Novara

In 1944 a striker arrived in Novara who had already scored more goals than anyone in Italian football, and he stayed, on and off, until 1954. Silvio Piola put away 86 goals in 185 matches for the club. That is the shortest route into what this club is: a place where the biggest name in the country's scoring records spent a decade of his career and never quite left.

The origins are more modest. A group of pupils at the Carlo Alberto lyceum set up F.A.S. — Football Association Studenti — in December 1908; a merger with other local sides in 1912 produced the team that first entered the Italian championship, and another merger in 1920 fixed the blue that the club has worn since. The specific shade, Savoy blue, sits with black shorts and black socks.

Three Serie B titles came in 1927, 1938 and 1948, which places the club's best years either side of the war. The 1939 Coppa Italia final ended 1–2 against Ambrosiana.

Then, in 2021, the professional structure gave way. Novara Calcio was expelled from the professional leagues over its finances and went under. In August that year the city founded Novara Football Club, a legally new entity carrying the old traditions, and dropped it into Serie D — further down than the club had been in living memory. It took one season: the new side won Group A in 2021–22 and came straight back up to Serie C.

The oldest fixture on the calendar is against Pro Vercelli, the Derby del Riso, named for the rice fields that surround both towns. Pro Patria and the Derby del Ticino belong to the same map.

Serie C is where the club sits now, four years on from the rebuild, with the third tier still the ceiling to break.