ChievoVerona or simply “Chievo” is an Italian professional football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 5,000 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and owned by Paluani, a bakery product company and the inspiration for their original name, Paluani Chievo. The club shares the 38,402 seater Marc’Antonio Bentegodi stadium with its cross-town rivals Hellas Verona.

Founded in 1929, the team colors at the time were blue and white. After many years of “Low Categories”, in 1957, the team moved to the “Carlantonio Bottagisio” parish field, where they played until 1986. In 1964, Luigi Campedelli, a businessman and owner of the Paluani company, was named new Chievo chairman. Under Campedelli’s presidency, Chievo reached the Serie C1, in 1989.

In 1992, after the President’s death, his son Luca Campedelli, aged just 23, became the new and youngest chairman of an Italian professional football club. Campedelli promoted Giovanni Sartori to director of football and named “Sandokan” Alberto Malesani as the new head coach. Under Malesani, the team astonishingly won the Serie C1 and was promoted to Serie B, where city rival Hellas Verona was playing at the time.

In those years the nickname “mussi volanti” (“flying donkeys”) was born. It originated from supporters of their cross-town rivals Hellas, who would mock long-suffering Chievo supporters that Chievo will only be promoted if “donkeys could fly” (equivalent of the English “if pigs could fly”, denoting an impossible dream).

In 2000–01, with a “4-4-2” that became “trademark” and a philosophy based on defence, offside, counter-attacks and great mentality of work, the coach Luigi Delneri (helped by the the captain “Icio” D’Angelo, later coach of the team) led Chievo to the first promotion to Serie A!

In its 2001–02, Chievo’s Serie A debut season, the team was most critics’ choice for an instant return to Serie B. However, they became the surprise team in the league, playing often spectacular and entertaining football (through the direction of Eugenio Corini, later coach of the team) and even leading the league for six consecutive weeks. The club finally ended the season with a highly respectable fifth-place finish, qualifying the team to play in the UEFA Cup 2002-2003.

Chievo is not just a miracle or a dream. It is not just like that. The familiar atmosphere makes it a happy island and at the shadow of the dam (the “Diga”) different players will be launched and re-launched, from the young promise to the titled champions – Bierhoff and Marchegiani for example – with the contribution of Barzagli, Perrotta and Barone, who won in Germany in 2006.

The “Little Ceo” thus becomes a sporting phenomenon, and after some good and bad years the coach Bepi Pillon conquered another UEFA qualification, converted in Champions League qualification by the Sports Judge after Calciopoli (2006-2007).

At the Bottagisio Sport Center (Youth Sector headquarters) icons of Chievo like Fabio Moro and Sergio Pellissier are always present; their mission is teaching the “Chievo way”- a philosophy based on a behavior model/code of conduct, together with a strong team spirit and sense of family: every player is “proud to be Chievo”. Also for these reasons, Chievo Youth Sector is one of the best at creating young talents (our “Primavera” team won the scudetto in 2013/2014 and always qualifying for the Playoffs).

The Bottagisio Sport Center is the center where all sports activities are developed. We also have:

Multisport : fencing / boxe / baseball / rugby / football / rafting / handball / american football

[https://www.chievoverona.it/it/primo-piano/news/multisport-bottagisio-scherma-baseball-rugby-e-boxe]

Fencing [https://www.bottagisio.it/scherma/]

Cuore Chievo Onlus [https://www.cuorechievo.org/]

Rafting [https://www.adigerafting.it/]

Canoa http://www.canoaclubverona.it/

Atlante Sport & Riabilitazione https://www.centroatlanteverona.it/

The activity is better explained in the “multisport project”.

Other sports activities, on the other hand, are carried out at the “Centro Atlante”, the medical reference center of ChievoVerona, specialized in sports and rehabilitation.

Always being up to date with technical and scientific innovations in the rehabilitation field, reducing recovery times and improving the final result by introducing preventive actions to eliminate the risk of “relapse”.

Our Physiotherapists and Personal Trainers are supporting with personalized programs for different sports and for children, new mothers and the elderly who wish to stay in shape, prevent ailments and promote physical health.

It also consists of several clinics for all major medical specialties and physiotherapy, as well as a large confortable gym where all the activities take place and in particular:

– Fitness & Gym

– Pilates

– Sports preparation

– Sports massage

– rehabilitation program

– Functional re-education

– Postural gymnastics

– Proprioceptive gymnastics