Como 1907 are an Italian team that has garnered much attention in the last couple of years. Dennis Wise, the ex-Chelsea legend, has slowly been improving this side from behind the scenes as sporting director, and now advising. But upon the arrival of Cesc Fabregas, first in a player capacity, but then quickly moving behind the scenes and becoming first team coach, Osian Roberts, the head of development at the club, and Thierry Henry, as a minority shareholder, the side have returned to Serie A, the 1st Division in Italy, after 21 years away.
The club is attached and closely aligned with the location of Como, the stunning home to Lake Como and many celebrity villas. They have just made some fantastic signings for a club of their size, Raphael Varane (a 5-time champions league winner) and Pepe Reina spring to mind. It has a fantastic appeal for footballers that are near the end of their careers. They are looking to cement their status among the elite of Italian football.
So, how has such a tiny club managed this?
The History
The club began 117 years ago, but have historically had many difficulties with finances and restructuring, which often left them languishing in Serie D. The issue was, whenever they would find themselves with more success as seen in the 80s, bigger clubs would poach their big players. There is a clear link here to modern football, where you see successful lower league clubs perform extremely well in Europe such as Monaco (with Mbappe, Bernardo Silva and Fabinho) and Ajax (with De Ligt, Ziyech and De Jong) and then lose their players.
Crowd violence had been a consistent aspect of the team’s history, which led to more bans. Many relegations later, the side declared bankruptcy in 2004.
Como reformed and regained their identity in the Serie D, however the club was auctioned off during 2016-17. Upon its purchase, the Italian FA rejected the request to ratify the club. It seemed doomed to failure.
Finally, in 2019, under new ownership, Dennis Wise came in as sporting director. The investors were Indonesian company ‘The Djarum group’, who made their money from tobacco and online streaming. They had hired Dennis Wise after he had impressed them whilst running their academy they had set up in Loughborough.
Shareholders came onboard with the hope and aspiration that Como FC could be an incredible investment and more importantly, a footballing project. The future was bright. Thierry Henry invested in 2022, alongside Fabregas.
Fabregas, Wise and Roberts sought out a path to success. To begin with, Fabregas was second fiddle to Roberts whilst he gained his relevant coaching license. Osian Roberts, the previous technical director for the Welsh FA, has proven so worthwhile to the set up, with a depth of experience as Patrick Vieira’s assistant coach at Crystal Palace, and Ryan Giggs’s assistant for Wales.
Once Fabregas took over in 2023, this is when real progress was amplified. Behind the scenes, they have improved the academy, restructured a new training pitch, and reduced the amount of players on loan by 11.
After fixing the structural issues in the club, it was time to develop the football side of things. Now, Fabregas is a disciple of Del Bosque and La Masia, the infamous academy at Barcelona. There are few who have had the plethora of such incredible managers as Fabregas; Guardiola and Arteta, the 2 best managers in Premier League football were also both successes from La Masia. Fabregas is the 6th youngest manager in European football.
The way his team sets up is an ode to Arsene Wenger. They are an aggressive outfit, in Fabregas’ own words in his Sky Sports interview, ‘defending the spaces not the man, playing close to each other to attract the pressure and then attack in behind. He does not like his team playing deep and continuing to lose possession.
The combination of a stable set up within the club, has permeated through to the first team, and leading to promotion to the coveted Serie A. Most in world football are praying that they stay up and continue to develop this amazing team.
WHAT A STORY!