The Sicilian team of Calcio Catania was founded in 1908 named Educazione Fisica Pro Patria (in 1910 changed to Unione Sportiva Catanese) and has spent most of its history in Serie B. As Catania is a harbor city many of it's first matches was played against sailors arriving to the city by boat, mostly foreigners.  

Catania played for many seasons in small divisions, first maiking their appearance in Serie B in the 1934/35 season. After three years the team returned to Serie C and after the World War II the team saw some major changes. First the team merged with Elefante Catania in 1945 and the year later with Virtus Catania to creat Calcio Catania, the name of the team today. Catania started in Serie C in 1946/47 achieving promotion to Serie B in 1948/49. 

Catania had their golden years in the late 1950's and 1960's where they gained their first promotion to Serie A in 1954 and ended at a respectable 12th place. However the club was forced to relegate together with Udinese because of a financial scandal. The team came back to Serie A in 1961 and stayed there for four years achieving their all-time highest position in 1965 as 8th place over teams as Roma and Sicilian rivals Messina. They saw themselves relegate the year after however. 

After this the team came back for one season in Serie A in the seasons 1969/70 and 1983/84. In between these two seasons the team continuely elevated between Serie B and Serie C. 

In newer history Catania is directly the reason that Serie B expanded from 20 to 22 teams and Serie A from 18 to 20 teams in 2003. 'Caso Catania' as it has been called dates back to Catania-Siena match that ended 1-1 which meant Catania had to get relegated. However Catania claimed that the opponents used an ineligible player, and Catania was awarded a 2-0 victory - the two extra points enough to secure them safety in Serie B. It all ended with FIGC deciding to let Catania, Genoa and Salernitana stay in Serie B while also admitting newly born Fiorentina to the Serie B. First the Serie B was 24 teams, but the season after it was reduced to 22.

Catania returned to Serie A in 2006 after a the owner Antonino Pulvirenti gave new life to the team. The headline of their return however is a tragic one. On february 2nd 2007 the policeman Luigi Raciti was killed outside the Catanias stadium, Stadio Massimino, during  the Sicilian Derby with Palermo. Catania was not allowed to play with spectators for the rest of the season. 

In 2009 Lazio legend Sinisa Mihajlovic took control of the club saving the team from relegation and also achieving their highest score in Serie A for the team: 45. This was however beaten by one point after the 2010/11 season.