Undeniably a club with a modest history but a littering of top-quality players from across the globe, SSC Bari has the ability to put together a five-a-side team to rival any team.
Twelve relegations and promotions between the top two divisions in Italian football makes the most successful team from the Apulia region the very definition of a yo-yo club.
So, picking a team with such a modest history should be easy, no? As I found nothing is easy when you are trying to balance a team that has a collection of great players and trying to avoid personal bias!
So here are my picks for the I Galletti.
Jean-François Gillet
The Belgium goalkeeper is the clubs record appearance maker with over 350 appearances for the Biancorosso, diminutive by goalkeeping standards, his lack of height was made up for by his agility.
Nicknamed the “Cat of Liege” Gillet also formed a reputation of a formidable penalty saver. Under coach Antonio Conte during the 2007/08 season, Gillet was transformed into a sweeper-keeper and captained the side to promotion back to Serie A after a seven-year absence.
After making his record appearance against Napoli on 12th September 2010, Gillet was given the keys to the city by the Mayor of Bari as a sign of affection and his significance to both the football club and city of Bari.
Giovanni Loseto
The only choice for defender in this team, the second highest appearance maker for the club but the most revered player by fans of a certain generation.
Once touted as the best defender in Italy, Loseto’s number two shirt is the only one to been retired in the club’s 115-year history such is his impact on the club.
Loseto played for eleven seasons for his beloved Biancorosso, from Serie C to Serie A and his song sang from the terraces of the Della Vittoria then the San Nicola of “Giovanni give him a headbutt” symbolises what a no nonsense, uncompromising defender he was.
Klas Ingesson
The Swedish midfielder spent three seasons at the club arriving in November 1995, a much-loved midfielder who stayed with the club after relegation in the 1995/96 campaign. Klas was instrumental in immediate promotion and was rewarded with the captaincy for 1997/98 Serie A campaign.
Eleven goals came from the cultured feet of the man from Sweden in his time in Apulia, which for a player that spent most of his time as a defensive midfielder is an excellent return.
Sadly, Klas passed away from cancer in 2014 but the outpouring of emotions from fans showed what a class man he was, not just on the pitch but off it too.
David Platt
Maybe a controversial inclusion as Platt only spent one season at the club but eleven goals in 29 games and was immediately made captain on his arrival shows the impact he had at the club.
Not enough to stop relegation in the 1991/92 season but enough to make an impression in the memory of those who watched him grace the pitch at the San Nicola.
“The Englishman is the true soul of this team” declared Italian newspaper La Stampa after Platt’s two goals against Roma, but the soul was not helped by inconsistent form from his teammates, Platt moved onto Juventus after Bari’s relegation.
Igor Protti
Who else could it be but the man who scored 46 goals in 112 games spanning four seasons. Protti enjoyed the best spell of his career playing in the red and white of Bari.
A modest total of 15 goals in two Serie B campaigns Protti hit the height of his powers in the 1995/96 campaign when his 24 goals tied him with the legend Giuseppe Signori as Serie A top scorer that season.
Again, another relegation season for I Galetti but Protti got a move to Lazio but his career never hit the heights he did under the lights of the San Nicola.
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