On 30 May 1920, in a cinema in the city centre, the team that would become the flag of Sardinia was born. On 30 May 2027 Cagliari turns 107. And it carries one of the most romantic titles in Italian football.

A doctor and a cinema

The club was founded as Cagliari Football Club at the Cinema Eden, under the arcades of Via Roma. Its first president was the doctor Gaetano Fichera, originally from Catania, with wine producer Antonino Zedda-Piras as vice-president.

The secretary and first captain was Giorgio Mereu. On 8 September 1920, in its first official match, Cagliari beat Torres 5-2, with a hat-trick from Alberto Figari.

From white to rossoblù

For that debut the team wore white. The sources disagree on why: one version says the shirts were made from Fichera's medical coats, another that white was chosen to avoid a clash with Torres's red and blue.

The club's colours are the red and blue of the city, as they appear on its banner and municipal flag. The red recalls the House of Savoy and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The blue recalls the sky, the sea and the Castello, the old walled town.

After striped shirts, and a spell in the mid-1920s in black and light-blue stripes, came the shirt split vertically down the middle, half red and half blue. Sources date it anywhere from 1927-28 to the 1930s. It is often called "a quarti" (quartered), but in fact it is simply split in two.

The four Moors

In all its versions, the crest has carried the flag of Sardinia with its four Moors' heads, the quattro mori. Since 2015 the shield has been half red and half blue, with the club's name in white letters.

With that change, the heads were turned to the right, as on the island's official flag since 1992. The colours give the club its nickname "Rossoblù", while fans also call the team "Casteddu", the Sardinian name for the city.

1970: the island's Scudetto

The great moment came in 1969-70. With Manlio Scopigno as coach and Gigi Riva as leader, Cagliari clinched the title on 12 April 1970, two rounds before the end. It was the first title for a team from south of Rome.

The team lost only two games and conceded 11 goals, the fewest in any major European league at the time. Alongside Riva played Albertosi, Niccolai, Cera, Domenghini and Gori.

In those years the main shirt was white with a red and blue collar and laces, and it stayed the first-choice shirt until 1982. Riva, three times Serie A top scorer, became honorary president in 2019, and the No. 11 has been retired in his honour.

Zola, Francescoli and the Unipol Domus

From the Amsicora the team moved in 1970 to the Sant'Elia, which was demolished in 2017. Today it plays at the Unipol Domus, a temporary ground next to the old site. In 1993, with Carlo Mazzone on the bench, it reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals.

The shirt has been worn by Gianfranco Zola, Enzo Francescoli, Diego Godín, Radja Nainggolan and Nicolò Barella. The No. 13 is also retired, in memory of Davide Astori, and in 2023 Claudio Ranieri brought the team back to Serie A through the play-offs.

Celebrate with us

Red and blue, four Moors and a whole island behind the team: the Cagliari shirt is part of Sardinia's identity.

Happy birthday, Cagliari! Forza Casteddu!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Cagliari's line-up in Turin during the Scudetto season (26 April 1970) – unknown photographer, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.