Chovan’s Campobasso FC gambles paying off

Patrick Chovan (left) and wife, Kyleigh, are part of Campobasso FC’s ownership group. The team recently won its group to earn promotion to Italy’s Serie C.

It was an “absolute whirlwind,” Patrick Chovan acknowledges.

As part of the North Sixth Group, the ownership group for Italian soccer team Campobasso FC, the Hubbard native resident of nearby Hermitage and his peers faced a difficult choice — and a huge gamble.

After a successful first season of ownership that saw Campobasso promoted from the fifth tier of Italy’s league system, Eccellenza, to the fourth tier, Serie D, the franchise underwent a transformation. Campobasso returned just five players from its previous roster and also swapped coaches and sporting directors, which is Italy’s version of general managers.

As the inaugural season in Serie D began, Campobasso FC wasn’t getting the results it wanted. The team began just 2-1-2 and “you could tell there was a disconnect,” Chovan said. So, ownership opted to replace the coach and sporting director just five games into the season, and also reconstructed the roster again.

And with that roll of the dice, Campobasso FC got exactly what it was searching for. The team finished the season with a group-best 70 points on a record of 20 wins, 10 draws and four losses in Group F, and earned its second promotion in as many years, this time to Serie C. The team became the first American-owned team to secure promotions in consecutive seasons.

“Basically within the course of a year, we had three roster turnovers, so that kind of added to the insanity of the season,” Chovan said. “But to see our big risks come to fruition was pretty awesome.”

Campobasso wrapped up its season Sunday, and now heads into the offseason. Chovan, who joined the ownership group ahead of the 2022-23 season, was able to fly over and attend the finale.

“(The fans) will basically party all summer,” Chovan joked.

As for the team, there’ll be about six weeks to recoup and relax before it’s time to start preparing for the next campaign.

Similar to its plan when entering Serie D, Chovan anticipates the front office taking an aggressive approach as it readies for another critical offseason. Chovan noted that Campobasso FC has rejuvenated its fan base and regional support, and continuing that momentum is the end goal.

“Once the season is over, we’ll take a little bit of time to just kind of reflect,” Chovan said. “I think it’s really going to hit as to how incredible this was. … It’s very historic what we just accomplished. From a gratification standpoint, the winning is fun, but to see the pictures of our first home match last year to our (most recent) home match, we went from about 120 spectators to a complete sellout (of about 7,500 fans). The fans are back, they’ve bought in, and it’s so important to this city and whole region. It’s their whole identity.”

There are some other benchmarks the team needs to hit, as well. Serie C will require a higher attendance limit as well as some other stadium-related requirements, so renovations will get underway to make sure those are met.

And, of course, there’s the goal to continue the on-field success, although it gets tougher and tougher with each promotion. The jump from D to C was especially tough because only group winners are promoted, and now the top four teams from Serie C will get promoted to Serie B.

While unlikely, the group would love a third promotion, but also knows the difficulties. At the end of the day, the group is striving to field a consistently competitive product and avoid any relegations during down years.

“Each league gets much more competitive, not just on the field, but financially with bigger budgets and revenues,” Chovan said. “But, you get some TV money and the higher you go up, the better the product is and the more people are going to come to matches.”

If recent returns are any indication, Campobasso FC will be just fine.

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