Renato Dall'Ara

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Lore & Background

An entrepreneur of modest origins, Dall'Ara went from his native Reggio Emilia to Bologna, starting a thriving knitwear company that made him wealthy. In 1934, he was appointed as president of football club Bologna. During the first years of his presidency, between 1934 and 1941, the team won four league titles and the Tournoi international de l'Exposition Universelle de Paris in 1937. In the postwar years, Dall'Ara was unable for many years to repeat the previous successes, until the beginning of the 1960s, when Bologna won the 1961 Mitropa Cup. In the 1963–64 Serie A, Bologna and Inter Milan were about to play the Championship tie-breaker on 7 June 1964; however, four days before the match, on 3 June, Dall'Ara died in Milan from a heart attack while he was in the Lega Calcio headquarters for a meeting with Angelo Moratti in preparation for that match. Dall'Ara was buried in the Certosa di Bologna along with his wife. The stadium of Bologna, Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, was named after him. He was added to the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

In Their Own Story

The rain fell softly on the Curva Sud, blurring the red and purple flags into a single streak of mourning color. Renato stood at the left touchline, his boots heavy with mud and memory. The whistle blew, but for him, it sounded like the silence that had filled his home since April. He watched the ball roll toward his feet, not seeing an opponent, but ghosts in white shirts. With a deep breath that tasted of iron and sorrow, he stepped forward. He did not play to win; he played so that the names carved on the memorial stone would never be forgotten.

Reader's Guide

Renato Dall'Ara was not a player for Fiorentina. He was the chairman of Bologna from 1934 until his death in 1964. His achievements as president include four league titles, the 1937 Tournoi international de l'Exposition Universelle de Paris, and the 1961 Mitropa Cup. He died of a heart attack in Milan on 3 June 1964, four days before a championship tie-breaker match between Bologna and Inter Milan.

Did You Know?

• Renato Dall'Ara was an entrepreneur who built a thriving knitwear company before becoming president of Bologna.
• He was president of Bologna for thirty years, from 1934 until his death in 1964.
• Dall'Ara died of a heart attack in Milan on 3 June 1964, while at a meeting with Angelo Moratti.
• Bologna's stadium is named Stadio Renato Dall'Ara in his honor.