ability, vision, technique, and passing range.

Perhaps Roma’s greatest player of all time, Francesco Totti played for the club from 1993 to 2017. He is considered one of the greatest Italian footballers of his generation.

Totti spent his entire career at Roma winning a Serie A title, two Coppa Italia titles, and two Supacoppa Italiana titles. There’s a reason he is known as “Il Bimbo de Oro” (The Golden Boy) and “Il Re di Roma” (The King of Rome) throughout the world.

All-Time Top Scorer 

There is little surprise that Roma’s greatest player is also their leading goal scorer. In 785 appearances, Francesco Totti scored a staggering 307 goals. This equates to 0.39 goals a match and a goal every 194 minutes he played. 

Captain 

The current captain of Roma is Lorenzo Pellegrini. A midfielder, Pellegrini joined Roma in 2017 before playing his first season as captain in 2021. He has currently scored 14 goals in 130 appearances for the club.

Goalkeepers  

The current goalkeepers for Roma are:

  • Rui Patricio
  • Pietro Boer
  • Daniel Fuzato
  • Matteo Cardinali
  • Pau Lopez

Defenders 

The current defenders playing for Roma are:

  • Leonardo Spinazzola
  • Chris Smalling
  • Gianluca Mancini
  • Matias Vina
  • Bryan Reynolds
  • Rick Karsdorp
  • Ibanez
  • Davide Santon
  • Riccardo Calafiori
  • Marash Kambulla
  • Federico Fazio
  • Filippo Tripi 
  • Amir Feratovic
  • Lorenzo Valeau

Strikers 

Roma’s current strikers are:

  • Edin Dzeko
  • Stephen El Shaarawy
  • Pedro
  • Nicola Zalewski 
  • Borja Mayoral
  • Eldor Shomurodov
  • Carles Perez
  • Riccardo Ciervo
  • Ruben Providence 
  • Alessio Riccardi

Managers 

Here is the list of managers from the 21st century:

  • Fabio Capello (1999-2004)
  • Cesare Prandelli (2004-05)
  • Rudi Voller (2004-05)
  • Luigi Delneri (2004-05)
  • Bruno Conti (2004-05)
  • Luciano Spalletti (2005-10)
  • Claudio Ranieri (2009-11)
  • Vincenzo Montella (2010-11)
  • Luis Enrique (2011-12)
  • Zdenek Zeman (2012-13)
  • Aurelio Andreazzoli (2012-13)
  • Rudi Garcia (2012-16)
  • Luciano Spalletti (20115-17)
  • Eusebio Di Francesco (2017-19)
  • Claudio Ranieri (2018-2019)
  • Paulo Fonseca (2019-21)
  • Joe Mourinho (2021-present)

Assistant Coach 

There is quite an extensive network of coaching staff at Roma. The current assistant manager is Joao Sacramento but the club also has assistant coaching staff in other areas. These include:

  • Nuno Santos (Goalkeeping coach)
  • Giovanni Cerra (Technical coach)
  • Michele Salzarulo (Chief analyst)
  • Manrico Ferrari (Athletic coach)
  • Maurizio Fanchini (Athletic coach)
  • Stefano Rapetti (Athletic coach)

Home Kit 

Roma’s current home kit is carmine red (renowned with the club) with golden yellow on the end of the shirt sleeves. This is why Roma has the nickname “I Giallorossi” (The Yellow and  Reds). This is combined with white shorts. 

Away Kit

Roma’s away kit is white with the well-loved carmine red found on the collars, end of sleeves, and a vertical strip down the side of the jersey. Many believe it is inspired by the early 1980s designs. 

The Roma logo has stayed similar for many years. A nickname for the club is “i Lupi” (The Wolves). This is why the club’s logo has always been a wolf. The current emblem for the team is the same one that was first used in 1927. It shows a female wolf with two infant brothers Romulus and Remus. This illustrates the myth of the founding of Rome.

Club Academy

There are many youth development programs with AS Roma. The AS Roma Football School is the club’s flagship academy founded for boys and girls between 6 and 13 years old. 

League Titles 

Roma has won Serie A three times (1941-42, 1982-83, and 2000-01). They have also won nine Coppa Italia titles and two Supercoppa Italiana titles.

Other Titles

In European competitions, the club won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960-61.

Fun Facts 

Roma has the second oldest stadium in Italy. Initially known as Stadio del Cipressi, The Stadio Olimpico opened in 1937. 

The club won the Serie A title on the last day of the 2000-01 season.

Hollywood superstar Will Smith (Men in Black, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) is a Roma soccer supporter.