History
They were founded in 1970 as a rugby sector in the Vitellianense Cebogas Multisports Club by some ex-Rugby Parma players. They started in the lowest possible league, Serie D.
In 1980-1981 Viadana won Serie B but after three years the team were relegated back to Serie C. But they bounced back the following year and won promotion back to Serie B. 1986-1987 they won promotion to Serie A2 and finished sixth in their first year. However they were relegated back the following year and didn't return for three years.
They finally won promotion to Serie A in 1998-1999. In their first season Viadana won the Italian Cup and made it to the semi-final of the play-offs. In 2000-2001 they finished third in the league but again lost in the semi-final play-offs to Benetton Treviso.
In 2002 the Italian championship was reformed with the birth of Super 10. During this season Viadana finished first and beat favourites Benetton Treviso in the play-offs to win the title for the first time. They were the first team from outside a provincial capital to do so. They won the Italian Cup a second time in 2003.
In 2004 they became the first (and so far only) Italian team to have made the final of a European competition when they lost the European Shield final 19-25 to Montpellier. In 2007 they defeated Cammi Calvisano to win their third Coppa Italia. In 2008, despite their relatively experienced team, Viadana were beaten in the semi-finals by Benetton Treviso and subsequently lost out on a lucrative Heineken Cup place.
Viadana were the largest shareholders in Aironi, a new team that competed in the 2010/11 and 2012/12 Magners League. Many of the clubs top players joined Aironi on its formation. As of June 2010 it was announced that will the impending establishment of Aironi the club would no longer compete as a professional club. The senior and U-20 teams would be merged with GranDucato Parma Rugby. Viadana would continue as an independent club but only below U-20 level. The club would maintain a senior team but only an amateur one. Any promising players would be diverted to GranDucato, and ultimately Aironi and the national team.
At the end of the 2012 Aironi's licence to play in the Magners League was withdrawn by the FIR. Viadana was then reformed as a professional team, with a number of Aironi's players joining them. Aironi's place in the Centic League was taken by newly formed Zebre, a team based in Parma. Many Aironi players joined Zebre on its formation.
Read more about this topic: Rugby Viadana
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