Brother of Guido and Giuseppe, from one of the most prominent families in early Bologna FC, Mario Della Valle was born in Bologna on 15 May 1896. After graduating from the Liceo Minghetti high school in Bologna, he enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery in Padua and, in his second year, requested a transfer to Bologna, where he graduated on 9 November 1921 with a thesis entitled "Clinical observations on some cases of retroperitoneal tumours". He then practised medicine in Vergato, where he died in May 1972.
Mario Della Valle revealed himself in the friendly matches of 1912–13 as a well-rounded forward: fast, technically gifted, with a lethal shot. A versatile player and prolific goalscorer, he was in the first team at the age of seventeen, during those heroic years of genuine amateurism which he would later recall as follows: “At times we left something to be desired, and the crowd was not slow to boo; and since the press in those days had no space to go into detail, they did not specify, for instance, that a poor performance might be down to a sleepless night caused by imminent exams; people were left puzzled, whereas the truth, had it been known, would have fully justified the below-par showing”. He made 45 appearances and scored 26 goals in red and blue in the Championship between 1913 and 1922.
CAPTIONS
1 - Bologna FC line-up in the 1921-22 season.
2 - Discharge certificate issued by the University of Padua.
3 - Degree certificate with passed exams.