Cagliari football club were founded in 1920. The main founder was a surgeon named Gaetano Fichera (hence Cagliari's white shirts)
They played their first game on September 8 in a win against fellow islanders Torres.
In 1926 they took on the colours of red and blue. They became known as the Rossoblu or Casteddu (Cagliari in Sardinian).
Until 1928 they only played at regional level but in 1928-29, they joined the Prima Divisione Sud in the Lazio-Umbria group.
In 1930 they achieved promotion to Serie B under Yugoslav manager Ernest Erbstein.
In 1935 they were relegated and went bankrupt. They restarted in 1936-37 as Unione Sportiva Cagliari in the 4th tier. They were immediately promoted to Serie C.
During the Second World War they played at regional level until 1946-47 when the Football Association reintegrated Sardinian clubs into the Italian leagues. They restarted from Serie B but were relegated in 1948.
In 1952 they were promoted again and spent the 1950s in Serie B. In 1954 they went close to promotion, arriving 2nd but lost the A playoff to Pro Patria.
The Sardinians first historic promotion to Serie A came in 1964 under manager Arturo Silvestri with Enrico Spinosi as captain and a young Gigi Riva up front.
There followed Cagliari's glory years. Uruguayan Manlio Scopigno took over as manager in 1966-67 and they finished 6th while in 1967-68 9th under Ettore Puccinelli. In 1968-69 Scopigno returned and Cagliari finished 2nd. A year later came the incredible Scudetto win with players such as keeper Enrico Albertosi, defenders Pierluigi Cera, Mario Martiradonna, Comunardo Niccolai, midfielders Mario Brugnera, Angelo Domenghini and Rocciotto Greatti plus forwards Gigi Riva, Nenė and Sergio Gori. An amazing feat celebrated all over the island.
In the European Cup they reached the last 16 but lost to Atlético Madrid 2-4 on aggregate.
There followed 7th, 4th, 8th and two 10th places, in 1976 however Cagliari were relegated. They came back up in 1979.
The 1980's were difficult. After a 6th place in 80-81 the Rossoblu were relegated in 1983 and again in 1987 to C1.
The late 1980's saw a revival with a double promotion back to Serie A under Claudio Ranieri.
The early 90's were good years with a 6th place in 1993 and UEFA Cup semi-final in 1994 (Inter 3-5 on aggregate). In 1997 however they were relegated again but bounced straight back. In 2000 they went down again but won promotion in 2004.
There followed just over ten stable years in Serie A with a 9th place in 2009.
In 2015 they were relegated again but were back in Serie A a year later and stayed six years. In 2022 it was back down to B but a year later they were promoted, again under Claudio Ranieri.
The current manager is Davide Nicola.
Cagliari's logo is the Sardinian symbol, the four moors. It has been calculated that Cagliari have approximately half a million fans. Their main rivals are Torres and Napoli.
The top ten players in Cagliari's hall of fame are: Gigi Riva (1963-76), Gianfranco Zola (2003-05), Enzo Francescoli (1990-93), David Suazo (1999-2007), Nené (1964-76), Gianfranco Matteoli (1990-94), Roberto Muzzi (1994-99), Luigi Piras (1973-87), Enrico Albertosi (1968-74) and Roberto Boninsegna (1966-69), plus obviously the revered whole 1969-70 squad.
Cagliari have spent 44 seasons in Serie A, 30 in B, 9 in C, 3 in C1 and 3 in the Southern league.
The player with most appearances is Daniele Conti (Bruno's son) with 434, followed by Mario Brugnera with 328 and Gigi Piras with 320.
The top scorers in their history are Gigi Riva with 205, Gigi Piras 104, David Suazo 102, Joāo Pedro 86.
Gigi Riva is indisputably the most popular and representative player in their history. Originally from Lombardy he stayed on to live in Sardinia even after retiring. A hero and adopted Sardo.
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