Founded in 1920, they won their first and only Scudetto in 1969–70, when they were led by the Italian national team's all-time leading scorer, Gigi Riva.

The squad for the Rossoblu's debut season in Serie A featured players like defender Mario Martiradonna, midfielders Pierluigi Cera, Nené and Ricciotti Greatti, and forward Gigi Riva.

An astonishing second half of the season saw Cagliari defeat the likes of Juventus and Milan and finish in seventh place with 34 points.

During the summer of 1967, Cagliari played a season in North America as part of a fledgling league called the United Soccer Association.

This league included teams from Europe and South America set to play in American and Canadian cities, with each club bearing a local name.

Players like Albertosi, Niccolai, Boninsegna, Gori, Cera, Domenghini and Riva played in Italy's 1970 World Cup final team.

Players like Franco Selvaggi, Mario Brugnera (a survivor of the 1970 team) and Alberto Marchetti ensured a respectable four-year stay in the top flight before a second relegation in 1983.

The following season saw a best-ever run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, taking out Juventus in the quarter-finals before being eliminated 5–3 on aggregate by compatriots Internazionale, having won the first leg 3–2 at home.

Cagliari spent the next four seasons in Serie B, until in 2003–04 with Sardinian-born veteran striker Gianfranco Zola, the team won promotion.

Relegation took place in the first season, but the team won the Serie B championship in 2016, returning permanently to the top division, albeit always finishing in the second half of the table.

[5] Disputes with the city council over renovation of the publicly owned stadium meant that Cagliari played their final home games of 2011–12 at the Stadio Nereo Rocco in Trieste on the Italian mainland.

[9] The red parts of the stemma are a reference to the coat of arms of the House of Savoy, a family which was previously the monarchy of Italy and more relevantly to Cagliari in particular, the Kingdom of Sardinia.

[9] The blue part of the stemma features the sky and the sea, also a castle; this is because the old historic centre of Cagliari is walled and called the Castello.

[11] Since June 2015, the badge features an "Old French"-shaped escutcheon with red and blue halves, with the club's name written in white just above the flag of Sardinia.