3rd of June 2018 would see Cittadella Bari square off in the quarter final of the Serie B playoffs. Bari, under their 2006 world cup winner Fabio Grosso had started the season tremendously well and led the serie B standings up until the first week of December. However, an awful away form in the second half of the season meant that by season’s end they would come in 6th place. Their opponents meanwhile had come 4th. Bari would lead through Cristian Galano’s strike in the 57th minute but would be pegged back by Cittadella in the last ten minutes with two goals scored by Paolo Bartlomei. A late Nene strike would prove to be in vain has the team with the better league standing progressed in the case of a draw.

Cittadella players celebrating the 2-1 lead.

What had promised so much at the start of the season fizzled out into bitter disappointment has Bari faced the consequences of having to face another Serie B season which for such a passionate fanbase growing increasingly tired of successive near misses was starting to call on the presidency to be decisive.

This led to weeks of negotiations between the two co-owners of Bari Calcio- Antonio Giancaspro(a roman entrepreneur) and Gianluca Paparesta(an ex Italian referee) in order to have a situation whereby one would have full ownership of the club. Rumours surfaced that one day Giancaspro had gained full ownership whilst the next it was written that Paparesta had gained full control. All was to be in vain however when on the 1st of July the serie B deadline had passed and Bari calcio were officially revoked of their Serie B licence. 110 years of glorious success and producing mercurial talents such has Gianluca Zambrotta and Antonio Cassano were finished. Bari Calcio would have to start in Serie D.

Antonio cassano in the 1999/2000 season.

Gianluca zambrotta in the 1998/99 season.

The club would be put up for sale by the local council. Many potential buyers were rumoured to be interested- Urbano Cairo the Torino owner, Claudio Lotito the Lazio owner and even the Juventus owner Andrea Agnelli due to the huge quantity of Juventus fans that populate the region of Puglia.

The juventus puglia doc group taking pictures before they boarded numerous coaches in order to bring them to Torino which is a 9hr coach ride.

On the 1st of August 2018 however none of the rumoured buyers had acquired the club- it was in fact the Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis who had won. At his first press conference De Laurentiis would talk about how he would bring Bari back to the top and that his son Luigi would be in charge. An affiliation would be born with SSC Napoli. Their most promising youngsters would be loaned out to Bari in order for them to acquire valuable gametime and simultaneously help Bari climb up the leagues.

Luigi and Aurelio DeLaurentiis at the press conference held on the 1st of August 2018.

However, Bari had no coaching staff nor players due to the fact that when a club goes bankrupt, their contracts are null and void meaning that the players are free to sign for whatever club they choose to do so with. This meant that Bari had to act and fast.

What Bari didn’t have for time they did have in a large bank account ready and huge contracts to offer players who were free agents that were regulars in Serie A, B and C in previous seasons to come down to serie D to play for them. Francesco Bolzoni an ex central midfielder who played previously for Siena, Inter and Palermo was brought in, ex Foggia winger Roberto Floriano, veteran centre back Valerio Di Cesare who had played more than 30 times in Serie A for Torino and Cesena and the petite trequarista Franco “ciccio” Brienza who had lightened up Serie A stadiums with his free kicks and curled long shots for the likes of Palermo,Atalanta,Siena and Reggina. As for their manager, Bari hired Giovanni Cornacchini who had already gained a promotion with Ancona in the 2013/14 season.

Francesco Bolzoni playing for Siena calcio during the 2011/12 season.

Giovanni Cornacchini unveiled has the new Bari manager on the 3rd of August 2018.

Franco brienza in action for Palermo versus Roma in 2013.

Bari calcio would be placed in the serie D giorne I section- with teams from Sicily and Calabria. This was due to the fact that by placing Bari calcio in the serie D giorne H section(the puglia and campania league) there would be too much violence between the sets of fans due to the intense rivalries that club within Puglia have with one another and the rivalry with Taranto is known to be especially fierce. However, many pointed out the fact that giorne I was considerably weaker and that Bari calcio had essentially earned a free pass back to Serie C.

The 2017/18 Serie D giorne I teams.

The 2017/18 serie D season would prove to be a walk in the park for Bari calcio winning the league at a canter- with 78 points- 11 points clear of 2nd placed turris. Bari won 24 games, losing 6(albeit 2 of these were in the last two matchdays when promotion was already guaranteed and drawing only 4. Bari had gained 45 points at home which considering the fact that it was out of a possible 51 points avaliable- showed the immense strength that the galletti had in a division that was too small for them. The Bari fans were looking forward to playing against their rivals once again- Catania,Avellino, Monopoli and most importantly of all their bitter rivals Reggina.

The Stadio San Nicola would be hosting big fixtures once again.

Bari were already tipped to be promotion candidates even before the start of the transfer window but the new ownership didn’t want to leave any doubts- and so like the previous season the cheque book was out and this time prime Serie A and B players were being targeted. The first signing was manuel scavone who had played 25 times for Novara in the 2010-11 season when the team from Piemonte were in the Serie A and had just done a full serie B campaign with Parma helping them getting promoted to serie A. This was followed up by Kupisz(signed from Ascoli calcio), Frattali(from Parma) and most impressively of all on deadline day Mirko Antenucci from SPAL who had just scored 10 goals in the top flight the season before.

Mirko Antenucci celebrating a strike whilst playing for SPAL.

The 19/20 season would not however start with a bang however with only 7 points collected in the first 5 games which unfortunately for Giovanni Cornacchini would lead to his sacking and be replaced by the ex Ascoli calcio boss Vincenzo Vivarini who has steadied the ship somewhat with Bari finding themselves currently 4th in the league standings. What’s clear however is that finally Bari calcio have an ownership that is structured and ready to be in charge for the long-haul. Serie A fans will be seeing Bari Calcio in the not so long distance future- the only thing that is unclear however is how many years that will be.

Vincenzo vivarini putting pen to paper on a 2 year deal on the 20th of October 2019.