Editing Hellas Verona FC (section)

=== Decline and Serie C (2002–2011) ===
[[File:Hellas Verona.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Luisito Campisi]] playing for Hellas Verona in 2009]]
Following the 2002 relegation to Serie B, team fortunes continued to slip throughout the decade. In the 2003–04 season Hellas Verona struggled in [[Serie B]] and spent most of the season fighting off an unthinkable relegation to [[Serie C1]]. Undeterred, the fans supported their team and a string of late season wins eventually warded off the danger. Over 5,000 of them followed Hellas to Como on the final day of the season to celebrate.

In 2004–05, things looked much brighter for the team. After a rocky start, Hellas put together a string of results and climbed to third spot. The ''gialloblù'' held on to the position until January 2005, when transfers weakened the team, yet they managed to take the battle for Serie A to the last day of the season.

The [[2006–07 Serie B]] seemed to start well, due to the club takeover by [[Pietro Arvedi D'Emilei]], which ended nine years of controversial leadership under 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 Calcio 1906|Spezia]] 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.

Verona appointed experienced coach [[Franco Colomba]] for the new season with the aim to return to Serie B as soon as possible. However, despite being widely considered the division favourite, the ''gialloblù'' spent almost the entire season in last place. After seven matches, club management sacked Colomba in early October and replaced him with youth team coach (and former Verona player) [[Davide Pellegrini]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/oct8f.html |publisher=Channel 4|work=Football Italia |title=Punch-drunk Verona fire Colomba |date=8 October 2007 |access-date=14 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201124950/http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/oct8f.html |archive-date=1 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A new owner acquired the club in late 2007, appointing [[Giovanni Galli]] in December as new director of football and [[Maurizio Sarri]] as new head coach. Halfway through the 2007–08 season, the team remained at the bottom of Serie C1, on the brink of relegation to the fourth level ([[Serie C2]]). In response, club management sacked Sarri and brought back Pellegrini. Thanks to a late-season surge the ''scaligeri'' avoided direct relegation by qualifying for the relegation play-off, and narrowly averted dropping to [[Lega Pro Seconda Divisione]] in the final game, beating [[Aurora Pro Patria 1919|Pro Patria]] 2–1 on aggregate. However, despite the decline in results, attendance and season ticket sales remained at 15,000 on average.

For the 2008–09 season, Verona appointed former [[U.S. Sassuolo Calcio|Sassuolo]] and [[Piacenza Calcio|Piacenza]] manager [[Gian Marco Remondina]] with the aim to win promotion to Serie B. However, the season did not start impressively, with Verona being out of the playoff zone by mid-season, and club chairman Pietro Arvedi D'Emilei entering into a coma after being involved in a car crash on his way back from a league match in December 2008. Arvedi died in March 2009, two months after the club was bought by new chairman Giovanni Martinelli.

The following season looked promising, as new transfer players were brought aboard, and fans enthusiastically embraced the new campaign. Season ticket figures climbed to over 10,000, placing Verona ahead of several Serie A teams and all but Torino in Serie B attendance.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Tifosi dell'Hellas Verona: 10.442 abbonamenti!|date=4 September 2009 |url=http://www.hellasweb.it/news/tifosi-dellhellas-verona-10-442-abbonamenti |publisher=HellasWeb|language=it |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722041141/http://www.hellasweb.it/news/tifosi-dellhellas-verona-10-442-abbonamenti |archive-date=22 July 2011|trans-title=Hellas Verona fans: 10,442 season tickets!}}</ref> The team led the standings for much of the season, accumulating a seven-point lead by early in the spring. However, the advantage was gradually squandered, and the team dropped to second place on the second-last day of the season, with a chance to regain first place in the final regular season match against [[Calcio Portogruaro Summaga|Portogruaro]] on home soil. Verona, however, disappointed a crowd of over 25,000 fans<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.datasport.it/news/2010/maggio/9/26248/lega-pro-tabellini-34a-giornata.html |publisher=Data Sport |title=Lega Pro 1/B: i tabellini della 34.a giornata |date=9 May 2009 |access-date=8 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100512164623/http://www.datasport.it/news/2010/maggio/9/26248/lega-pro-tabellini-34a-giornata.html |archive-date=12 May 2010|trans-title=Lega Pro 1 / B: the scores of the 34th matchday|language=it}}</ref> and, with the loss, dropped to third place and headed towards the play-offs. A managerial change for the post-season saw the firing of Remondina and the arrival of [[Giovanni Vavassori]]. After eliminating [[A.C. Rimini 1912|Rimini]] in the semi-finals (1–0; 0–0) Verona lost the final to [[Delfino Pescara 1936|Pescara]] (2–2 on home soil and 0–1 in the return match) and were condemned to a fourth-straight year of third division football.