1.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
2.
Serie D
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Serie D is the top level of the Italian non-professional football association called Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. The association represents over twelve thousand football players and four hundred football teams across Italy, Serie D ranks just below Lega Pro, and is thus considered the 4th ranked league in the country. It is organized by the Roman Comitato Interregionale, a league in the league inside the LND and it chose the winners and a few runners-up from the 36 Serie C championships to be added to the new third division set up into 4 groups. The rest of the attended the new Promozione which changed name in 1952 into Quarta Serie. From 1959 each player attending the Serie D championships had to opt for semi-professional status by signing a specially issued status attribution form, the championship was so included in the Lega Nazionale Semiprofessionisti, today known as Lega Pro. The championship consequently passed into the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti, from 1992 to 1999 had the name changed into Campionato Nazionale Dilettanti before eventually returning to the current Serie D name. Since the early 1990s, Serie D has consisted of 162 teams split into 9 regional divisions, usually formed of 18 teams each divided geographically. For the 2012–13 season, the teams were 166 and two groups were formed of 20 teams, in the 2013–14 season the number was 161, for 2014–15 their distribution by region is as follows, Girone A - teams from Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Liguria & Lombardy. Girone B - teams from Lombardy & Veneto, Girone C - teams from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol & Veneto. Girone D - teams from Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany & Veneto, Girone E - teams from Lazio, Tuscany & Umbria. Girone F - teams from Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche & Molise, Girone G - teams from Lazio & Sardinia. Girone H - teams from Apulia, Basilicata & Campania, Girone I - teams from Calabria, Campania & Sicily. The first-placed team from each division is promoted to Lega Pro each year, if a newly promoted Serie D team fails to meet the requirements, Lega Pro asks the second-placed team in that Serie D teams division to fill the vacancy. Failing that, even the team may fill the vacancy. In recent years, one or more teams from the senior leagues from Serie A down to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione failed to meet the regulatory or financial requirements to remain there and these vacancies were usually announced in the summer rest period as the new season was being organized. As teams moved up to fill the void created by these failed teams, for example, in the 2007-08 season there were nine such failures, and thus, nine Lega Pro Seconda Divisione spaces were created. Four of those spaces were filled by calling back teams that had played in Seconda Divisione but were relegated to Serie D for the next season, the other five vacancies were filled by Serie D teams that had participated in the Serie D playoffs. Playoffs are held after the season is over and involve teams placed second through fifth in each division
3.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
4.
Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today
5.
Football in Italy
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Football is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italian national football team is considered to be one of the best national teams in the world and they have won the FIFA World Cup four times, trailing only Brazil, runners-up in two finals and reaching a third place. They have also won one European championship, also appearing in two finals, one Olympic football tournament and two Central European International Cups. Italys top domestic league, the Serie A, is one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. Italys club sides have won 48 major European trophies, making them the second most successful nation in European football, Juventus, Milan and Inter, along with Roma, Fiorentina, Lazio and Napoli are known as the Seven Sisters of Italian football. Italian managers are the most successful in European Football, especially in such as the Champions League. More players have won the coveted Ballon dOr award while playing at a Serie A club than any other league in the world, other forms of football were played in Italy in ancient times, the earliest of which was Harpastum, played during the times of the Roman Empire. This game may have also been influential to other forms throughout Europe due to the expansion of the Empire, from the 16th century onwards, Calcio Fiorentino, another code of football distinct from the modern game, was played in the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence. Some famous Florentines were amongst players of the game, particularly the Medici family including Piero, Lorenzo, as well as Popes such as Clement VII, Leo XI and Urban VIII who played the game in the Vatican. The name calcio was later adopted for football in Italy, the modern variation of the game was brought to Italy during the 1880s. Three years later in 1896 a man named James Richardson Spensley arrived in Genoa introducing the football section of the club, however, evidence exists to suggest that the first club may have been from Turin. Edoardo Bosio, a merchant worker in the British textile industry had visited England and he returned to Turin in 1887 and was motivated to help spread football in his homeland. He founded Torino Football and Cricket Club that year while Nobili Torino soon followed, the second club bore the name of noble because it contained the Duke of the Abruzzi and Alfonso Ferrero di Ventimiglia. FIGC created the Italian Football Championship with the four founder clubs been, Genoa, FBC Torinese, Ginnastica Torino, the first competition of which was held at 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, the won in the FIGC championship are the only ones officially recognised by the modern day league. In the following years, the tournament was structured into regional groups with the winners of each participating in a playoff with the eventual winners being declared champions. Until to 1904 the tournament was dominated by Genoa, who won 6 titles in 7 years, between 1905 and 1908 a Final Group among regional champions was contested to award the title and the Spensley Cup. Juventus won his first title and Spensley Cup in 1905, the former championship, where foreign players, too, were allowed to play, was renamed Federal Championship
6.
Basilicata
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Basilicata, also known as Lucania, is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It also has two coastlines, one on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania and Calabria, and a coastline along the Gulf of Taranto between Calabria and Apulia. The region can be thought of as the instep of Italy, with Calabria functioning as the toe, the region covers about 10,000 km2 and in 2010 had a population slightly under 600,000. The region is divided into two provinces, Potenza and Matera, the president of Basilicata is Marcello Pittella. The name derives from basilikos, which refers to the basileus, the Byzantine emperor, others argue that the name may refer to the Basilica of Acerenza which held judicial power in the Middle Ages. During the Greek and Roman Ages, Basilicata was known as Lucania, Basilicata covers an extensive part of the southern Apennine Mountains between Ofanto in the north and the Pollino massif in the south. It is bordered on the east by a part of the Bradano river depression which is traversed by numerous streams. The region also has a coastline to the southwest on the Tyrrhenian Sea side of the peninsula. Basilicata is the most mountainous region in the south of Italy, of the remaining area, 45% is hilly, and 8% is made up of plains. Notable mountains and ranges include Monte Alpi, Monte Carmine, Dolomiti lucane, Monti Li Foj, Pollino, Toppa Pizzuta, and Monte Vulture. Geological features of the include the volcanic Monte Vulture and the seismic faults in the Melfi and Potenza areas in the north. Much of the region was devastated in the 1857 Basilicata earthquake, more recently, there was another major earthquake in 1980. The combination of the terrain combined with the rock and soil types makes landslides prevalent. While the lithological structure of the substratum and its chaotic tectonic deformation contribute to the cause of landslides and this area, similar to others in the Mediterranean region, while originally abundant with dense forests, was stripped and made barren during the time of Roman rule. The variable climate is influenced by three coastlines and the complexity of the physical features. The climate is continental in the mountains and Mediterranean along the coasts, the first traces of human presence in Basilicata date to the late Paleolithic, with findings of Homo erectus. Late Cenozoic fossils, found at Venosa and other locations, include elephants, rhinoceros, examples of rock art from the Mesolithic have been discovered near Filiano. From the fifth millennium, people stopped living in caves and built settlements of huts up to the leading to the interior
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