Pallacanestro Biella

Pallacanestro Biella is the Biella basketball club founded in 1994 from the merger of two city clubs, which within seven years rose from Serie B2 to the top division and stayed there for twelve consecutive seasons, until its relegation in 2013[1]. It folded in the summer of 2022, crushed by debt[1]; the Biella court approved the debt-restructuring agreements in a ruling published on 17 December 2025, and the club's historic brand, the bear, is announced to return from the 2026/27 season[1][2].

Before: Libertas

Biella's first basketball club was Libertas, founded in the late 1950s by textile industrialist Alberto Cerruti: it reached Serie A in 1960 and stayed there for seven consecutive seasons, was relegated in 1966-67, came straight back up and went down again in 1970-71, after which basketball in the city slowly faded away[1]. That team produced Ottorino Flaborea, who played in Biella from 1954 to 1964 and competed in three Olympic Games, and Carlo Caglieris, later a three-time Italian champion with Virtus Bologna[1].

The climb

In the summer of 1994 Alberto Savio, president of Biella Basket Club, and Marco Atripaldi merged that club with Amici del Basket Biella to create Pallacanestro Biella; on 29 June 1994 they bought the sporting rights from Garlasco and entered the team in Serie B2[1]. Its first coach was Federico Danna, who came from Auxilium Torino[1]. Within four seasons the team rose from B2 to A2 and in 2000-01, coached by Marco Crespi, earned promotion to the top division with thirty wins in thirty-six games, sealing it on 8 April 2001 against Castelmaggiore at the Paladozza in Bologna; the roster included Matteo Soragna and Antonio Granger[1].

The jersey took its name from a string of local sponsors: after ING and Fila came Lauretana and, from 2005, the Lanificio Angelico wool mill, already the main sponsor of Biella's football club; later Edilnol[1][4]. Its home ground was first the Pala Pajetta, built in the early 1990s with a maximum capacity of 2,778 spectators, then — after fifteen seasons — the 5,000-seat Biella Forum[1].

Twelve seasons in Serie A

Its best league campaign was 2006-07, finishing sixth in the regular season and losing in game 5 of the quarter-finals to Virtus Bologna; in 2008-09 Biella beat Lottomatica Roma 3-2 and lost the championship semi-final to Olimpia Milano 3-1, and the following season, playing as Angelico, it took part in its first European competition, the EuroCup[1]. Players who went on to be known elsewhere passed through Piedmont: the Swiss Thabo Sefolosha and the American Damon Williams in 2005, when the club chose an almost entirely Italian roster "against the grain" of the rest of the league[4], American point guard J.R. Bremer, the team's leader in the 2005-06 season[5], and later Jonas Jerebko, Mike Batiste, Kevinn Pinkney and Joe Smith; in the youth ranks, between 2013 and 2016, Sandro Mamukelashvili came through[1].

The crisis, the shutdown and the brand

The first public alarm came in February 2013: the shareholders' meeting announced its intention to "end Pallacanestro Biella's twenty-year existence", then approved an extraordinary payment to stay within league financial requirements. The team was bottom of the table with four wins in fourteen games, and the club, chief executive Marco Atripaldi explained, could "no longer afford to wait months for positive answers": "We are a small club from a city of 46,000 people"[3]. That season ended in relegation; the following year, coached by Fabio Corbani, Biella won the League Cup, beating Trento in the final[1].

The last game was on 1 May 2022 at the Biella Forum, won against Stella Azzurra Roma. On 29 June 2022 the board threw in the towel: the club did not enter Serie A2 and gave up its sporting licence. "The club had simply run out of resources, crushed by debts, some of which dated back 10-15 years," explained executive Giampiero Canneddu[1]. Activity did not stop altogether, however: the youth sector carried on as Biella Next, which plays in Serie C, and the debt restructuring approved in December 2025 made the brand usable again[1][2]. On 18 February 2026 the club announced its new board, chaired by Pier Giorgio Castelli, with Federico Danna among the directors[1].

Sources

  1. Biella, città del basket: gli anni d'oro, la caduta e un nuovo desiderio di rinascita — Rivista Savej, 15 April 2026
  2. Quel sogno chiamato Pallacanestro Biella — Il Biellese, 24 December 2025
  3. Angelico Biella a un passo dal ritiro. L'ad Atripaldi: «Se non arriveranno forze nuove, chiuderemo» — Il Sole 24 Ore, 15 February 2013
  4. Angelico Biella sceglie il «made in Italy» — La Stampa, n. 231, p. 75, 24 August 2005
  5. Angelico cala l'asso Bremer — La Stampa, n. 340, p. 83, 17 December 2005

Categories

BasketballBiella

Report a mistake.