Hellas Verona

In England we have Leeds United, a side that in recent memory have walked off with the league title yet now are "plying their trade" in the third flight. In Italy we see a similar tale, this time with Hellas Verona, champions of Italy in 1984/1985, which was interestingly the only ever season where the league randomly assigned referees to matches. But they have recently fallen on hard times. If a few seasons in Serie B wasn't bad enough, last season they lost in a "play-out" to Spezia and find themselves in Serie C1/A.

A side that in recent years has had the likes of Camoranesi, Raduciiu, Martin Laursen, Sebastien Frey, Craig Davies (*cough*) and Liechtenstein's most successful ever export Mario Frick wear their colours are now rooted to the bottom of the division with over half a season gone. They have only managed two wins all season and face a real battle not to be relegated into what can only really be described as footballing oblivion. (Even the marvellous soccerway.com website doesn't cover Serie D!)

Like Leeds United they aren't a particularly well liked club, with many fans of a right-wing persuasion shall we say? They have also experienced some awful money troubles and are currently undergoing failed takeover after failed takeover.

Overall it hasn't been a great year for Veronese football with Chievo Verona also relegated, though they are currently in the top half of Serie B. Hellas Verona fans famously said that "Donkeys would fly before Chievo make it to Serie A". Well, it looks as if Hellas need a miracle of those sorts of proportions to maintain their Serie C status.