Page "Hellas Verona F.C." Paragraph 22

The Serie B 2006-07 seemed to start well, due to the club takeover by Pietro Arvedi D ' Emilei, which ended nine years of controversial rule by chairman Gianbattista Pastorello, heavily contested by the supporters in his later years at Verona.

However, Verona was immediately involved in the relegation battle, and Massimo Ficcadenti was replaced in December 2006 by Giampiero Ventura.

Despite a recovery in the results, Verona ended in an 18th place, thus being forced to play a two-legged playoff against 19th-placed Spezia in order to avert relegation.

A 2 – 1 away loss in the first leg at La Spezia was followed by a 0 – 0 home tie, and Verona were relegated to Serie C1 after 64 years of play in the two highest divisions.