A brief history of F.C Bologna
- Dag Jenkins
- Oct 22
- 4 min read
F.C Bologna were founded on October 3 1909 by Emilio Arnstein. He was a player, director and referee of Austrian origins. The first president was Swiss, Louis Rauch.
The colours of dark blue and red were chosen by one of the founders, Arrigo Gradi as they were the colours of the Schönberg college of Rossbach where he had studied in Switzerland.
Bologna started playing in the FIGC tournaments in 1910-1911.
In the 1920's they became competitive under a professional coach, Austrian Hermann Felsner.
In 1924-25 came their first Scudetto. They won it again in 1929 as well as the Central European Cup in 1932 and 1934. The stand out players included Mario Gianni, Felice Gaspari, Bernardo Perin, Giuseppe Della Valle and Angelo Schiavio.
In 1934 Renato Dall'Ara became president.
Their successes continued with four more league titles: 1936, 1937, 1939, 1941. In 1937 they became the first Italian club to defeat an English one when they downed Chelsea 4-1. The managers were Árpád Weisz and then Felsner again and Bologna became known as "Lo squadrone che tremare il mondo fa" (more or less: The mighty team that scares the world). In 1939 they became the first ever football team to be hosted on a TV show.
After the war came a less successful period but in the 1960s Bologna returned to being competitive and in 1964 won their 7th Scudetto (in the last ever title playoff, Inter 2-0). The manager was Fulvio "Fuffo" Bernardini and the stars were goalkeeper William Negri, defenders Francesco Janich, Paride Tumburus, Carlo Furlanis, captain Mirko Pavinato, midfielders Romano Fogli, Giacomo Bulgarelli, Marino Perani, Ezio Pascutti plus forwards German Helmut Haller and Dane Harald Nielsen (top scorer with 25 goals -21 in A).
In 1964 Dall'Ara died suddenly and Gianni Boveri became president.
In 1970 Bologna won their first Coppa Italia, under manager Edmondo Fabbri. Their main stars were still Giacomo Bulgarelli (now captain) and striker Beppe Savoldi.
In 1974 they won the Coppa Italia again, defeating Palermo on penalties. The manager was Bruno Pesaola.
The 1980's were up and down. In 1982 they were relegated to Serie B and in 1983 to C1. In 1984 they were promoted back to B and in 1988 to A.
The 1990s also saw the Rossoblu struggle. In 1991 they were relegated to B and then the year after to C, another double drop. In 1993 the club went bankrupt and restarted as Bologna Football Club 1909. In 1995 they climbed back up to B and a year later to A as second tier champions, under manager Renzo Ulivieri. In 1999 with players such as Roberto Baggio and Beppe Signori they won the UEFA Intertoto Cup and finished 9th in A (qualifying for UEFA after beating Inter in a playoff).
In 2002 Bologna finished 4th in Serie A, under Francesco Guidolin, and narrowly missed out on Champions League. In 2005 however, they were relegated to B again and took three years to get back to A. The promotion manager was Daniele Arrigoni.
There followed difficult years in the top flight with 17th, 17th, 16th, 9th, 13th and 19th (relegation) places.
This time however they bounced straight up again, under Diego López and then Delio Rossi. During the season the club was taken over by American entrepreneur Joe Tacopina and the following year by Canadian Joey Saputo.
The Felsinei have been in Serie A ever since. Their league positions have been 14th, 15th, 15th, 10th, 12th, 12th, 13th and 9th.
The last two seasons however witnessed an improvement. In 2023-24 they finished 5th, under Thiago Motta, and qualified for their first historic Champions League. In 2024-25, under Vincenzo Italiano they won their third Coppa Italia, defeating Milan 1-0 in the final in Rome Their first trophy for 51 years and huge celebrations in the town.
So, a sketchy history with some epic highs, the mighty teams of the 1920s and 1930s, the Scudetto and cups of the 1960s and 1970s but also plenty of lows and periods in B and even C.
Things are now looking up however after their recent Coppa Italia triumph.
Bologna are ranked 9th in Italy for footballing tradition. In 2024 they were 41st in the Club World Ranking (IFFHS).
Their top five players for appearances are: Giacomo Bulgarelli 486, Tazio Roversi 459, Carlo Reguzzoni 417, Carlo Nervo 417, Marino Perani 415.
Their top five scorers are: Angelo Schiavio 251, Carlo Reguzzoni 143, Beppe Savoldi 137, Ezio Pascutti 130 and Gino Pivatelli 107.
Bologna stadium is the Renato Dall'Ara in the Porto-Saragozza area of town. It holds 36,532 spectators. It was inaugurated in 1927 as the Stadio Littoriale and after the war became the Stadio Comunale. In 1984 it took on its present name, the Renato Dall'Ara (Bologna president for 30 years, 1934-1964).
The club are known as the Rossoblu, Felsinei, Petroniani and Veltri. Their symbols are the Balanzone (an old local mask), the Due Torri (famous two city towers) and Neptune (Roman divinity).
According to market research studies Bologna are the 12th most supported club in Italy with about 264,000 fans. The most passionate fans gather in the Curva Andrea Costa (from 2009 named after legend Giacomo Bulgarelli). Bologna is also a fanatical basketball town and is known as "Basket City".
The organised supporters club have a special friendship with the Ravenna Ultras while their sworn enemies are Fiorentina from just over the Apennines. They also have regional rivalries with Parma, Cesena and Modena but for various reasons also with Roma, Milan, Napoli, Juventus, Sampdoria, Verona, Inter and Olympique Marseille.
Famous supporters include, Lucio Dalla, Gianni Morandi, Andrea Mingardi, Luca Carboni, Cesare Cremonini, Pier Ferdinando Casini, Romano Prodi, Bruno Barbieri, Enrico Brizzi and Stefano Domenicali.
The first four of these, all singers, are also the authors and performers of Bologna's official anthem, "Le Tue Ali Bologna".
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