Brescia: One of Serie A’s founding members attempting rebirth

Brescia were founded in 1911, when professional football in Italy was in its early stages, and earned promotion to the top flight two years later.

When Serie A was formed in 1929 to implement a stronger two-tier structure throughout the country, they were among the 18 clubs included.

A solid 10th-placed finish in that debut campaign was an early sign of the relative anonymity to follow. The industrial town of Brescia, population 200,000, has always been in the shadows of regional powerhouse Milan, 50 miles to the west, and the same was true on the football field.

So, for the next nine decades Brescia were remarkably unremarkable: a mid-size provincial club plodding along between relegations and promotions, never winning anything but always on the scene, with no major trophies and their sole ‘achievement’ was holding Italian football’s longest unbroken spell in Serie B (1947 to 1965).

An exceptional burst into the spotlight came at the turn of the century, when divinely pony-tailed genius Roberto Baggio – one of Italy’s greatest players – ended his injury-hit career with a successful four-season spell at Brescia.

The flamboyant forward was briefly joined by another iconic veteran, Spain’s Pep Guardiola, along with rising midfield star Andrea Pirlo, who was born locally and came through the club’s youth system to launch his legendary career.

Inspired by Baggio, Brescia flourished. Finishing eighth in 2001 was the club’s best season and led to a spot in that summer’s Uefa Intertoto Cup, a now-defunct tournament for Europe’s mid-ranking teams.

Stepping onto the continental stage for the first time, Baggio’s penalty was not enough to avoid defeat by Paris St-Germain on away goals in one of three finals – the other two ‘champions’ were Aston Villa and Troyes…yes, three champions…it was a strange tournament.

Baggio retired in 2004, Brescia were relegated a year later, and that was that: the club’s brief flirtation with the elite was finished and the previous routine of relegation-promotion-relegation was resumed.

Until now.