Extreme Football Tourism: ITALY: AC Hellas Verona (1963-1991) / AC Chievo (1986-1990) / AC Chievo Verona (1990-2021) / Verona FC (1991-1995) / Hellas Verona FC (1995-)

Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, Verona (Hellas Verona FC, formerly AC Hellas Verona / AC Chievo / AC Chievo Verona / Verona FC)

Italy, region: Veneto

16 X 2022 / Hellas Verona FC - AC Milan 1-2 / Serie A (= ITA level 1)

Timeline

1903 / Foundation of Associazione Calcio (AC) Hellas. The Veronese football club is founded by a group of high school students. The name 'Hellas' is chosen at the insistence of the boys' Greek teacher, Mr Decio Corubolo - 'Hellas' being the Ancient Greek word for 'Greece'. AC Hellas' first president is Count Fratta Pasini. Although no regular league championships are being disputed in Northeast Italy at the time, AC Hellas rapidly establishes itself as the main football club in the region.
1911 / Introduction of regional football tournaments across Italy, the best clubs of each of them being contenders for the pan-Italian championship. From this time onwards, AC Hellas is recognised as a powerhouse in Northern Italian football, even though impressive results on a national level are lacking. Also in 1911, probably in view of the club gaining ever more local support, Verona's municipal authorities put a veritable small new stadium at the club's disposal, the so-called Campo dello Stadium at Via Stimate.
1914 / Abandoning the Campo dello Stadium, AC Hellas moves to the Campo fuori Porta Palio. Its stay at this ground does not last long, though, as all league football in Italy comes to a standstill upon the country's declaration of war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1915.
1919 / Upon the restart of competitive football in Italy after World War I, AC Hellas merges with FC Verona - a smaller local club, founded in 1911 - to become FC Hellas Verona. The club settles at a new ground at Borgo Venezia, the so-called Campo fuori dalle Mura.
1926 / Introduction of the Campionato Nazionale, a national league assimilating top sides from regional football across Italy. FC Hellas Verona joins the new league, but does not manage to play a role of major importance in it in subsequent years.
1928 / Moving away from its Campo fuori dalle Mura, FC Hellas Verona settles at Campo di Piazza Cittadella. This ground was originally constructed in 1910, but extensively renovated and extended by Verona's municipal authorities in 1928 - and subsequently renamed Stadio Comunale Marcantonio Bentegodi (new maximum capacity: 5,000). Marcantonio Bentegodi (1818-1873) was a Veronese politician and benefactor of sport in his home city; in his last will, he bequeathed a quarter of his legacy to the funding of sports events. Prior to having Verona's first real stadium named after him, a football club in Verona took on the name IC Marcantonio Bentegodi, commonly referred to simply as 'Bentegodi'. Upon Hellas' move in 1928, Bentegodi, which had already played at Piazza Cittadella from 1919 onwards, was forced by fascist authorities to merge with Hellas and another local club, AC Scaligera, to form one large Veronese football club: Associazione Calcio (AC) Verona. Some other sources place this merger one year later, in 1929, in which case FC Hellas Verona and IC Marcantonio Bentegodi were groundsharers at Stadio Bentegodi for one season before merging.
1929 / Upon the introduction of professional football in Italy, AC Verona, the new merger club playing at Stadio Bentegodi, is placed in Serie B, the second tier of the league pyramid. Still in 1929, on the northwestern outskirts of Verona, in the hamlet of Chievo, an amateur club is founded by the name of Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (OND) Chievo.
1931 / Playing its home matches at Campo Stefani, OND Chievo first takes part in a local amateur league.
±1936 / OND Chievo moves from Campo Stefani to the new Campo Cardi & Biondani. In the following decades, 'Chievo' remains an unconspicuous participant in Northern Italy's non-league system.
1941 / Although the foundation of AC Verona in 1928 or 1929 was undertaken in view of Verona's local authorities' ambition to have a top flight club within their city borders, the club's attempts at promotion from Serie B to Serie A remain unsuccessful. In 1941, the club even drops to Serie C.
1943 / After two seasons in Serie C, AC Verona manages a return to the second tier of Italy's league pyramid.
1948 / OND Chievo, shedding the reference to fascist leisure and recreational organisation OND from its name, is refounded as Associazione Calcio (AC) Chievo.
1957 / Drawing the Serie B league title over the line with a 1-1 draw against AC Como in its last home game of the season, AC Verona attains an historic promotion to Serie A. In that same year, non-leaguers AC Chievo move from Campo Cardi & Biondani to the newly built Campo Carlantonio Bottagisio.
1958 / Finishing dead-last in Serie A and subsequently also losing the promotion-relegation play-off match against AS Bari, AC Verona drops back into Serie B after just one season. That summer, the club absorbs a smaller Veronese side, AS Hellas; this new Hellas, founded in 1949, rapidly rose through the leagues, winning promotion to Serie C in 1958. The new merger club of AC Verona and AS Hellas takes on the name of AC Hellas Verona.
1963 / Constructed at the behest of Verona's city-council, a new, large multisports arena is built in the western suburb Borgo Milano. Total building costs are estimated at the astronomical sum of 1 billion lire. Referred to locally with mild cynicysm as Lo Stadio dei Quarantamila ('The Stadium of 40,000') in view of its seemingly excessive size - given that the stadium's future main user is a modest Serie B club, not drawing crowds anything near half of the maximum capacity of the new ground. AC Hellas Verona moves into this new Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi in December 1963; the inaugural match against AC Venezia is lost (0-1). The old ground at Piazza Cittadella, henceforth referred to inofficiously as Vecchio ('Old') Bentegodi, is abandoned, but only demolished in 1987; it is unclear if, yet probable that, the ground was used by other sports clubs in the last 24 years of its existence.
1968 / Following ten consecutive seasons in Serie B, AC Hellas Verona qualifies directly for Serie A alongside US Palermo and Pisa SC. The successful coach at the time is former AC Milan star player and Swedish international Nils Liedholm. In the 1968-69 season, the club manages to hold its own in Serie A, finishing in a relatively comfortable tenth position. In subsequent years, AC Hellas Verona becomes a regular feature in Italy's top flight.
1973 / On the last day of the 1972-73 season, AC Hellas Verona defeats AC Milan in a home game (5-3) (YouTube link), thereby depriving the Rossoneri of the league title.
1974 / In the so-called 'Scandalo della telefonata', Hellas' president Saverio Garonzi made attempts at bribing officials and players of other teams in order to save his club's skin in Serie A. In the end, Hellas manages to stay up, but after a judicial inquiry into Garonzi's conduct, is punished with a relegation to Serie B.
1975 / AC Hellas Verona manages an immediate return to Serie A, winning the tie-breaker against US Catanzaro. That same year, AC Chievo wins promotion to Serie D, at the time the fourth tier of the Italian league system, for the first time.
1976 / AC Hellas Verona reaches the Coppa Italia final for a first time, but suffers an emphatic defeat at the hands of SSC Napoli (4-0).
1979 / Finishing dead-last in Serie A with just two wins in 30 matches and a meagre total of 15 points, AC Hellas Verona is relegated to Serie B.
1981 / Former Verona player Osvalo Bagnoli is signed as AC Hellas' new manager, destined to stay on for the following nine seasons - and guiding the club to its biggest successes.
1982 / Winning the title in Serie B, AC Hellas Verona finds its way back to Serie A after an absence of three years.
1983 / Following its return to Serie A, Hellas has an excellent season, finishing fourth in the league and qualifying for the Coppa Italia final - which it loses on aggregrate to Juventus FC (winning the home tie at Bentegodi 2-0, but losing 3-0 in Turin after extra time). The 1982-83 season is also noteworthy for drawing a record number of spectators to a match - 47,896 pass the gates for Verona's home game against AS Roma (January 23rd, 1983). Representing Italy in Europe for the first time in the following season, Hellas has the better of Red Star Belgrade in UEFA Cup R1 (4-2 on aggregate) before bowing out in the second round against Austria's SK Sturm Graz.
1984 / Reaching the Italian cup final for a third time, Hellas Verona loses yet again, this time suffering a defeat at the hands of AS Roma (2-1 on aggregate).
1985 / Guided by Osvaldo Bagnoli and his star players Hans-Peter Briegel, Roberto Tricella, and Preben Elkjær Larsen, AC Hellas Verona makes the impossible come true by winning its first - and to date only - scudetto or Italian league title, the absolute highlight in club history. In the following season's European Cup campaign, Hellas defeats Greek champions PAOK in R1 before bowing out against defending EC Champions Juventus FC. The year 1985 also marks the start of extensive renovation works on the Stadio Bentegodi, involving the addition of a third tier as well as a roof covering all sections. The works, undertaken in view of Italy being awarded the privilege to organise the 1990 World Cup, turn the ground into an all-seater with the capacity remaining at roughly 48,000. The renovations are completed by 1989.
1986 / AC Chievo manages a promotion to Serie C2, at that time the fourth tier of the Italian football pyramid. As the club's own Campo Carlantonio Bottagisio is not deemed fit for (semi-)professional football, the decision is taken to move home matches to Stadio Bentegodi. For the following 35 years, the stadium is shared by Hellas and Chievo.
1988 / AC Hellas Verona has a good 1987-88 UEFA Cup campaign, eliminating Pogoń Szczecin SA, FC Utrecht, and FC Sportul Studențesc before bowing out in the quarter finals against West Germany's SV Werder Bremen.
1989 / For the first time in club history, AC Chievo, quietly climbing its way through the leagues, qualifies for Serie C1, the third tier of the Italian football league system.
1990 / Heralding the end of the golden years of club history, AC Hellas Verona suffers relegation to Serie B. Meanwhile, city rivals AC Chievo adapt their name to become AC Chievo Verona. That summer, the World Cup is held in Italy, with Stadio Bentegodi hosting all of Belgium's group matches in Group E (against South Korea, Uruguay, and Spain). Subsequently, in the round of last 16, Yugoslavia eliminates Spain (2-1 A.E.T.) in Verona - the fourth and last game in the Mondiale taking place at Stadio Bentegodi.
1991 / Following grave financial difficulties, AC Hellas Verona enters liquidation in February 1991, but continues the Serie B season as Verona FC - even managing a promotion to Serie A at the end of the season. In the following decade, Verona FC alternates short spells in Serie A and Serie B.
1994 / For the first time in club history, AC Chievo Verona wins promotion to Serie B.
1995 / Verona FC takes on the new name Hellas Verona FC.
2001 / AC Chievo Verona finishes third in Serie B, thereby qualifying directly for Serie A - the highlight in club history. That same season, Hellas narrowly manages to stay up in Serie A. For the first time, Hellas and Chievo play at the same level.
2002 / In spite of having a young, talented squad of players including the likes of Mauro Camoranesi and Adrian Mutu, Hellas is relegated to Serie B, heralding the most difficult years in the club's existence. Meanwhile, city rivals Chievo are flourishing in Serie A, finishing in an impressive fifth place in its first season in the top flight. As such, the club qualifies for the UEFA Cup, in which it bows out in R1 against Red Star Belgrade.
2006 / In its best season ever, AC Chievo Verona finishes fourth in Serie A, preceded only by FC Internazionale, AS Roma, and AC Milan. As a result, the club qualifies for the Champions League's third qualification round, in which it suffers a surprising defeat at the hands of Levski Sofia. Subsequently placed in the UEFA Cup, Chievo meets no success in this tournament either, bowing out against Sporting Braga.
2007 / Following several 'narrow escapes' in the preceding seasons, Hellas Verona FC cannot escape relegation to Serie C1. For the first time in 64 years, the club is not represented in one of the two top tiers of Italian football. In what is a hard season for Veronese football, Chievo also drops back one level, from Serie A to Serie B.
2008 / Hellas only escapes relegation to Serie C2 by fending off Pro Patria in a play-off duel. Chievo, on the other hand, has an excellent season in Serie B, finishing first and qualifying for Serie A after an absence of just one year.
2010 / In a renovation of Stadio Bentegodi, a new athletics track is put in place.
2011 / After three seasons of sitting at the third tier of Italian football - meanwhile renamed Lega Pro Prima Divisione - Hellas Verona FC manages a promotion to Serie B by defeating Salernitana Calcio 1919 in a play-off.
2013 / Having finished in a respectable fourth place in its return season in Serie B, Hellas does even better in the 2012-13 campaign, obtaining the second position in the final ranking - thereby managing a return to Serie A after an absence of 11 seasons. In the following decade, the club alternates short spells in Serie A and Serie B.
2014 / A third local club, Associazione Virtus Verona, at that point sitting at Lega Pro level - the fourth tier of the football pyramid - plays one of its home matches, the encounter against US Alessandria Calcio 1912 on April 6th, 2014 (0-0), at Stadio Bentegodi. Even an extensive search of Internet sources does not explain why the club abandoned its own Centro Sportivo Mario Gavagnin-Sinibaldo Nocini for this match.
2019 / AC Chievo Verona drops out of Serie A after a second spell of 11 uninterrupted seasons.
2021 / Due to financial misconduct, AC Chievo is excluded from taking part in the 2021-22 Serie B season. That year, the club takes part in competitions with just teams of its youth academy. After an - at times uneasy - groundshare of 35 years, Hellas remains as the only user of Stadio Bentegodi, of which official capacity has meanwhile been reduced to 39,211 - although only 31,045 of those have been approved by local authorities.
2022 / After stalled attempts at a restart, AC Chievo Verona folds, ceasing all activities.
2023 / Hellas Verona FC assures itself of a prolonged stay in Serie A by virtue of a 3-1 win in a relegation play-off against Spezia Calcio played at Sassuolo's Stadio Città del Tricolore - after the two clubs had finished with an equal number of points in 17th/18th place.

Note 1: Highlights of the match I attended at Stadio Bentegodi can be found by clicking this YouTube link.

Note 2: Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-5 = non-matchday visit, October 21st, 2022 / pictures 6-25 = match visit, October 16th, 2022.