The beginning of beauty: The origins of Como 1907

By Gentleman Ultra, Richard Hall

“I ask myself, is this a dream? Will it vanish into air? Is there a land of such supreme and perfect beauty anywhere? Sweet vision, do not fade away.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1874

Lake Como has for centuries instilled romance, peace and created a thousand dreams. The almost unbelievable beauty of the lake has flawed many a poet when asked to describe, there are few who can find the words. Dreams are created and realised here and this was the case back in 1907 when a merger of clubs saw Como 1907 founded, a club that represented the community and was intent on embodying the surroundings. It isn’t easy to turn dreams into realities but this is a club that has never given up on utopia.

It is easy to fall in love with Como itself. If you arrive at the Stazione San Giovanni you will find yourself at the lake in no time. As the sea planes drone to and from the hanger and you look at the boats on the lake it is hard not to melt into a melting pot of architecture that dates from the 1930’s, the 1800’s and beyond.

Back in 1907 (even though things were happening a year before) Italy was toying with modernising and yet struggling with old problems. A 5.9 earthquake hit Calabria causing much death and destruction, immigration to the US was on the increase and the stock exchange in Rome closed. People looked for an escape and sport was one of the answers. Milan would win the 1907 Prima Categoria whilst Pro Vercelli would win the Categoria below, the Milan-San Remo cycle race was won by Lucien Petit-Breton and Felice Nazzaro would win the 1907 Targa Florio. Italy, in all her troubles, was still gripped by sport.

Whilst this is a glamorous place to have a football club, this was perhaps not the intention back in 1907. The Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, (named after an Italian war hero) was built in 1927 and was built on the site where the first ever game was played back in 1906. This bizarrely was played near the Rowing Club ‘Canottieri Lario’ against members of the one and only Buffalo Bill’s Circus. The match was refereed by none other than Buffalo Bill himself (Colonel William Cody), maybe his time in England had allowed him to gain some knowledge of the game or, maybe not. Even so, this was the beginning of Como’s love of the game and in the most beautifully poetic and interesting way, the journey had begun. The game, by the way, ended in a draw.

Local match ups would be the way things would continue until 1911 when, Como 1907 managed to get a stand erected and a pitch in place on the Via Dei Mille. A nice but unassuming street that does not show any signs of this today, albeit some grassy areas, it does make one dream and wonder. The reason for this structure was so the club could compete in the Seconda Categoria in 1912/13. This was the first time they could pit themselves against clubs who were now all striving to make their mark and challenge in the Prima.

Football in Italy by this point was expanding rapidly and it had well and truly taken the heart of the nation. The 1910’s saw the national team go to the Stockholm Olympics and whilst they were poor and did not impress, it still captured the imagination that Italian Football could flourish. In the summer of 1912, the Italian Football Federation faced change, partly due to the Swedish expedition and minor clubs took over the Federation. There was reform on the horizon and two Vice Presidents (Mister Faroppa and Mister Valvassori) took over and they looked to create a new format for the Categoria, looking to introduce more clubs into the tournament and in turn creating more groups and more games in a regionalised set up.

Now there would be two groups of six where the best two clubs would progress to the final group where they would face opposition from different regions, the bottom two would be relegated. The groups were, Piedmont, Lombardy-Liguria and Vento-Emilia to conclude the Northern section. A Central region was linked with what was called an ‘experimental’ Southern section and these were classified as Tuscany and Lazio.

Como 1907, due to their infancy, would have to play-off to get into their Lombardy-Liguria group. They would play a semi-final against Savona, away, whilst in the other semi, Lambro Milano would take on Racing Libertas Milano. This was to be Como 1907’s only game in the season as they lost out to Savona 3-1, even their victors would only last one more game but it was a step in the right direction.

Como 1907 were now at the top table in Italy and trying to force their way through the new structure. What started as a beautiful dream in utopian surroundings with a bizarre first game had now seen them move to a more professional outfit and with a plan to recognise those early hopes. More was to come, next season they would play 18 games and take another huge step forward.