Bologna and Juventus may sit on opposite sides of one of Italy's old rivalries, but both clubs still speak about Helmut Haller in reverent terms. The German forward moved to Italy in 1962, at 23, for a 300,000 D-Mark signing-on fee, and went on to win three league titles there.

Bologna's place in his story

Haller arrived in Italy with a reputation to build and left with a status that has lasted far beyond his playing days. He won the 1963/64 league title with Bologna, the club's last league title to date, and later added two more championships with Juventus.

Bologna's present makes the contrast sharper. Vincenzo Italiano's side are 14th in Serie A with 5 points from 6 matches, while Juventus are 6th with 11 points from 6 games. The standings do not alter Haller's place in club history, but they do show how different the modern setting is from the one he helped define.

A Bologna spokesman told SPORT1: "He was the greatest player we ever had." That kind of line is not handed out lightly in a club with a long history, and it fits the way Haller is still spoken about in Italy.

Augsburg and the road that shaped him

The other side of Haller's story began in Augsburg. He was born there on 21 July 1939, came from a family of seven children and grew up in the ruins of Augsburg after World War 2.

Haller later recalled: "The Americans gave us a baseball as a present, that hard thing. My mother wrapped it in scraps of fabric." He also said, in comments translated from German by SPORT1, "I learned everything through daily practice. And from Italian Mickey Mouse comics. They were lying around and I then worked it out for myself like this: Aha, the word could mean that and this word could mean this. And after half a year I was able to give my first interviews in Italian. Of course, that impressed the Italians מאוד."

That background explains why Augsburg still claims him so strongly. Peter Bircks, FCA supervisory board member, said Haller "was one of the greatest football heroes of the post-war era and shaped Augsburg football and generations of footballers." After his playing career, he remained involved in the city as a boutique owner, brief FCA coach, vice-president and city council candidate.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →