After World War II, Bologna FC were less successful, generally floating between 4th, 5th and 6th position in the Serie A. But what a crazy season the clubs followers witnessed in 1963/64. The trio of Inter, AC Milan and Juventus had by then already staked their claim as the masters of the Serie A, and it seemed as though they weren’t going anywhere. Clubs like Bologna, once champions of the league, struggled to reemerge from the rubble of the war and their fans resigned themselves to a life of supporting a mid-table team. Since they last won the league over 20 years earlier, Bologna’s best achievement was a fourth place finish in 1955 and a Mitropa Cup title in 1961.

 

Things started to turn around when new manager and former 1928 Italy national team Olympian Fulvio Bernardini took his place on the Bologna touchline. On his resume, was Fiorentina’s 1956 Serie A championship. On his arrival at the club, the side was already well stocked with talented players, but a few crucial ingredients were missing that would make Bologna true title contenders once again. Bernardini made several quality acquisition, such as the purchase of Harald Nielsen, a Denmark Olympic squad member who caught Bologna’s eye at the Rome 1960 Games. Helmut Haller, the German international, also came on board. Like Nielsen, Haller was an amateur player who divided his time between football and driving a truck for a living. The clubs owner, Renato Dall’Ara, personally went to Germany to sign the player. However, on his way back to Italy, Dall’Ara’s car skidded off the road and crashed into a ditch. Without missing a beat, the old man emerged from the wreck waving Haller’s contract and shouting, “Don’t worry about the accident, what matters is that we got this piece of paper signed!”

 

The next season, Haller and team mates like Ezio Pascutti with his spectacular diving headers delighted the Bologna faithful. However, they still only managed a forth place finish and the finger was pointed at goalkeeper  Santarelli, who at times was guity of poor mistakes. The finishing touch came with the purchase of former Italy national team goalkeeper William Negri. Three wins a row launched the 1963/64 season, and despite a stuttering start after that, it was a win over Genoa that got Bologna’s season back on track. The team regrouped and travelled to the San Siro for a difficult test against Inter. They played excellently, and Negri put in a top performance between the sticks, and the game ended in a goalless draw. From here, Bologna gained confidence and marched to ten successive victories, progressively making their way up the table. Nobody could believe what they were seeing. Even Helenio Herrera was shocked when his Inter lost in their second meeting. The Rossoblu kept moving towards their 7th Scudetto with a 2-1 win over AC Milan after which they found themselves leading both Milan clubs in the stadings by three points. But three days after the Milan victory, everything came crashing down.

 

In March, the Italian Football Federation issued a statement that 5 Bologna players had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. They were immediately suspended and the club was docked 3 points. Everyone associated with Bologna FC was shocked, and nobody doubted the innocence of the players implicated for a moment. The notoriously tough and emotionless Fulvio Bernardini was in tears. So close to finally winning another title after a 23 year wait, it was about to be ripped away from them. Well, Bologna were having none of it. Protest marches exploded in the streets, the local media cried foul in the newspapers, and a team of Bolognese lawyers took on the case. While all this was happening, Renato Dall’Ara, by now an elderly man, was on the way out with a failing heart. The Bolognese prosecutor discovered that the tubes containing the urine samples from the players were not adequately sealed – therefore, anyone could have tampered with the specimens. In addition, the methamphetamine the samples contained was enough to kill a man. Meanwhile, other samples from the players, taken at the same time, were found perfectly sealed, in a double-locked refrigerator, with no traces of drugs whatsoever. The plot thickened. In the end, the players were acquitted of any wrong doing. It was determined that the entire affair was an act of sabotage on behalf of the northern clubs to derail Bologna’s season.

 

However, Bologna still lost 3 points while investigations continued and because of that, they struggled to keep up with Inter in the race for the Scudetto. The two teams matched each other win for win while Bologna anxiously awaited for the final investigation results. Finally it came – an established lack of evidence of any wrongdoing meant that the crucial three points would be returned to Bologna, bringing them level with Inter, with just three games to go. At the end of the season, both teams were still on equal points, which meant that for the first and only time in the history of the Serie A, a playoff would decide the ultimate champions. Four days before this penultimate match however, Bologna’s emblematic president of 30 years, Renato Dall’Ara, died from a heart attack in the middle of a meeting in the offices of the Federation. The players were in tears, as Dall’Ara was not only their employer, he was like their father. Bologna’s season from hell continued. In his honour, Bologna took to the pitch against an Inter side who had just become European champions. Finally, the play-off kicked off.

 

After a goalless first half, the Bolognese side outclassed team from Milan and won 2-0. The Scudetto, to this day their last, was finally theirs, despite everything that had taken place. Bologna never gave up. Time and again, just when it seemed like it couldn’t get any worse, it did – but they just kept on going and the reward for their perseverance was the Scudetto. But from there, it was downhill again. They qualified for the European Cup but were knocked out in the first round, and the Rossoblu never returned to their golden days. Legend has it that on his death bed, Giuseppe Viani, then the manager of AC Milan and former manager of Bologna, admitted that it was he who tampered with the drug test samples. Nobody will ever know for sure.

​

Acheivements: Serie A – Champions x1

​

Star player: Helmut Haller dob 21 July 1939, pob Augsburg, Germany

​

Haller was a quality striker and playmaker of exceptional technique and finesse who was also unfortunately plagued with weight problems. Despite this, he was one of the greatest wingers of the 1960’s, with an eye for goal and superb dribbling ability. From 1948 to 1962 he played for his local team, BC Augsburg, before Renato Dell’Ara personally showed up in Germany and offered him 200,000 Marks a year to play for Bologna. Back then, player salaries in Germany were limited to 500 Marks per month, so it was a bit of a nobrainer for Haller. In Italy, he crossed paths with his 1962 World Cup team mates Albert Brulls, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger and Horst Szymaniak. With Bologna, he won the Serie A, the last in that clubs history. He then moved to Juventus for five years adding another two Scudettos. There he featured on a team with names like Dino Zoff, Fabio Capello and Jose Altafini. In 1973, Haller returned to his hometown playing for newly formed FC Augsberg, to cries of “Haller, Haller, Hallerluja.” In 1973, it was due to Haller’s popularity that a match betweenAugsburg and 1860 Munich attracted 90,000 fans, a record for a second division match. He was a prominent player for West Germany, participating in three World Cups (1962, 1966 and 1970). He scored the opening goal in the 1966 World Cup final which his team eventually lost to England. He received the match ball, but 30 years later he returned to England and presented it to Geoff Hurst, who had scored a hat-trick in the game and was therefore entitled to it. After his retirement, Haller coached some amateur clubs and ran a fashion shop. He died from dementia and parkinson’s disease in 2012.