August 23 – Chievo Verona is no more. Having been demoted to Serie D following an inability to meet Serie B financial solvency criteria, the club failed to find an investor to enable it to continue and will now fold.
Club legend Sergio Pellissier launched a last minute attempt to save the club, campaigning to find new money, but with little or no interest he was left to conceded
“Unfortunately, today the story of this club that gave me so much has come to a close,” Pellissier wrote on Instagram. “It’s one of the saddest days of my life. I tried with all my strength, and I really hoped to start again with a new club and continue this fantastic story, it would’ve been marvellous. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it done.
“I thought there were more people ready to step up and safeguard football in this city and this region, but that was not the case.”
In July, Verona had been demoted from the Serie B to the Serie D. In Italy, every club must prove their financial status before being allowed to register for the new season, minimising the risk any side could go bankrupt during a campaign. Chievo failed to meet the requirements to register.
For many years, Chievo survived on a shoe-string budget – or less – in the Italian topflight and the ‘Flying Donkeys’ even finishing as high as fifth in 2002. But in 2019 they were relegated from the Serie A. The club was founded in 1929.
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