A brief history of Brescia
Updated: 6 days ago
Brescia Calcio were founded in 1911. It was a merger between Victoria, Unione Sportiva Bresciana and Gymnasium. They were called Foot Ball Club Brescia.
Early years
In 1913-14 they were in the top flight, in the Veneto-Emila group. In 1919-20 they finished 2nd in the Lombardy A group. In 1929-30 they took part in the first ever national Serie A group finishing 9th.
In 1931-32 came their first relegation. They bounced straight back up again but went down again in 1935-36.
In 1936 the Fascist Regime forced them to be called Associazione Calcio Brescia.
In 1937-38 they went down to Serie C for the first time but by 1943 were back in the top flight.
Later history
After WW2 in 1946-47 they were relegated to Serie B where they remained until 1965-66. In that long period they lost two promotion playoffs, 1951-52 and 1956-57.
The late 1960s saw them up and down between A and B but after the 1969-70 relegation they remained in the 2nd tier until 1980-81. Meanwhile in 1976 they became Brescia Calcio.
Their return to a Serie A was short-lived as they then suffered back to back relegations. In Serie C between 1982-83 and 1984-85, by 1986-87 they were back in A but only for one season.
There followed another five seasons in B before their next appearances in A in 1992-93, 1994-95 and 1997-98 but always just for one season.
They managed to come up again for the 2000-01 season and this time stayed for five seasons. The 2000-01 season saw their highest ever position, 8th place under Carlo Mazzone.
After more years in B they reappeared in A in 2010-11 but went straight down again for another eight years in B.
In 2014-15 they were about to fall even further to C but were saved by other clubs' financial problems.
They finally made it back to Serie A in 2019-20 but for the usual one season. In 2021-22 they lost the promotion playoffs and in 2024-25 were relegated to C. In 2025 they were excluded from league football due to financial problems and in July 2026 declared bust. In July 2025 the club bought Feralpisalò's slot and restarted as Union Brescia who are currently in Serie C.
Round up
A so-called yo-yo club who have spent 23 seasons in A (+9 in top flight pre-1929), and 66 in B (a record) and 4 in C. They have won the Serie B Championship four times (1965, 1992, 1997 and 2019) and C1 twice (1939 and 1985). In 2002 they reached the Coppa Italia semifinals and the UEFA Intertoto final. The club won the Primavera Scudetto in 1974-75.
Players
The top 10 Brescia players for appearances are; 421 Stefano Bonometti (1978-89, 1990-96), 401 Egidio Salvi (1963-68, 1969-80), 400 Andrea Caracciolo (2001-02, 2003-2005, 2008-11, 2012-18), 327 Carlo Albini (1935-49), 313 Dimitri Bisoli (2016-25), 281 Antonio Filippini (1995-2004, 2010-11), 277 Marco Zambelli (2003-15), 264 Luigi Cagni (1969-1978), 260 Luigi Brotto (1959-70) and 260 Virginio De Paoli (1961-66, 1968-72).
The top 10 goalscorers are; 179 Andrea Caracciolo, 109 Virginio De Paoli, 85 Dario Hübner, 81 Luigi Giuliani, 71 Tullio Gritti, 64 Davide Possanzini, 49 Ettore Bertoni, 48 Maurizio Neri, 46 Roberto Baggio and 42 Alfredo Donnarumma.
Some of their other greats include; Andrea Pirlo, Filippo Galli, Gheorghe Hagi, Gigi Di Biagio, Eugenio Corini and Luca Toni.
Some famous players who have worn the Brescia shirt include; Evaristo Beccalossi, Pep Guardiola, Alessandro Altobelli, Igli Tare, Pavel Srníček, Roberto Baronio, Maurizio Ganz and Mario Balotelli.
A possible top XI line-up could be 1) Luca Castellazzi 2) Aimo Diana 3) Marek Koźmiński 4) Daniele Bonera 5) Filippo Galli 6) Gigi Di Biagio 7) Stefano Bonometti 8) Andrea Pirlo 9) Dario Hubner 10) Roberto Baggio 11) Virginio De Paoli
The number 10 shirt has been removed from use in honour of Baggio while the number 13 was withdrawn forever out of respect to Vittorio Mero, the Brescia player who died in a car crash in 2022 at 27.
Managers
Their first manager was Ettore Bacchelli. Some famous managers include; Azeglio Vicini, Gigi Simoni, Alfredo Magni, Corrado Orrico, Bruno Giorgi, Massimo Giacomini, Bruno Bolchi, Gigi Maifredi, Edy Reja, Beppe Materazzi, Silvio Baldini, Nedo Sonetti, Carlo Mazzone, Gianni De Biasi, Alberto Cavasin, Zdenek Zeman, Serse Cosmi, Beppe Iachini, Marco Giampaolo, Cristiano Bergodi, Cristian Brocchi, Diego López Pasquale Marino, Gigi Delneri, Filippo Inzaghi, Rolando Maran.
Colours and names
The Brescia's colours were originally orange and blue but from 1914-15 became dark blue and white which are also the town colours. Their symbol is the lion and they are nicknamed "Le Rondinelle", "La Leonessa" or simply "I Biancazzurri".
Playing fields and Stadiums
Brescia play in the Stadio Mario Rigamonti. The early Brescia clubs before the 1911 merger played on Campo Marte. With the birth of Foot Ball Club Brescia the games took place at Campo Fiera. In 1919 they moved to a pitch in Via Cadorna and in 1924 to the Stadium di Viale Piave where they stayed until 1959.
In 1959 the new stadium Mario Rigamonti was completed. It was name after a Grande Torino player who died in the Superga tragedy but was originally from Brescia.
Over the years the Rigamonti has been modernised, most significantly in 2007 and 2012. It now has a capacity of 19,950.
Fans
Brescia's first organised fangroup was formed in the early 1960s and known as 21+ (the number of original club founders). In 1979 Ultras Brescia were founded and also known as "U*BS". The latter were often involved in violent clashes with rival Ultras and disbanded in 1995 also due to media and police pressure after an infamous Brescia vs Roma game where the vice-chief police officer was stabbed albeit by the Roma supporters.
From then the fan base was divided in various groups; Brescia 1911 and Brixia in one Curva and Brescia Curva Sud and Sezione in the other.
In 2011 various groups such as Brigata Sballati, Brescia Curva Sud, Brixia, Castel, Brigata Leonessa and Sezione merged into Curva Nord Brescia. Brescia 1911 remained independent and changed sector.
The Brescia fans' traditional friendships are with Milan and Mantova. They also have amicable relationships with Salernitana, Catanzaro, Cesena and more recently Germans Nürnberg.
Their fiercest rivals are Atalanta followed by Verona. They also have antagonism with fans of Roma, Lazio, Juventus, Torino, Napoli, Genoa, Bologna, Vicenza, Latina, Lecce, Cosenza, Empoli, Inter and Como. Never a dull moment.....
Famous Brescia fans include musician Omar Pedrini and skier Daniela Merighetti while Oasis singer Noel Gallagher has also expressed a soft spot for Brescia (after Manchester City of course).
Modern day
Brescia or Union Brescia as mentioned are currently in Serie C. The owner is Giuseppe Pasini. In 2025-26 they finished 2nd but lost the playoff. The managers were first Aimo Diana, then Nicola Ferrari and finally Eugenio Corini. For the 2026-27 season the manager is still Corini.
Head to Head with Lazio
Lazio have played Brescia 62 times: 40 in Serie A, 14 in Serie B, 4 in Coppa Italia and 4 in the National Division.
First game and first Lazio home win: Lazio Brescia 2-1 in National Division on Sunday, October 30, 1927
First Lazio Away Win: Brescia Lazio 0-2 in Serie B Sunday, April 7, 1963
Latest Lazio Home Win and last match played: Lazio Brescia 2-0 in Serie A on Sunday July 29, 2020
Latest Lazio Away Win: Brescia Lazio 1-2 in Serie A on Monday January 5, 2020
Total Lazio Wins: 28 (20 home, 8 away)
Total Draws: 13 (5 home, 8 away)
Total Brescia Wins: 21 (5 home, 16 away)
Best Lazio Win: Lazio Brescia 5-0 in Serie A on Sunday November 4, 2001
Match with greater number of goals: 9 (Lazio Brescia 6-3 in Serie A on Sunday, October 20, 1946)
Worst defeat: Brescia Lazio 4-0 in Serie B, on Sunday, February 12, 1972.
Sources
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