Amongst the main founders were German Floriano Ludwig, Swiss Gustavo Kuhn, and a native trader of Bari called Giovanni Tiberini.
It was FBC Liberty who became the first ever side from the Province of Bari to take part in the Italian Football Championship; this was during the 1921–22 CCI season when the main clubs in the country had a falling out with FIGC.
All three clubs featured in the championship for the first time in 1924–25; while FBC Bari were relegated and ceased to exist again in 1927, Liberty, on the other hand, reached the Southern semi-finals before losing out heavily to Alba Roma.
A return to Serie A in 1989 with stars including stalwart defender Giovanni Loseto, midfielder Pietro Maiellaro and Brazilian striker João Paulo saw a respectable 10th-place finish in 1990, their last season at the Della Vittoria.
The following season saw Bari move to the San Nicola stadium, built for the 1990 World Cup, but by 1992, despite the signing of David Platt, they would be relegated once more.
This time, they managed a four-year stay in Serie A under the guidance of Eugenio Fascetti, despite his uneasy relationship with many sections of the club's support.
The company recovered from negative equity due to an increase in TV income, as well as the sale of Bonucci (a profit of €6.45 million).
During the season, manager Giampiero Ventura was replaced by Bortolo Mutti in a failed attempt to save the club from relegation.
Vincenzo Torrente was brought in to manage the side in the summer of 2011, and much of the playing roster was let go due to financial difficulties at the club and replaced by young players.
Despite six and seven-point penalties in the following two seasons, Bari under Torrente was able to achieve mid-table Serie B finishes; however, disconcertingly, attendances continued to dwindle.
[citation needed] A consortium FC Bari 1908 S.p.A. led by former Serie A referee Gianluca Paparesta successfully acquired the club assets and sports title.
Bari met Crotone in the quarter-finals and won 3–0, setting up a clash against Latina, the side that finished 3rd in the regular season.
In 2015–16, Bari gained 5th place in the league and subsequent access to the play-off preliminary match against Novara but lost 3–4 after extra time at Stadio San Nicola.
[12] In April 2016 Noordin Ahmad signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 50% shares of the club[13][14] but the deal collapsed; In June 2016 Cosmo Giancaspro became the sole director (Italian: Amministratore Unico) of the club, after the entire share capital were acquired by an Italian company Kreare Impresa S.r.l.
[17] The shareholders also tried to recapitalize the club[18] and appeal the exclusion to Collegio di Garanzia of Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), however, it was rejected.
In the 2019–20 campaign, Bari ended the season in second place behind Reggina and then made it all the way to the playoff final, where they were defeated by Reggiana after extra time, thus missing on immediate promotion to the Italian second division.
Following a fourth-place finish in the next season, the club hired Michele Mignani as head coach and strengthened the squad even further: this proved to be successful, as Bari won Group C and gained promotion to Serie B on 3 April 2022, with four games yet to go.
Bari have had many managers and trainers, some seasons they have had co-managers running the team, here is a chronological list of them from 1928 onwards:[29] Mitropa Cup: 1