Joseph Portelli acquires Italian football club Ars et Labor Ferrara, formerly known as SPAL

Joseph Portelli, through his company JP Football Holdings Ltd., has become the new owner of the Italian football club Ars et Labor Ferrara, formerly known as SPAL. In a statement published on Thursday afternoon, JP Football Holdings Limited stated that an agreement was signed in Rome on Thursday with the previous owners, Juan Martin Molinari and Andres Adolfo Marengo, for the football club acquisition to take place with immediate effect. In a message to the Italian side’s loyal fans, JP Football Holdings Ltd. wished to send a clear message: “we are totally committed to returning Ars et Labor Ferrara to the level that its history and tradition deserve.” “We will honour the Club’s glorious past and guide our every decision according to the values of Transparency, Integrity, Competence and Ambition – principles that have always characterised our successes, both in the world of football and in business,” the statement read. The football club, commonly known as SPAL, was founded in 1907 and had several stings playing in Italy’s top flight, Serie A. SPAL’s best league finish in its long, and turbulent, history came in the 1959/60 season, when it finished fifth in the Serie A. SPAL’s golden days in the early 1960s saw them as a competitive side in Italy’s highest level of football; during this time, the club even reached a Coppia Italia final, which it lost to Napoli. The football club played as recently as 2020 and reached the Coppia Italia quarterfinals as a Serie B side in the 2020/21 season. SPAL was relegated to Serie C at the end of the 2022/23 season. The 2000s have been a time of financial struggle for this football club. The club went bankrupt in 2005 and once again in 2012 before suffering more financial issues in July last year. This...