Football in Italy

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Football in Italy
The Stadio Olimpico di Roma before the match AS Roma vs HJK Helsinki (2022).jpg
CountryItaly
Governing bodyItalian Football Federation
(FIGC)
National team(s)Italy
First played1898; 126 years ago (1898)
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions

2020), also appeared in two finals (2000, 2012), finished third at the Confederations Cup (2013), won one Olympic football tournament (1936) and two Central European International Cups (1927–30 and 1933–35
).

Italy's top domestic league, the

Milan and Inter, all founding members of the G-14, a group which represented the largest and most prestigious European football clubs; Serie A
was the only league to produce three founding members.

Juventus, Milan and Inter, along with

Napoli, are known as the Seven Sisters of Italian football, due to their dominance in league and cups in recent years.[3]

Italian managers are among the most successful in European football, especially in competitions such as the Champions League. More players have won the coveted Ballon d'Or award while playing in Serie A than any other league in the world after La Liga.

History

Illustration of a game of calcio fiorentino from 1688

Urban VIII[5]
who played the game in the Vatican. The name calcio ("kick") was later adopted for football in Italy (attested first in 1889 : "Il Foot-ball ovvero il Giuoco del Calcio"), becoming the synonym for Italian association football worldwide.

Italian football is born: Turin and Genoa

The modern variation of the game was brought to Italy during the 1880s.

Genoa Cricket and Football Club, formed as a cricket club to represent England abroad, was founded by Englishmen in 1893. Three years later, in 1896, a man named James Richardson Spensley arrived in Genoa and introduced the football section of the club, becoming its first manager.[10]

Some early tournaments were organised by FNGI between 1895 and 1897. In 1898 a new federation

Velodromo Umberto I in Turin on 8 May 1898, and was won by Genoa. While it was common for clubs to compete in both FIGC and FNGI competitions early on,[9] the titles won in the FIGC championship are the only ones officially recognised by the modern-day league.[11]

In the following years, the tournament (called

]

The Italianisation and the "split" of the Championship

In November 1907, the FIF organised two championships in the same season:[12]

  1. Italian Championship, the main tournament where only Italian players were allowed to play; the winners would be proclaimed Campioni d'Italia (Italian Champions) and would be awarded the Coppa Buni
  2. Federal Championship, a secondary tournament where foreign players (if they lived in Italy) were also allowed to play; the winners would be proclaimed Campioni Federali (Federal Champions) and would be awarded the Coppa Spensley[13]

The FIF wanted to organize two different championships in order to allow weaker clubs - composed only of Italian players ("squadre pure italiane", "pure Italian teams") - to win the national title, and to relegate simultaneously the big clubs, composed mostly of stronger foreign players ("squadre spurie internazionali", "spurious international teams") in a minor competition for a "consolation prize".

Juventus
was later forgotten by FIGC, due to the boycott by the dissident clubs.

In 1909 season, the two different championships were organised again, with Coppa Oberti in lieu of Coppa Spensley for the Federal Championship. This time, the majority of big clubs decided to only withdraw from Italian Championship, in order to make the Federal competition the most relevant tournament, and to diminish the Italian one. The Federal Championship was won by Pro Vercelli, beating US Milanese in the Final, while the Italian Championship was won by

Juventus
forced FIGC to later recognized the Federal Champions of Pro Vercelli as "Campioni d'Italia 1909", disavowing the other tournament.

The format was modified for the

Pro Vercelli in the final by a score of 10–3. Even the Italian title won by Pro Vercelli was later forgotten.[20]

National championship

A first national competition organized by the Italian Federation of Gymnastics (F.N.G.I.) was played in 1896 and won by the

]

National teams

The Italy national football team, called Azzurri or squadra azzurra for their blue shirts, are the third-most successful national team in the World Cup for number of medals. During the 1970s to early 1990s Italy became famous for their catenaccio, thus heralding a long line of world class defenders such as Virginio Rosetta, Pietro Rava, Carlo Parola, Giacinto Facchetti, Armando Picchi, Gaetano Scirea, Antonio Cabrini, Claudio Gentile, Franco Baresi, Giuseppe Bergomi, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini; defence is traditionally the best part of Italian teams, and Italian defence is generally considered historically the best in the world.[citation needed]

A women's team, an under-21 team, an under-20 team, an under-19 team, and an under-17 team also compete.[citation needed]

Their honours include:[citation needed]

Competition 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Total
World Cup 4 2 1 7
Olympic Games 1 0 2 3
European Championship 2 2 1 5
Confederations Cup 0 0 1 1
Central European International Cup 2 2 0 4
Total 9 6 5 20

World Champions squads

European Champions squads

European competitions for clubs

  • 12 UEFA European Cups/Champions Leagues won in 29 finals (third behind Spain and England)
  • 7 UEFA Cup Winners' Cups won in 11 finals (first is England with 8/13)
  • 9 UEFA Cups/Europa Leagues won in 17 finals (tied for second behind Spain)
  • 1 UEFA Europa Conference League won in 2 finals (tied for first with England)
  • 9 UEFA Super Cups won in 13 finals (tied for second behind Spain)
  • 9 Intercontinental/Club World Cups won in 13 finals (tied for third behind Spain and Brazil)

In total:

  • Italy, 47 cups and 85 finals (second behind Spain)

UEFA Champions League

The following teams have reached the final of the European Cup / UEFA Champions League.

Italian football stadiums

Stadiums with a capacity of 40,000 or higher are included.

# Image Stadium Capacity City Region Home Team Opened Renovated Notes
1 San Siro 80,018 Milan  Lombardy
AC Milan and Internazionale
1926 1935, 1955, 1990, 2015–16 UEFA Category 4 stadium[21]
2 Stadio Olimpico 70,634 Rome  Lazio
Lazio
1937 1953, 1990 UEFA Category 4 stadium
3 Stadio San Nicola 58,270 Bari  Apulia
AS Bari
1990 UEFA Category 3 stadium[22]
4 Stadio Diego Armando Maradona 54,726 Naples  Campania
SSC Napoli
1959 1990, 2010, 2019
5
Stadio Artemio Franchi
43,147 Florence  Tuscany Fiorentina 1931 1990
6 Juventus Stadium 41,570 Turin  Piedmont
Juventus
2011 UEFA Category 4 stadium

See also

References

  1. ^ Wilson, Bill (10 March 2014). "BBC News – Italian football counts cost of stagnation". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Home page". Lagardère Sports and Entertainment. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Le "7 sorelle" dell'Italcalcio tornano a spendere all'estero - IlGiornale.it". m.ilgiornale.it. 3 August 2013. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Roman Football". Show.me.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Calcio Storico Fiorentino". Globeit.it. Archived from the original on 9 July 2007.
  6. ^ "Edoardo Bosio and Football in Turin". Life in Italy. 8 March 2017. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017.
  7. ^ "The Presidents". FIGC. Archived from the original on 24 June 2004.
  8. ^ "Die Geschichte des Fussballs". Cosmpolis.
  9. ^ a b "Italy – List of FNGI Champions". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022.
  10. ^ "English Players in Italy". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 21 September 2007.
  11. ^ "Campionato Serie A – Albo D'oro". Lega Calcio. Archived from the original on 24 August 2007.
  12. ^ Chiesa, p. 18.
  13. ^ "La gran finale del Campionato Federale". La Stampa. 22 February 1908. p. 5. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  14. ^ Giulio Corradino Corradini (7 June 1908). "Federazione acefala" (in Italian). La Stampa Sportiva. pp. 10–11. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  15. ^ Giulio Corradino Corradini (5 July 1908). "Ancora sulla questione dei Campionati. La parola ad un dissidente" (in Italian). La Stampa Sportiva. pp. 7–8. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  16. ^ Giulio Corradino Corradini (6 September 1908). "Vexata quaestio" (in Italian). La Stampa Sportiva. p. 4. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  17. ^ "La Finale di Campionato a Torino". La Stampa. 7 May 1908. p. 4. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  18. ^ "Il F.C. Juventus vince il Campionato Italiano". La Stampa. 7 June 1909. p. 5. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  19. ^ Chiesa, pp. 24-25
  20. ^ "Italy – Championship History 1898–1923". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
  21. ^ "San Siro on World Stadium Database".
  22. ^ "Stadio San Nicola on World Stadium Database".

Further reading

  • Carlo Chiesa, La grande storia del calcio italiano (in Italian), published in installments on Il Guerin Sportivo, April 2012.

External links