(ANS - Ferrara) - The story of the Salesians is the story of the oratories, of priests and brothers in cassock or lay attire who spend their time on football pitches or in playgrounds in order to be close to young people. Some of these football pitches have become more famous than others because they were the birthplace of teams that many people dream about. In Argentina the Salesian Oratory was the birthplace of San Lorenzo de Almagro, and in Italy of Spal Ferrara.

In that city of Romagna, at the beginning of the last century, Fr  Pietro Acerbis was the director of the oratory of Via Coperta in Ferrara. In 1907 he founded a cultural and religious group called "Ars et Labor". A few years later, he decided to widen the scope to include sporting activities,  athletics and cycling at first, and later also football. The name became Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor  and it became popularly known as SPAL. The colours chosen were blue and white, the colours of Our Lady.

The team very soon had some important results and it played in the Italian top division from 1920 to 1925. The real turning point came after  the second World War when the club was taken over by Paolo Mazza. As president he was was able to put together a strong squad that produced a number of young players who later brought honour to the whole of Italian football: players like Armando Picchi, Albertino Bigon and Gianni Bui, but also men who later became great coaches like Fabio Capello, Osvaldo Bagnoli and Edy Reja.

According to the website Stadio24, under President Mazza Spal played for sixteen years in Serie A. Its best result ever was fifth in the 1959/60 season. The roll of honour of the blue and whites  includes victory in the Swiss-Italian Friendship Cup (1968) and the Italian Cup Serie C (1988-89).

In recent years the Ferrara club has been going through a bad patch due to several corporate failures and the rebirth of the club with other names in lower categories. Currently they are playing in Lega Pro but they can still count on a large group of fans who are passionate not so much for the results but for the true spirit of sport. That spirit is still strong on many small oratory playing fields.

Published 18/12/2014