SPAL's two year stay in the Italian top flight came to an end in disappointing fashion as they finished rock bottom of the table.
Having managed to keep them afloat against the odds for two consecutive seasons, Leonardo Semplici would have hoped for a season of mid-table consolidation and perhaps things might have been different had the Biancazzurri got off to a good start. They were 2-0 ahead against Atalanta on the opening day but threw it away in the closing stages to lose.
SPAL ended up losing 11 of their first 17 games of the season going into the new year. They were capable of pulling a shock result out of the bag from nowhere, including victories over the likes of Lazio, Parma and Atalanta but they were all too sporadic. The 2-1 win at Atalanta was arguably their best result of the season but it didn't give the team the expected boost and they lost the next 3 in a row. It still came as a huge surprise when the club decided to part company with Semplici who had led them up to this level all the way from Serie C1.
Luigi Di Biagio looked like a somewhat uninspiring replacement and it proved that way in the end. The inexperienced manager collected his only win against Parma just before the coronavirus lockdown came into effect. When football returned, SPAL failed to win any of their final 12 games of the season (D2 L10) and were relegated a long time before the end of the campaign.
There were very few bright spots for the club in a dismal season. Losing their best player in Manuel Lazzari was a huge but expected blow before a ball was kicked. They perhaps inevitably failed to replace his energy and productivity on the flank. Andrea Petagna continued to get goals up front. At times, especially after the lockdown period, the big striker looked like he was the only one still trying and believing in safety. Once again the club will lose another of their top performers as he has already been signed by Napoli.
Di Biagio unsurprisingly won't be in charge next season, with Pasquale Marino set to replace him. It took almost half a century for SPAL to return to Serie A after they were last relegated, their supporters will be praying there isn't another wait like that again.
