Como 1907

Nestled on the shores of one of the most famous lakes in the world, Como 1907 pulled off something special last year – a return to Serie A for the first time in 21 years. It’s been a long road back for the Lariani (People who live in Como). It is a club that’s been to the top, plunged into bankruptcy twice, and now finds itself reborn under one of the wealthiest owners in all of football.

The story starts in 1907, when a group of locals met at the Taroni Bar on Via Cinque Giornate, a narrow street in the old town of Como, to form Como Foot-Ball Club. Royal blue was chosen as the colour, and early games were friendlies against teams from Milan and across the Swiss border. By 1913, Como were in the top tier – the old Prima Categoria – and since then they have become a familiar name in Italian football.

The Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium, their home since 1928, is one of the most scenic stadiums you'll find. One side it backs directly onto Lake Como itself and on the other it has the mountains. It is named after a local rower and WWI hero, it sits right by Lake Como, framed by mountains. It was commissioned by Mussuloni himself in the 1920s to showcase the best of the new style of the new style of "Rationalist Architecture" and the main stand is indeed striking.

Over the years Como have had some great times: unbeaten promotion to Serie B in 1930–31, the club’s three spells in Serie A, and now the return to the top flight of summer of 2024.

But it hasn’t always been sunsets and smooth sailing. The 2000s were brutal. Consecutive relegations led to bankruptcy in 2004. The club was thrown out of professional football and had to restart in Serie D. By 2007 they’d clawed back to the pro ranks, only to hit the wall again in 2016 with a second bankruptcy. In 2017, Como was re-founded yet again, starting from Serie D for a second time.

The turning point came in 2019, when Indonesian billionaires Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono – owners of a vast conglomerate based on cigarettes and banking – bought the club. Ranked among the 30 richest families in the world, they have brought financial stability and ambitio. In 2022 Cesc Fàbregas joined as a player, before moving into a co-owner and head coach role alongside Thierry Henry as a shareholder.

Their badge tells its own story. Como’s crest has always nodded to the city’s identity – most often through the red-and-silver cross of Como’s coat of arms. Sometimes it’s been central, as in the late 1940s when it was sewn directly onto the shirt. In other eras, the badge has carried the lake itself in the form of stylised blue waves. Since 2019, after a fan vote, the design has been stripped back and represents a combination of the two: a shield with the club name, a wave motif, and the cross beneath. The red of the city’s arms however is gone – now it’s monochrome blue or white.

This is perhapd a shame. The silver cross on red dates back centuries, marking Como’s medieval civic identity. Como was a walled Roman city, refounded by Julius Caesar himself who ordered large areas drained and a Roman grid system laid down.

Its fortunes have swung with the tides of Italian history. After the Romans the Lombards - a bunch of Germans who snuck into the North of Italy as the Roman Empire collapsed and made themselves at home (probably started with putting their beach towels down early...) Como became a wealthy medieval commune with its own laws and territories stretching into modern-day Switzerland. Its location – at the end of the lake, on the Road of Queen Theudelind – made it a trade hub between Italy and the north. That Road is and was a route through the Alps that many in central and Northern Europe would take when heading off on pilgrimage to Rome or elsewhere in Italy. Como became the perfect, and a very beautiful looking, roadside rest stop.

Prosperity however brought jealousy. Milan and Como fought a war between 1118 and 1127, ending with Milan razing the city to the ground. Como bounced back with the help of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, rebuilding its walls and castle. Over the centuries it fell under Milanese Visconti and Sforza rule, the Spanish, the Austrians, Napoleon, and finally the Kingdom of Italy in 1859.

Lake Como has been the backdrop to it all. Today it draws tourists from across the globe – George Clooney owns a 25 bed villa on the waters edge – but it’s still a working lake too, with fishing boats, ferries, and now the occasional roar from Serie A crowds.

So for Como 1907, that badge sums them up nicely. The waves are a direct link to the city’s geography, history, and livelihood. The cross beneath them connects every modern player to centuries of Comaschi who’ve flown that flag, whether on medieval banners in a scrap with Milan or on football shirts - in a scrap with Milan.

Much like their lake, the future sparkles for this club. Back in the big leagues, with the richest owners in Italy, a coaching team of Champions League winners, and one of the most spectacular home grounds in the game.

You ain't heard the last of them yet.