San Marino's Formula 1 bid fails
Devastating news for the 30,000+ inhabitants of San Marino today, as Forumla 1 top brass have confirmed that they will not be bringing Formula 1 back to San Marino.
The Sammarinese government had hoped to secure the lucrative race after trouble in the middle east had seen F1 pull out of Bahrain. San Marino had always leaned towards tourism in a bid to keep their currency afloat, but with the global economic crisis at its peak, San Marino has seen its Tourism trade drop by 70%, and they looked to entice more tourists into the small state, with the Forumla 1.
How ever, The Government will have to look at other avenues, as F1 will not be coming back any time soon
San Marino: A Small History
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a country situated on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over 61 km2 (24 sq mi) with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino.
It is one of the European microstates, along with Liechtenstein, the Vatican, Monaco, Andorra, and Malta, San Marino has the smallest population of all the members of the Council of Europe.
San Marino is the oldest surviving sovereign state and second-oldest constitutional republic in the world, as the continuation of the monastic community founded on 3 September 301, by stonecutter Marinus of Arbe. Legend has it that Marinus left Rab, then the Roman colony of Arba, in 257 when the future emperor, Diocletian, issued a decree calling for the reconstruction of the city walls of Rimini, which had been destroyed by Liburnian pirates.
The country's economy mainly relies on tourism, and San Marino's culture remains Italian, mainly Emilia-Romagnan in essence. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP (per capita), with a figure comparable to some of the more developed Italian regions, such as Lombardy and the Province of Bolzano-Bozen. San Marino is considered to have a highly stable economy, with the lowest unemployment rate in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus.
Government: Our Last Hope, Calcio San Marino
The Government of San Marino has today been looking at long term solutions to ease Tourism back up in the country.
They have already secured short term solutions, managing to attract Art and Fashion shows to the capital, how ever, they feel they need something a little more sustainable. They looked towards the only professional Football club in the Country, Calcio San Marino
Calcio San Marino
San Marino Calcio is a Sanmarinese football club based in Serravalle. The club was founded in 1960 as S.S. Serenissima (Società Sportiva Serenissima). Serenissima merged with the S.S. Juvenes in 1973, changing its name to A.C. San Marino (Associazione Calcio San Marino) and in 1988–89 to its current name, San Marino Calcio.
The club was founded as Società Sportiva Serenissima in 1960 by the San Marino Football Federation, in order to have a professional team represent the Republic of San Marino in the Italian league. The club was later purchased by Sanmarinese and Italian entrepreneurs.
The foundation year is sometimes disputed, because in 1959 another team sponsored by the San Marino Football Federation, called Libertas-Tre Penne, took part to the Italian championship. The crest of Tre Penne is still visible on San Marino Calcio's one.
San Marino Calcio is the only professional football team in the Republic of San Marino allowed to play exclusively in the Italian football league system. Since the San Marino Football League is completely amateur, the club is also the only professional team in the Republic. Another team from San Marino, A.C. Juvenes/Dogana, competed in both the amateur levels of Italian football and in the Sanmarinese league in the past, but has since withdrew from the FIGC.
A.C. San Marino began playing in 1960 in the Seconda Categoria, since the Terza Categoria did not exist in the Italian football league system at that time. After being promoted from the Seconda Categoria, the team began playing in the higher level Promozione before being relegated to the Prima Categoria in the 1976–77 season. They continued to play in the Prima Categoria for the next four seasons until they won the Prima Categoria championship and were promoted to the Promozione again in the 1979–80 season. A.C. San Marino's stay in the Promozione was short lived, however; within two seasons they were relegated to the Prima Categoria.
A.C. San Marino established themselves as a yo-yo club as they were once again promoted to the Promozione as champions in the 1984–85 season. The team then saw back-to-back championships as they won the Promozione the following season, and were promoted for the first time to the Serie D, the highest semi-professional league in Italy. The team's success continued as they finished in second place in Serie D in the 1986–87 season and went on to become league champions in 1987–88. In the 1988–89 season, the team appeared in the lowest level Italian professional league, Serie C2.
In 1988 A.C. San Marino became a joint stock company and changed its name from A.C. San Marino to San Marino Calcio. The renamed team was relegated to Serie D in the 1989–90 season after finishing 17th in Serie C2. San Marino Calcio were again relegated, this time to Eccellenza, in the 1991–92 season after finishing 17th, but were again promoted to Serie D in the 1992–93 season. In the 1995–96 season San Marino Calcio were relegated to Eccellenza after a three-year stay in Serie D, but after winning the championship of Eccellenza, they were again promoted to Serie D, in the 1996–97 season.
The team's success was due in part to the appointment of the San Marino national football team manager Giampaolo Mazza, who led them to two non-consecutive Eccellenza championships. In the 1999–2000 season San Marino Calcio were promoted to the Serie C2 for only the second time in their history, as champions of Serie D.
San Marino Calcio began the new millennium in the fourth level of professional Italian football, receiving a boost from the arrival of legendary San Marino player Andy Selva. They consolidated their place in Serie C2 by finishing in the top half of the league standings for the next three seasons.The team made their way into the 2003–04 play-off final, but was defeated, and remained in Serie C2 after finishing fourth in the league. San Marino Calcio's 2004–05 season was more successful: they reached and won the play-off final, reaching Serie C1, the highest level the team has ever achieved. The team currently plays in Serie C2, having been relegated during the 2006–07 season.
In December 2006, the chairman of the club Werther Cornieti left because of alleged controversy and criticism during a sports broadcast. Daniele de Luigi was confirmed later as chairman of San Marino Calcio.
The golden frame of their badge contains the team name and the phrase "Titanus aggressurus Olympum", which refers to the Titans in Greek mythology. Pictured in the center of the badge is a Titan. In Italian, the word "Titan" signifies both the race of mythological gods and Monte Titano, the highest point in San Marino. The left-hand circle represents the badge of Tre Penne, one of San Marino Calcio's two founding teams, and the right-hand circle represents the old San Marino Calcio badge.
Good idea but....
San Marino Calcio owners have applauded the decision for the Government to help put San Marino on the footballing map, however, they are currently without a manager.
Although the Government will not financially support the club, they will help in other ways, which are yet unknown to the public.
Although San Marino only sell 200 season tickets a year, their small fan base slammed their decision on Hiring Mr Drezzy as manager.
They argue that the board acted in haste, and hired some one whose only footballing experience was a 2 week work experience trial at Wycombe Wanderers. His only other knowledge comes from computer games.
The long term plan, by Mr Drezzy
At his first press conference, Mr Drezzy unveiled his ten year plan for San Marino. He stated that he shared his boards belief that San Marino could gain promotion this season, and they could use this as the foundation for greater things. He said that, the first phase of the plan was to gain promotion within one season.
After that, he told the press, that there was then a 3 year window to gain Promotion into Serie B, with the idea of cementing their place in the Italian Second Division. From then on, it would be the goal of the entire club, to gain access to Serie A.....only time will tell if their plan works out
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