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Stadio Renato Dall’Ara first opened in 1927 under the name of Stadio Littoriale, and was designed by Leandro Arpinati who would later become the Mayor of Bologna. During the era of Italian Fascism variations of the stadiums name which paid tribute to the political party’s youth wing were popular, and were given to other stadiums such as ones in Palermo and Varese. Visited by Benito Mussolini himself in October 1926, and later on inaugurated on 29th May 1927 by the King of Italy who attended the first ever match between Italy and Spain, Littoriale Stadium initially had a capacity of 50,100. As one of the country’s largest and most modern stadiums at the time it was chosen to host two matches of the 1934 World Cup. After World War 2, Italian stadiums named during the fascist era were changed to politically neutral, and Renato Dall’Ara became Stadio Comunale in 1945. In 1983 it was renamed in to Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in honour of Bologna’s much loved president who served the club for over 30 years between 1934 and 1964. He presided over the club’s most successful period which brought home five Serie A titles. Selected as one of twelve venues for the 1990 World Cup, Stadio Renato Dall’Ara underwent significant renovation work in order to modernise the facilities including a new roof over the grandstand, better floodlights and refurbishment of the exterior façade. In total it hosted four matches including three matches of Group D and a round of 16 between England and Belgium. Now used predominantly to host home matches of Bologna F.C, the ground occasionally hosts rugby matches such as three international test matches in 1995. Despite rumours of the club attempting to build a new stadium, nothing has yet to come to fruition which means Bologna are likely to remain at Renato Dall’Ara for the foreseeable future.

DRIVING Bologna’s stadium address for satnav is as follows: Via Andrea Costa, 174, 40134 Bologna, Italy TRAIN Bologna Centrale railway station is sandwiched between Milan and Florence’s high speed lines which gives the city great accessibility from around the peninsula. BUS When it comes to getting to the Stadium, there isn’t a smaller satellite station to get off at meaning that you can either make the walk which would take 40-45 minutes or get the bus. From the station the number 21 bus does the trick, taking 18-20 minutes and departing 3-4 times an hour during peak times. If you’re coming from the city centre then you can still catch the 21 at the Via Marconi or simply get the Bus number 14 which departs from Via Rizzoli and will take you a slightly shorter 15 minutes. AIRPORTS AND FLYING The closest airport to the city is Guglielmo Marconi (Bologna) International which is 3.5 miles North of stadium and about 4 miles or so from the city centre. Once you have arrived you can either get a shuttle known as the Aerobus BLQ service to the city/station or pay for a taxi which shouldn’t cost more than €20. Both journeys will take about 20 minutes. Eventually the plan is to create a Marconi Express which is a monorail line which will link the airport to the Central railway station, but there’s no official word on the completion date.