Campus di calcio. Students of Bologna FC from the University to the City

On Friday, April 10, 2026 at 5:00 PM, on the ground floor of Palazzo Poggi, in via Zamboni 33, the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna inaugurates the exhibition “Campus di calcio. Students of Bologna FC from the University to the City", which will remain open to the public until June 2, 2026.

Promoted and curated by the Historical Archive of the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, the exhibition explores the fundamental role of university students in the introduction and spread of football in Bologna: from the first improvised matches to the founding and successes of Bologna FC. This journey highlights the deep connection between academic life and civic identity. “Campus di calcio” is an invitation to rediscover a significant chapter in Bologna’s history, where a passion for sport was born within university classrooms of a dynamic and culturally vibrant student community, later spreading throughout the city and helping shape its collective identity. 

The exhibition, structured through panels with texts and images, presents copies of documents from student records preserved in the University’s Historical Archive, alongside iconographic materials provided by Bologna FC 1909, the Real Colegio de España, and Fondazione Carisbo. It also illustrates the biographies of some of these young students, coming from diverse social and geographical backgrounds, united by their passion for the new game.

“Campus di calcio” presents itself as a journey through time, an opportunity to rediscover a meaningful chapter of the city’s memory, telling the story of young people—university students from different disciplines and backgrounds—who, with their energy, helped transform an imported game into a defining element of Bologna’s identity.