A brief history of A.C Perugia
- Dag Jenkins
- Apr 27
- 4 min read
The Associazione Calcio Perugia was formed in 1905. It was a merger of two local sports clubs, Braccio Fortebraccio and Libertas.
In the years between 1905 and 1923 they played at local regional Umbrian level.
In 1923-25 they played in the Marche regional group of the Seconda Divisione and in 1925-26 in the Umbrian group. They finished 2nd twice and 3rd.
In 1926 they pulled out of the Seconda Divisione Sud and finished 5th a year later.
Between 1928 and 1930 they played in the Terza Divisione Umbria and then were included in the Prima Divisione Sud (3rd national tier).
In 1932 the Biancorossi were promoted to Serie B but in 1935 were relegated and went bankrupt.
In 1935 they then started up again in the 4th tier. In 1937 they were included in a newly enlarged Serie C format. They finished 10th, 6th, and 4th before World War II interrupted the leagues.
When things returned to normal they won promotion to Serie B in 1946. Two years later they were relegated and then spent most of the 1950's in Serie D.
In 1959-60 they were entered into Serie C as Umbrian representatives. In 1967 they won the league and made it back up to Serie B.
There followed stable years in the 2nd tier until 1975 when they topped the league and won their first historic promotion to Serie A. These would be the best years in their history with 8th, 6th, 7th, 2nd and 7th places.
The 1977-78 season was marked by a tragedy when Perugia player Renato Curi collapsed and died of a heart attack during a home game against Juventus on October 30 1977. The ground was named in his honour on November 26.
The second place of 1978-79 was under manager Ilario Castagner and the team became known as "Il Perugia dei Miracoli". The Grifoni went the whole season unbeaten in the league (an achievement never accomplished by any club until then). The usual line-up was: Nello Malizia, Michele Nappi, Antonio Ceccarini, Mauro Della Martira, Paolo Frosio, Paolo Dal Fiume, Cesare Butti, Franco Vannini, Salvatore Bagni, Gianfranco Casarsa and Walter Speggiorin.
In 1979 Perugia confirmed their new status as a competitive club by signing prolific striker Paolo Rossi on loan from Vicenza. They finished 7th and were allegedly involved in the Totonero match fixing scandal. Rossi and other players were banned and Perugia docked 5 points for the successive season when they got relegated.
The early 1980's were spent in B until 1986 when they fell even further and were punished with relegation to Serie C2 for their involvement in the second Totonero scandal.
In 1988 they made it up to C1 and in 1994 back to Serie B. In 1998 they finally won promotion back to Serie A under various managers including Ilario Castagner from March onwards.
The Umbri stayed in the top flight until 2004. They finished 14th, 10th, 11th, 8th, 9th and 15th. In 2000 of course, they helped Lazio win the Scudetto by defeating Juventus in the famous rain drenched game of May 14.
In 2005 Perugia went bankrupt and restarted from Serie C1 which in 2008 became Lega Pro Prima Divisione. They remained in Lega Pro until 2010 when they again had financial problems and were forced to change name to ASD Perugia Calcio and join the 5th tier.
They immediately won promotion to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione and the Serie D Coppa Italia and took on the name A.C Perugia Calcio. The following season they won promotion to Lega Pro Prima Divisione and won the Supercoppa of LP2.
In 2014 they made it back to Serie B where they stayed six years finishing 6th, 10th, 4th, 8th, 8th and 16th.
In 2020 they were relegated but bounced straight up again and then finished 8th in Serie B.
In 2023 the Grifoni were relegated again and are currently still in Serie C.
Perugia have played 13 seasons in Serie A and 29 in B. They have taken part in 2 UEFA Cup competitions and in 2003 won the Intertoto Cup. They are rated at number 35 in Italy for footballing tradition.
Their top 5 players with most appearances are; Dante Fortini 360 (1956-66), Pierluigi Frosio 323 (1974-1984), Michele Nappi (1974-1982, 1984-85), Oriano Cenci 191 (1960-1967) and Elio Vanara 188 (1968-1974).
Perugia's top 5 goal scorers are; Giovanni Cornacchini 60, Fabio Mazzeo 44, Samuel Di Carmine 42, Fabrizio Ravanelli 41 and Giovanni Urban 36
Some of their stars through the years have been; Franco Vannini (1974-79), Pierluigi Frosio (1974-79), Salvatore Bagni (1977-81), Paolo Rossi (1979-80), Fabrizio Ravanelli (1986-89 and local boy), Federico Giunti (1991-97), Gennaro Gattuso (1995-97), Hidetoshi Nakata (1998-2000), Fabio Liverani (2000-2001), Fabrizio Miccoli (2002-03), Marco Materazzi (1995-96, 1997-98, 1999-2001), Fabio Grosso (2001-2004).
Perugia as mentioned are known as the Griffins and play in red and white. These were chosen in 1921 and are also the colours of the town. The jersey is traditionally mainly red with white being less prominent.
Perugia play their home games at the Renato Curi stadium built in 1975. The capacity is 23,625 and it is situated in a valley below Perugia called Pian di Massiano. Previously Perugia played in the old Santa Giuliana ground which was right in the historic city centre.
Perugia's main organised fan group is traditionally left wing but from the 1990's they also have right wing leaning groups. Their main rivals are fellow Umbrians Ternana and to a lesser extent Foligno and Gubbio. They occasionally play a derby against Pontevecchio, the town of Perugia's second club. Outside Umbria they have strong rivalries with Lazio and Arezzo while they have a special friendship with Ischia.
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