Exactly 21 years after the last appearance How complete the climb and head back in A league. A party dreamed of, desired, awaited and arrived at the end of a championship played in crescendo and also characterized by unexpected situations. One of these is the exemption of Samuele Longo – someone who had already made the leap in category with the Frosinone in 2017/18 – with the Como team in sixth place in the standings. A decision that had left us perplexed, especially due to the name of the successor. That Cesc Fabregas who in the summer of 2022 had brought Como to the front pages of sports newspapers for the decision to end his legendary career by playing a season on the shores of the lake. A change of leadership to which the Welsh coach had to be added Osian Roberts since last December 20th, with Fabregas “demoted” to deputy due to the expiration of the exception granted to him as he did not have the necessary license to coach.
A small one technical revolution which however did not alter Como’s performance, on the contrary. From a certain point of view it was the turning point. From mid-November onwards the blue and whites have only missed 4 games. The progress in the championship has become increasingly constant and has a home draw against Parma (1-1) and in successes against Venice (2-1), Pisa (3-1), a Catanzano (1-2) and against the Citadel (2-1 in the last minute) their cornerstones. A climb that has many protagonists, real Serie A players. For example Patrick Cutronein Como from 2022. The former Milan, Fiorentina, Wolverhampton and Valencia player has scored well this year 14 goals, often proving decisive. Then there are the defender Edoardo Goldanigathe former Turin and Bologna Simone Verdi and the expert Daniele Baselli. The soul of the team, however, is contained in two players who have never graced the Serie A stages: the captain Alessandro Bellemo and the attacker Alessandro Gabrielloniscorer of 9 goals and among the ranks of the Larians since D Series. Another very interesting element is the young striker Lucas Da Cunha. But the player who changed the balance of the championship and the fate of Como itself arrived from the January transfer market, Gabriel Strefezza from Lecce.
A return to the top flight that started long ago, on a specific date: the April 4, 2019. It’s the day the Sent Entertainment Ltd. (a company based in London and which also deals with television rights) buys the Como team, at that time desolately relegated to Serie D. After three failures in fifteen years, the biancoblù club finds itself in the hands of what is today the richest ownership in all of Italian football, led by the Indonesian brothers Robert and Michael Hartono. The first has a heritage of 24.2 billion dollars and occupies position number 61 among the richest in the world. The second, however, is a little further behind, at number 65. To have a comparison with Serie A, at the moment the richest is the owner of Fiorentina Rocco Commisso with assets of 8 billion. A firepower that dragged the Como team category after category, from the Serie C conquered in 2018/19 to the second place obtained in 2020/21, before two adjustment championships necessary to prepare for this season’s undertaking.
But who are the architects of Como’s return among the greats of Italian football? Robert and Michael Hartono were born in 1941 and 1939 respectively. Two Indonesian entrepreneurs with Chinese blood in their veins and an immense investment network under the hat of Djarum, the cigarettes from which everything was born. A business that then grew with the Bank Central Asiathe brand Polytron (of which he is also part Mola TVa paid service that broadcasts, among others, the Copa Libertadores) and investments in the e-commerce chain Blibli, the Indonesian Amazon. At a family level we are talking about 47.7 billion dollars in assets. It is in Como Mirwan Suwarso the official representative of the ownership group.
The economic availability for Como is therefore a lot, a lot, but it is not squandered. Every movement is reasoned, every step considered. The Hartonos did not arrive on the shores of the lake to have simple visibility, but to have a radical impact and create a new vision: ambitious, international, sustainable. Charting a new path. For example, they invest in infrastructure. The Sinigaglia stadium it will go from 8 thousand to over 15 thousand spectators once the works are completed. And then the sports center was built from scratch Severed. The team is strengthened season after season without crazy expenses, without proclamations. Everything must have a gradualness and a precise meaning. For knowledge of Italian football there is the director Carlalberto Ludi, one of the protagonists on the pitch in Novara’s climb from Serie C to A between 2009 and 2011. Cesc Fabregas and beyond will take care of the international vision. From 2021 Dennis Wise (symbol of Chelsea between 1990 and 2000) is CEO of Como, while a legend like Thierry Henry he has been a shareholder since August 2022: “I accepted the club’s court because I was impressed by everything: project, place and the company’s aspirations. One of these is to ensure that the team becomes as famous as the lake that bathes it.”
Important names, almost foreign to the provincial reality that Como represents in football, but who allowed themselves to be seduced by the sporting project and the landscape and artistic beauties of the Como area. On the other hand, Como with its lake has always had an international appeal. Billionaires of all kinds, Hollywood stars and famous singers have their villas here. Here many international film productions have decided to position their cameras, from Star Wars (Episode II) a Casino Royaleuntil House of Gucci. The Hartonos are slowly but progressively maximizing their potential inherent in this part of Italy. Giving a greater vision to a society with limited historical satisfactions and a stormy recent past. Before them, Como passed by the local entrepreneur Pietro Porroto Akosua Puni Essien (wife of Michael, former Lyon, Chelsea and Milan midfielder), until Enrico Preziosiwhose presidency gave him the promotion in 2002. All experiences ended before the bankruptcy judge.
Como’s return to Serie A is linked to the golden era of Como football, to be found above all in the 1980s. It is in this period that the most important results arrive, such as third place in the Mitropa Cup 1980/81 (lost only on goal difference) with Pippo Marchioro on the bench and a young central defender son of a Russian soldier, Peter Vierchowod. In those years the blue and whites participated in several seasons in the top flight, reaching positions never reached before in the standings, such as ninth place in the 1985/86 championship thanks to the plays of Dan Corneliusson and of Stefano Borgonovo. Season which for Como is also characterized by semi-final Of Italian Cupafter eliminating the Juventus in the round of 16 and Italian champions Verona in the quarterfinals. A journey that is then interrupted due to an extra-football event. In the double semi-final against Sampdoriaafter obtaining a 1-1 draw in Genoa, the Azzurri were leading 2-1 at Sinigaglia during extra time, when an object thrown from the stands injured the referee Giancarlo Redini. The match was suspended and the Blucerchiati won 2-0. A broken dream. Now, almost forty years later, there is another one on the horizon.
