The club was formed on 22 March 1910, as
Varese Football Club, with the goal of promoting football and other open air games. All members, both players and management, paid dues of 1 Lira every month. The club's colours were white and purple and the local market place doubled as the club's first ground. A rope fenced off the pitch from the public, and dressing rooms were improvised in an alley restaurant. The club played numerous friendly matches before joining any sort of league or organised competition. Early opponents included the "Aurora" of
Busto Arsizio, the "Libertas" of
Gallarate, the Luino, the Unione Sportiva Milanese, the Ausonia, and
Inter. The club took the first steps on the Italian league ladder by entering the
Lega Regionale Lombarda in 1914, and the first official championship saw
the Varesini playing in their original colours of purple and white silk. The club's American
goalkeeper, Sormani, distinguished himself in this first official season as one of Varese's star players. In May 1915 the war interrupted the season, but by 1919, World War I had ended and life returned to its regular rhythm with a resurgence of interest in football and other recreational activities. (standing, second from right) In 1926–27, the club's colours became white and red ("bianco-rosso"), to match the colours of the city. In the quarter of
Masnago, a stadium named
Stadio del Littorio was constructed. It was renamed in September 1950 to
Stadio Franco Ossola, in honour of a player who had transferred from Varese to
Torino Calcio and died in the 1949
Superga air disaster. Varese, a town not far from Milan, is highly regarded by various athletes who dress "bianco-rosso" (white-red) thanks to Military Territorial Compartments (between the most known players
Giuseppe Meazza). In 1964, with the entrepreneur Giovanni Borghi as president, the Varese achieved a place in
Serie A after two consecutive promotions from the
Serie C. Among the notable players who have worn the white and red shirt are
Pietro Anastasi,
Roberto Bettega, and the
World Cup winners
Claudio Gentile,
Giampiero Marini and
Riccardo Sogliano. After a decade in the top-flight, the golden era of Varese ended with
relegation in 1975. From 1975 to 1985 the club played in Second Division
Serie B but one year in Third one, during season 1979–80. Relegated the previous season the club regained immediately its place in Serie B. Since further relegation in 1985, the club had not succeeded in returning to
Serie B: 10 of the next 20 seasons were spent in C2, where the club were readmitted after promotion from
Campionato Nazionale Dilettanti in 1994. The club returned to the C1 Series within four years thanks to the work of general manager
Stefano Capozucca, brought to Varese by the entrepreneur
Claudio Milanese, who was then co-owner of the club with the President,
Paolo Binda, and other lesser associates. In 2001, after financial conflicts between entrepreneur
Gianvittorio Gandolfi and sponsors
SiViaggi and
CIT, the Turri family arrived at the club, bringing a series of innovations. In the summer of 2004, under the Turri-Tacconi co-presidency, economic and financial ruin made the club sink to its lowest ebb.
A.S. Varese 1910 In July 2004, the bankrupt Varese Football Club was reformed under a new board, and called
A.S. Varese 1910. The club was forced to start afresh in the
Eccellenza league. The Sogliano family took control of the team, with
Riccardo Sogliano assuming overall control. The former player of Varese and
A.C. Milan, has experience controlling clubs in
Serie A:
Parma F.C. and the
Genoa C.F.C. In its first season the new board suffered from delay and inexperience, and promotion to
Serie D was missed narrowly due to points dropped early on in the season to the club's eventual title-rivals. Club President Peo Maroso and general manager Luca Sogliano, son of Riccardo and also a former player, decided to install a new first-team coach from within.
Devis Mangia, at just 32 years of age, was the youngest head coach of the division and, probably, the entire league. The club has also had problems with its supporters (in particular a supporters group named "
Blood and Honour") who treated black players badly. It happened in spring of 2002 with French players,
Mohamed Benhassen,
Samir Benhassen and the Cameroonian goalkeeper,
Andrè Joel Eboué. They were at the stadium every weekend and often fight with rival supporters. In season 2005/2006, Varese won the Serie D/A league, thus gaining promotion to Serie C2, three matches before the end of the season. In season 2008/2009, they won
Lega Pro Seconda Divisione, and were promoted to
Lega Pro Prima Divisione, the third level of Italian football system. Varese finished second in Girone (Group) A of League Pro Prima Divisione and qualified for promotion play-offs at next season. Varese defeated
Benevento in semi-final and
Cremonese in final and returned to
Serie B after 25 years of absence with making second consecutive promotion. At the end of season 2011/12, A.S. Varese achieved fifth place in Serie B, qualifying for the play-offs for promotion into
Serie A. Drawn against
Hellas Verona they won 3–1 on aggregate to qualify for the two-legged final against
Sampdoria. Although a narrow 3–2 defeat in the initial leg in
Genova held the promise to be a useful result for Varese, their rivals scored the only goal in the home leg, giving Sampdoria a 4–2 aggregate victory and denying Varese the promotion.
S.S.D. Varese Calcio After their relegation from Serie B in the 2014–15 season, Varese 1910 failed to meet the deadline to register for Lega Pro and the club declared bankruptcy. The club would be reformed to play again in Eccellenza for the 2015–16 season as Varese Calcio SSD. After winning its group, it played in Serie D and reached the play-off stage. In the 2017–18 season, Varese Calcio started without a president and, in November, manager Salvatore Iacolino resigned due to the club's financial crisis. The team finished the season in 18th and was relegated to the Eccellenza. On 14 July 2019, the club was dissolved due to financial issues.
A.S.D. Città di Varese, a club also based in Varese, was formed 12 days later; in their first season, they won the 2019–20 Terza Categoria Varese Group B, the lowest tier of the
Italian football pyramid. ==Notable former players==