1.
Round-robin tournament
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A round-robin tournament is a competition in which each contestant meets all other contestants in turn. It contrasts with an elimination tournament, the term round-robin is derived from the French term ruban, meaning ribbon. Over a long period of time, the term was corrupted and idiomized to robin, in a single round-robin schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is called a double round-robin. The term is used when all participants play one another more than twice. In the United Kingdom, a tournament is often called an American tournament in sports such as tennis or billiards which usually have knockout tournaments. In Italian it is called girone allitaliana, in Serbian it is called the Berger system, after chess player Johann Berger. A round-robin tournament with four players is sometimes called quad or foursome, in sports with a large number of competitive matches for season, double round-robins are common. Most association football leagues in the world are organized on a double round-robin basis, in every team plays all others in its league once at home. This system is used during qualification for major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup. There are also round-robin chess, draughts, go, curling, the World Chess Championship decided in 2005 and in 2007 on an eight-player double round-robin tournament where each player faces every other player once as white and once as black. Group tournaments rankings usually go by number of matches won and drawn, frequently, pool stages within a wider tournament are conducted on a round-robin basis. In theory, a tournament is the fairest way to determine the champion among a known. Each participant, player or team, has equal chances against all other opposites, the element of luck is seen to be reduced as compared to a knockout system since bad performances need not cripple a competitors chance of ultimate victory. Final records of participants are, thus, seen to be accurate as they represent the results over a longer period against equal competition. This can also be used to determine which teams are the poorest performers and this is also helpful to determine the final rank of all competitors from strongest to weakest for purposes of qualification for another stage or competition as well as for prize money. In team sport the major league champions is generally regarded as the best team in the land, the top one, two, or occasionally three teams in these groups then proceed to a straight knockout stage for the remainder of the tournament. The main disadvantage of a round robin tournament is the time needed to complete it, for instance, a tournament of 16 teams can be completed in just 4 rounds in a knockout format, a round-robin would require 15 rounds to finish
2.
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
3.
Geography of association football
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The following article gives a list of association football confederations, sub-confederations and associations around the world. The sports international governing body is FIFA, but those not affiliated to FIFA are also included in this article. In the Americas, leagues are organised as either multi-stage tournaments or separate Apertura and Clausura stages. The football associations listed in this section are members of FIFA-affiliated confederations, all UEFA associations are affiliated with FIFA. All CONMEBOL associations are affiliated with FIFA, the football associations in this section represent fully or partially recognized sovereign states or dependent territories, but are not part of FIFA or a FIFA confederation. Beneath the national level, governance of football may be divided up into regional or territorial associations, other non-national associations represent stateless populations, diasporas or micronations. Details of these are listed at non-FIFA international football
4.
UEFA
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The Union of European Football Associations is the administrative body for association football in Europe, although several member states are primarily or entirely located in Asia. It is one of six continental confederations of world footballs governing body FIFA, UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Until 1959 the main headquarters were located in Paris, and later in Bern, in 1995, UEFA headquarters were transferred to Nyon, Switzerland. Henri Delaunay was the first general secretary and Ebbe Schwartz the first president, UEFA was founded on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland after consultation between the Italian, French, and Belgian associations. The European football union began with 25 members, that number doubled by the early 1990s, UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe, although there are some exceptions. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of a recognized sovereign state in the context of international law. Some UEFA members are transcontinental states, countries which had been members of the Asian Football Confederation were also admitted to the European football association, particularly Israel and Kazakhstan. Additionally some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their associations main territory to take part in their domestic competition, saarland Football Union 1954–1956 German football association of the German Democratic Republic 1954–1990 Football Federation of the Soviet Union 1954–1991, in 1992 became Russian Football Union. The newly independent 14 Soviet Republics created their own football associations, Football Association of Yugoslavia 1954–1992, became Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia became independent, Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006, became Football Association of Serbia. Montenegro, which became independent, created its own football association, the main competition for mens national teams is the UEFA European Football Championship, started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. It is also called UEFA or the EURO, UEFA also runs national competitions at Under-21, Under-19 and Under-17 levels. For womens national teams, UEFA operates the UEFA Womens Championship for senior sides as well as Womens Under-19. UEFA also organized the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup with CAF for youth teams in an effort to boost youth football, UEFA launched the UEFA Regions Cup, for semi-professional teams representing their local region, in 1999. In futsal there is the UEFA Futsal Championship and UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship, the Italian, German, Spanish and French mens national teams are the sole teams to have won the European football championship in all categories. A second, lower-ranked competition is the UEFA Europa League and this competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. A third competition, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, which had started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup in 1999, in womens football UEFA also conducts the UEFA Womens Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and known as the UEFA Womens Cup until 2009, the UEFA Super Cup pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the Europa League, and came into being in 1973
5.
Promotion and relegation
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In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between two divisions based on their performance for the completed season. In some leagues, playoffs or qualifying rounds are used to determine rankings. This process can continue through several levels of divisions, with teams being exchanged between levels 1 and 2, levels 2 and 3, levels 3 and 4, the number of teams exchanged between the divisions is almost always identical. Such variations will almost inevitably cause an effect through the lower divisions. Even in the absence of such circumstances, the pyramid-like nature of most European football league systems can still create knock-on effects at the regional level. The system is said to be the characteristic of the European form of professional sports league organization. Promotion and relegation have the effect of allowing the maintenance of a hierarchy of leagues and divisions and they also maintain the importance of games played by many low-ranked teams near the end of the season, which may be at risk of relegation. In contrast, a low-ranked US or Canadian teams final games serve little purpose, although not intrinsic to the system, problems can occur due to the differing monetary payouts and revenue-generating potential that different divisions provide to their clubs. For example, financial hardship has sometimes occurred in leagues where clubs do not reduce their wage bill once relegated, some leagues offer parachute payments to its relegated teams for the following year. The payouts are higher than the money received by some non-relegated teams and are designed to soften the financial hit that clubs take whilst dropping out of the Premier League. However, in many cases these parachute payments just serve to inflate the costs of competing for promotion among the lower division clubs as newly relegated teams retain a financial advantage. If these are not satisfied, a team may be promoted in their place. While the primary purpose of the system is to maintain competitive balance. On several occasions, the Italian Football Federation has relegated clubs found to have involved in match-fixing. This occurred most recently in 2006, when the initial champions Juventus were relegated to Serie B. An exception is the proposed UEFA Nations League, which will feature promotion and relegation across four levels, in tennis, the Davis Cup has promotion and relegation where each group uses a knockout tournament format in which first-round losers play off to avoid relegation. In the United States, Canada, and Australia, teams are not promoted or relegated. The USL set up two leagues, now known as the United Soccer League and the Premier Development League, although the system is now in place, it is not compulsory and is rarely used
6.
Serie B
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Serie B, currently named Serie B ConTe. it due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, common nicknames for the league are campionato cadetto and cadetteria, as cadetto is the Italian for junior or cadet. Serie B was composed of 20 teams until the 2002–03 season and it was enlarged to 24 teams for the 2003–04 season due to legal problems relating to Calcio Catania relegation. The league reverted to 22 teams for the 2004–05 season, while Serie A expanded from 18 to 20 teams, during the regular season, each team plays 42 games – two games against every opponent. In Italian football, a true round-robin format is used, in the first half of the season, called andata, each team plays once against all its opponents, a total of 21 games. Since the 2006–07 season, the Serie B champion is awarded the cup Ali della Vittoria, the trophy is 63 cm high and weighs 5 kg. Its structure represents the wings of the goddess Nike, the goddess of victory, Serie B matches are usually played on Saturday. After one year where all games were played on Saturday, the league is again scheduling one game that is played on Friday called anticipo, the league also plays on several Tuesdays to fit in all 42 games. The league also plays on Sunday if Serie A is off, at the end of the season, three teams are promoted to Serie A and four teams are relegated to the reformed Serie C. The top two teams are automatically promoted, under the new playoff format, up to three rounds may be required. The final two rounds are two-legged ties, while opening round matches are single legs hosted by the higher-ranked team, if a tie is drawn at the end of regular play, extra time is played. If the two teams are tied after thirty minutes, the higher classified team advances. In the relegation zone, the three last-placed teams are automatically demoted to Serie C, if the playout is necessary, the 18th and 19th-placed teams are paired in a two-legged series with home-field advantage in the 2nd leg going to the 18th-placed team. The team with the aggregate score remains in Serie B while the loser becomes the fourth team relegated to Serie C. If an aggregate tie exists at the end of play of the 2nd leg, the 18th-placed team is saved. Even if part of the league, differently from First Division. Only in 1928, the big reform was conceived by FIGCs President Leandro Arpinati, after a year, a new second division based on the same national format of the major tournament would be born. Serie B began in 1929 with 18 clubs and continued until World War II after whom it was divided again between the northern and the part of the country, due to the destructions of the war
7.
Coppa Italia
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The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the champions were not crowned until 1936. Juventus is the competitions most successful club with 11 wins, followed by Roma with 9, Roma has contested the most finals with 17, followed by Juventus with 16. The holder can wear a cockade, like the roundels that appear on military aircraft. The competition is a tournament with pairings for each round made in advance. Each tie is played as a leg, with the exception of the two-legged semi-finals. If a match is drawn, extra time is played, in the event of a draw after 120 minutes, a penalty shoot-out is contested. As well as being presented with the trophy, the team also qualifies for the UEFA Europa League. There are a total of eight rounds in the competition, the competition begins in August with the first round and is contested only by the lowest-ranked clubs – those outside the top two divisions. The remaining eight Serie A teams join the competition in the round in January. The rather unusual two-leg final was eliminated since the 2007–08 edition, note,1922 tournament was contested only by minor teams, the biggest clubs having left FIGC to form a private league of their own. Note, from 1968 to 1971, FIGC introduced a group instead of semifinals and finals. For statistical equity, only champions and runners-up of those groups are counted as finalists, moreover, in 1971, a decisive match between the two best clubs was played to assign the cup. The later stages of the competition are broadcast by BT Sport in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, in Spain, the later stages of the competition are broadcast by Teledeporte since the 2016–17 edition. In MENA, Abu Dhabi Sports started broadcasting the competition since the 2015–16 edition, italy – List of Cup Finals from RSSSF Coppa Italia Fixtures and Results Coppa Italia all matches by season
8.
Supercoppa Italiana
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The Supercoppa Italiana is an annual football competition usually held the week before the season begins in Italy, but it has been played as late as December. Since 2009, the venue chosen has mostly been outside of Italy and this has happened so far six times,1995,2015, and 2016,2000,2006 and 2010. Juventus and Milan jointly hold the record for winning the cup the most times, on 23 December 2016, Milan became the first Coppa Italia runner-up to win Supercoppa Italiana after defeating Juventus on penalties. *Finished as Coppa Italia runners-up Alessandro Del Piero Samuel Etoo Andriy Shevchenko Carlos Tevez Supercoppa Italiana on RSSSF
9.
UEFA Champions League
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The UEFA Champions League is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations and contested by top-division European clubs. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, the UEFA Champions League final is the most watched annual sporting event worldwide. The final of the 2012–13 tournament had the highest TV ratings to date, the pre-1992 competition was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s, the format was expanded, incorporating a round-robin group stage to include clubs that finished runner-up of some nations top-level league. Clubs that finish next-in-line in each top level league, having not qualified for the UEFA Champions League competition. In its present format, the UEFA Champions League begins in mid-July with three qualifying rounds and a play-off round. The 10 surviving teams enter the stage, joining 22 other teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams, the eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in May. The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup, Real Madrid is the most successful club in the competitions history, having won the tournament 11 times, including its first five seasons. Spanish clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, followed by England, the competition has been won by 22 different clubs,12 of which have won it more than once. Since the tournament changed name and structure in 1992, no club has managed consecutive wins, Milan were the last holders to defend their title. The reigning champions are Real Madrid, who secured their title in the competition after defeating Atlético Madrid on penalties following a 1–1 draw in the 2016 final. The first pan-European tournament was the Challenge Cup, a competition between clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Mitropa Cup, a competition modelled after the Challenge Cup, was created in 1927, an idea of Austrian Hugo Meisl, and played between Central European clubs. In 1930, the Coupe des Nations, the first attempt to create a cup for national clubs of Europe, was played and organised by Swiss club Servette. Held in Geneva, it brought together ten champions from across the continent, the tournament was won by Újpest of Hungary. Latin European nations came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949 and it was conceived in Paris in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs Cup. The first edition of the European Cup took place during the 1955–56 season, the first European Cup match took place on 4 September 1955, and ended in a 3–3 draw between Sporting CP and Partizan. The first goal in European Cup history was scored by João Baptista Martins of Sporting CP, the inaugural final took place at the Parc des Princes between Stade de Reims and Real Madrid
10.
UEFA Europa League
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The UEFA Europa League, previously called the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organized by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues, previously called the UEFA Cup, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League since the 2009–10 season, following a change in format. For UEFA footballing records purposes, the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League are considered the same competition, in 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup was abolished and merged with the UEFA Cup. For the 2004–05 competition a group stage was added prior to the knockout phase, the 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and changed qualifying criteria. The winner enters at least at the round, and will enter the group stage if the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders is not used. The title has been won by 27 different clubs,12 of which have won the more than once. The UEFA Cup was preceded by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971, the competition grew from 11 teams during the first cup to 64 teams by the last cup which was played in 1970–71. It had become so important on the European football scene that in the end it was taken over by UEFA, the UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971–72 season, with an all-English final of Wolverhampton Wanderers versus Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs taking the first honours. The title was retained by another English club, Liverpool in 1973, Borussia would win the competition in 1975 and 1979, and reach the final again in 1980. Liverpool won the competition for the time in 1976, beating Club Brugge in the final. During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg and Real Madrid won the competition twice each,1989 saw the commencement of the Italian clubs domination, when Maradonas Napoli beat Stuttgart. The 1990s started with two finals, and in 1992, Torino lost the final to Ajax on the away goals rule. Juventus won the competition for a time in 1993 and Internazionale kept the cup in Italy the following year. 1995 saw a third final, with Parma proving their consistency. The only final with no Italians during that decade was in 1996, Parma won the cup in 1999, which ended the Italian club era. Liverpool won the competition for the time in 2001 and Porto triumphed in the 2003 and 2011 tournaments. In 2004, the cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious, either side of Sevillas success, two Russian teams, CSKA Moscow in 2005 and Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2008, had their glory and yet another former Soviet club, Ukraines Shakhtar Donetsk, won in 2009. Atlético Madrid would themselves win twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final, in 2013, Chelsea would become the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year
11.
Juventus F.C.
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Juventus Football Club S. p. A. colloquially known as Juve, is a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont. The clubs fan base is larger than any other Italian football club and is one of the largest worldwide, support for Juventus is widespread throughout the country and abroad, mainly in countries with a significant presence of Italian immigrants. Juventus is the most successful club in Italian football and one of the most awarded globally, Juventus were founded as Sport-Club Juventus in late 1897 by pupils from the Massimo DAzeglio Lyceum school in Turin, but were renamed as Foot-Ball Club Juventus two years later. The club joined the Italian Football Championship during 1900, during this period the team wore a pink and black kit. Juventus first won the championship in 1905 while playing at their Velodrome Umberto I ground. By this time the colours had changed to black and white stripes. There was a split at the club in 1906, after some of the staff considered moving Juve out of Turin, President Alfred Dick was unhappy with this and left with some prominent players to found FBC Torino which in turn spawned the Derby della Mole. Juventus spent much of this period steadily rebuilding after the split, fiat owner Edoardo Agnelli gained control of the club in 1923, and built a new stadium. This helped the club to its second scudetto in the 1925–26 season beating Alba Roma with a score of 12–1. With star players such as Raimundo Orsi, Luigi Bertolini, Giovanni Ferrari, Juventus moved to the Stadio Comunale, but for the rest of the 1930s and the majority of the 1940s they were unable to recapture championship dominance. After the Second World War, Gianni Agnelli was appointed honorary president, the club added two more league championships to its name in the 1949–50 and 1951–52 seasons, the latter of which was under the management of Englishman Jesse Carver. Two new strikers were signed during 1957–58, Welshman John Charles and Italo-Argentine Omar Sívori and that season saw Juventus awarded with the Golden Star for Sport Excellence to wear on their shirts after becoming the first Italian side to win ten league titles. In the same season, Sívori became the first ever player at the club to win the European Footballer of the Year, the following season they beat Fiorentina to complete their first league and cup double, winning Serie A and Coppa Italia. Boniperti retired in 1961 as the top scorer at the club, with 182 goals in all competitions. During the rest of the decade, the won the league just once more in 1966–67, The 1970s, however. Under former player Čestmír Vycpálek, they won the scudetto in 1971–72 and 1972–73, with such as Roberto Bettega, Franco Causio. During the rest of the decade, they won the league twice more, the Trapattoni era was highly successful in the 1980s, the club started the decade off well, winning the league title three more times by 1984. This meant Juventus had won 20 Italian league titles and were allowed to add a golden star to their shirt
12.
Paolo Maldini
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Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a left back and central defender for A. C. Milan and the Italy national team. He spent all 25 seasons of his career in the Serie A with Milan, Maldini made his debut for Italy in 1988 before retiring in 2002 with 126 caps, a record which was only bettered by Fabio Cannavaro in 2009 and Gianluigi Buffon in 2013. Maldini captained Italy for eight years and held the record for appearances made as Italys captain, wearing the armband 74 times, until he was again overtaken by Cannavaro. With Italy, Maldini took part in three UEFA European Championship and four FIFA World Cups, although he did not win a tournament with Italy, he reached the final of the 1994 World Cup and Euro 2000, and the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup and Euro 1988. He was elected into the teams for each of these tournaments. Maldini is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time and he came second to George Weah for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1995. Maldini also placed third in the Ballon dOr on two occasions, in 1994 and 2003, in 1999, he was voted 21st in World Soccers list of the 100 greatest football players of the 20th century. In 2002, he was chosen as a defender on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team, Maldini was also the Milan and Italy captain for many years and was considered a leader by fellow footballers, leading to the nickname Il Capitano. He is also the record holder for Milan with 902 appearances in all competitions. He is one of only 18 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances. Following his retirement after the 2008–09 season, his lifelong club Milan retired his number 3 shirt in his honour, and in December 2012, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame. Paolos father Cesare formerly played for and captained Milan, and was a successful national under-21 manager, as of 2015, Paolo Maldini is the co-owner of North American Soccer League club Miami FC. Originally a Milan youth squad product, Maldini also went on to play his club career with the Milan senior side. It was his league appearance of the campaign, but he was immediately made a member of the starting eleven the following season, at age 17, at right back. He was later switched to his more iconic position of left back due to his ability with his left foot, Maldini scored the first of his 29 goals in Serie A on 4 January 1987 in a 1–0 win against Como. The 1987–88 Scudetto under Arrigo Sacchi marked Maldinis first trophy, during the 1987–88 Serie A season, Milan only conceded 14 goals, finishing with the best defence in Italy, as they went on to win the Serie A title. Following Baresis retirement, he would form a formidable and successful partnership with Alessandro Nesta. To this day, Milan are the last team to have defended the European Cup trophy
13.
Silvio Piola
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Silvio Piola was an Italian footballer from Robbio Lomellina, province of Pavia who played as a striker. Piola won the 1938 FIFA World Cup with Italy, scoring two goals in the final, ending the tournament as the second best player and the second highest scorer, Piola is third in the all-time goalscoring records of the Italian national team. He is also the highest goalscorer in Italian first league history, with 290 goals and he played 566 Serie A games, putting him 4th on the all-time list for appearances in Italys top flight. Piola is the player to have the honour of being the all-time Serie A top scorer of three different teams Piola is also the highest scoring Italian player in all competitions, with 364 goals. After his death a pair of Italian stadiums were renamed after him, one in Novara in 1997, in 2011 he was posthumously inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame. Piola began his career with Italian club side Pro Vercelli, making his Serie A debut against Bologna on 16 February 1930, scoring 13 goals in his first year and he went on to score 51 goals in 127 appearances in Serie A for Pro Vercelli. In 1934, he moved to Lazio, who had been on the end of his first Serie A goal on 11 November 1930. He was to spend the next nine seasons there, Piola was the Serie A top scorer twice while at Lazio, in 1937 and 1943. After leaving Lazio, he spent war-torn 1944 at Torino, where he scored an amazing 27 goals in just 23 games, toward the end of the war, he joined Novara. Then, from 1945 to 1947, Piola played for Juventus, before moving back to Novara, to this day, Piola is still currently the highest all-time goalscorer in Serie A. His first game for Italy came against Austria on 24 March 1935, Piola went on to play 34 games for Italy and score 30 goals between 1935–1952, a tally that would surely have been greater if not for the interruption caused by World War II. He served as the sides captain from 1940 until 1947. In 1939 he scored a goal with his hand to England 47 years before Diego Armando Maradona and his last international appearance was in 1952, when Italy drew 1–1 with England. Piola is currently Italys third highest goalscorer of all-time, behind only Giuseppe Meazza, Piola died in Gattinara in 1996, aged 83. Regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Piola was widely renowned for his goalscoring ability throughout his career, and his eye for goal. Piola was also known for his powerful and accurate finishing ability with his head, due to his agility and athletic ability, Piola also excelled in the air, and he was capable of scoring spectacular acrobatic goals from volleys and bicycle kicks. Despite his talent and his reputation, he was accused of diving throughout his career. S. S. Lazio Serie A, runner-up 1936–37 Mitropa Cup, runner-up 1937 Juventus F. C. Silvio Piola at National-Football-Teams. com
14.
Sky Italia
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Sky Italia is an Italian digital satellite television platform owned by Sky plc. It is similar in ways to Sky in the United Kingdom and Sky Ireland in Ireland, which is partly owned by 21st Century Fox. Pay TV services on Sky Italia are encrypted in NDS VideoGuard, the VideoGuard set-top boxes that have been provided since July 2010 are identical to the Sky+ HD boxes used in the UK. Sky Italia was founded in July 2003 by the merger of TELE+, since July 2010 Sky Italia has been giving the Sky Digital Key and the My Sky HD box for free to every new customer. The My Sky boxes launched on 22 November 2005 - based on a new digital receiver with HDD recording capabilities, subsequently, the My Sky HD boxes were added. The My Sky HD service had provided with an extra charge until July 2010. The service is identical to the BSkyB Sky+ HD. On 28 June 2010, Sky Italia changed its brands and logos, Sky Italia offers eight packages of channels, five base-level Channel Packs and three optional Sky Packs enhancements. Sky Primafila has got some similarities to BSkyBs Sky Movies Box Office, the HD service has been offered without any extra charge since 2009. There are 37 HDTV channels so far broadcasting on Sky, due to become 50 by the end of 2011, on 1 October 2010, Sky activated its first 3D channel, Sky Sport 3D, available without any extra cost to the Sport pack subscribers. The very first event Sky Sport 3D aired was the 2010 Ryder Cup, on 25 December 2010, Sky launched another 3D channel, Sky Cinema 3D, airing 3D movies, available for free for Cinema pack subscribers. These channel have been replaced by Sky 3D on 6 September 2011, on many channels, foreign-sourced content is broadcast either with an option to choose between Italian and English language soundtracks, or with Italian subtitles. Sky Italia uses the Hot Bird 6/8/9 satellites at 13. 0°E, Tom Mockridge, the then head of Sky Italia replaced Rebekah Brooks as chief executive of News International after she had resigned on 15 July 2011. Andrea Zappia replaced Tom Mockridge as CEO on 1 August 2011, on 7 October 2011 Sky Italia announced it reached the 5 million subscribers benchmark. The enlarged company would be likely to be called Sky Europe, the sale was announced on 25 July 2014 which was subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. The acquisition was completed on 13 November, March, the European Commission approves the merger between TELE+ and Stream TV. 31 July, Sky Italia is founded, April, Sky Italia abandons SECA encryption system to switch to the NDS, managed by the News Corporation. November, Skys subscribers reach 3 million, may, Sky Italia are awarded the broadcast rights to the 2006 FIFA World Cup
15.
Sponsor (commercial)
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Sponsoring something is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is known as sponsor. Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property in return for access to the commercial potential associated with that property. While the sponsoree may be nonprofit, unlike philanthropy, sponsorship is done with the expectation of a commercial return, while sponsorship can deliver increased awareness, brand building and propensity to purchase, it is different from advertising. Unlike advertising, sponsorship can not communicate specific product attributes, nor can it stand alone, as sponsorship requires support elements. A range of psychological and communications theories have been used to explain how commercial sponsorship works to impact consumer audiences, cornwell, Weeks and Roy have published an extensive review of the theories so far used to explain commercial sponsorship effects. Title sponsor is highest status of sponsorship and it characterizes the most significant contribution to a company in organizing and hosting an event. Often the name of sponsor is placed next to the name of competition, teams. In case of title sponsors presence the general sponsor position may remain free, general sponsor is a sponsor that makes one of the largest contributions and that receives for it the right to use the image of competition as well as extensive media coverage. If necessary, the status of the sponsor may be supplemented by the general sponsors for certain categories. Official sponsor is a sponsor that makes a part of raised funds. Typically, the status may be granted by category. Technical sponsor is a sponsor which promotes organization of sporting events through the partial or full payment of goods, participating sponsor is a company, the sponsorship fee size of which usually does not exceed 10% of total raised funds. Informational sponsor is an organization that provides support through media coverage, conducting PR-actions, joint actions. All sponsorship should be based on contractual obligations between the sponsor and the sponsored party, sponsors and sponsored parties should set out clear terms and conditions with all other partners involved, to define their expectations regarding all aspects of the sponsorship deal. Sponsorship should be recognisable as such, the terms and conduct of sponsorship should be based upon the principle of good faith between all parties to the sponsorship. There should be clarity regarding the rights being sold and confirmation that these are available for sponsorship from the rights holder. Sponsored parties should have the right to decide on the value of the sponsorship rights that they are offering
16.
Telecom Italia
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Telecom Italia is an Italian telecommunications company headquartered in Rome, which provides telephony services, mobile services, and DSL data services. The companys stock is traded in the Borsa Italiana, in 1925, the phone network was reorganised by Benito Mussolini cabinet and Stipel company was established in the same year. The original core of Telecom Italia includes also 4 more different companies, TIMO, Teti, TELVE, each of them worked in a specific geographical area. It was in 1964 that these companies merged in one single group and it was run by the Italian Ministry of Finance. SIP was a monopoly from 1964 to 1996 and Italian people had to pay the Canone Telecom in order to have a phone at home. Telecom Italia was officially created on 27 July 1994 by the merger of several telecommunication companies among which SIP, Iritel, Italcable, Telespazio and this was due to a plan of reorganization of the telecommunication sector presented by IRI to the Minister of Finance. In 1995, the mobile telephony division was spun off as TIM, interbusiness, Italy’s largest Internet network, was created and in the same period with TIN and the first ISPs, Internet became a reality in Italy too. By 2001, the company was in debt and was bought by Marco Tronchetti Provera, Telecom Italia Media, the Groups multimedia company was formed in 2003 from Seat Pagine Gialle, focussing its business on the television sector with La7 and MTV channels. After the reorganization of editorial activities, in 2005 Telecom Italia acquired Tin. it, the Telecom Italia Group also operates in South America, in Brazil as TIM Brasil, and in Argentina and Paraguay with Telecom Argentina Group. TIM Brasil has its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. Telecom Italia had bigger debts in 2005, and, one year later, in 2007 the company was bought by Telco. Telefónica currently owns 46% of Telco, the company that controls 22% of Telecom Italia. In late 2013, Telefónica announced its intention to acquire the entirety of Telco by January 2014, in 2015, Telecom Italia Group started a rebranding process of the telephony and mobile businesses under the single TIM brand. In the same year, the Board of Directors approved the new division, the Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane, or INWIT. It was revealed in October 2015 that shareholders Vivendi would raise their stakes further in the company from its current level of 15. 49%, Telecom Italia Mobile illegally charged money for Internet providing renew subscriptions for 5 years to its customers during the free subscription renewals. On 8 August 2012, TIM Brasil became involved in a scandal in Brazilian news after the release of report by the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency Anatel. The report points that on TIMs prepaid voice plan, called Infinity, in just one day,8.1 million calls were dropped and the total profit was approximately $2 million. It also operates in international services, for other operators and corporations
17.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
18.
Italian football league system
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A certain number of the most successful clubs in each league can rise to a higher league, whilst those that finish at the bottom of their league can find themselves relegated. In addition to sporting performance, promotion is usually contingent on meeting criteria set by the higher league, in theory it is possible for a lowly local amateur club to rise to the pinnacle of the Italian game and win the Scudetto. While this may be unlikely in practice, there certainly is significant movement within the pyramid, the top two levels contain one division each. Below this, the levels have progressively more parallel divisions, which each cover progressively smaller geographic areas, the first leagues were started by English immigrants in the 1890s in Italy. The first club was Genoa Cricket and Athletic Club, initially there were separate leagues for Italians and foreigners, they merged around 1897. In March 1898, the Italian Football Federation was set up in Turin, with four clubs joining - Genoa, FC Torinese, Internazionale di Torino and the Società Ginnastica di Torino. Other clubs existed but decided not to join, the first championship took place on a single day, May 8,1898 in Torino. The title was won by Genoa, FIGC joined FIFA in 1905 and the championship moved to a league structure, based on regions, in the same year. After the interruption of World War I, football popularity grew, hence in 1922 Italy had two champions US Pro Vercelli and US Novese. The two groups eventually re-merged at the end of the season, the move to a single national league structure occurred in 1929 with initially eighteen teams in the top league. The first winners in 1930 were Internazionale, the national team also won the World Cup in 1934 and 1938. After World War II the league returned to a structure with a north-south divide. Torino were the first post-war league champions and went on to win four in a row, however, it is Juventus, Milan and Internazionale that have dominated the league since World War II, having won the title in 52 of the 69 seasons. The current league system dates back to 1978, when semi-professional sector was disbanded, in that year, the current Lega Pro which ruled Serie C and Serie D, turned in a fully professional league organizing new Lega Pro Prima Divisione and Lega Pro Seconda Divisione. Italy so became the country having two distinct professional football leagues,14 years before England. The Lega Pro was brought back in 2014, abolishing Serie C1, the first tier of Italian football is Serie A, which is governed by the Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A and is made up of 20 teams. Next is the Serie B, which is organised by the Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie B, both of these leagues cover the whole of Italy. The third tier is the Lega Pro, formerly known as Serie C and it is run by the Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico, it has three divisions which are generally split on the basis of location
19.
Lega Nazionale Professionisti
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The Lega Nazionale Professionisti, commonly known as Lega Calcio, was the governing body that ran the two highest football divisions in Italy, namely Serie A and Serie B, from 1946 to 2010. It has ceased to exist on 1 July 2010, following a split between Serie A and Serie B clubs, which led to the creation of two new leagues, the Lega Serie A and Lega Serie B respectively. Its predecessor during the fascist era, between 1926 and 1944, was the Direttorio Divisioni Superiori, a league president was appointed by the FIGC. Earlier still before, the first football league in Italy was the Lega Nord, besides, the Lega Calcio also organized the main Italian cup competition, the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana. The member clubs of the Lega Calcio were grouped into two divisions, the Serie A and Serie B, in any given season a club played each of the others in the same division twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents. Clubs gained three points for a win one for a draw, and none for a defeat, at the end of each season, the club with the most points in the Serie A was crowned champion. If points were equal, the head-to-head records determined the winner, if still equal, the goal difference and then goals scored became the deciding factors. As for Serie B, at the top end three clubs won promotion to Serie A, with the bottom three Serie A clubs taking their places. At the lower end, four club were relegated to the Lega Pro Prima Divisione and it was therefore possible for a team finishing sixth in the championship to be promoted rather than the clubs finishing immediately above them in the standings. Likewise, one place to the Prima Divisione was decided according to a playoff between two clubs. Youth teams of Lega Calcio clubs played in the Campionato Nazionale Primavera, as well as competing in their own cup competitions, such as the Coppa Italia Primavera and the Supercoppa Primavera. The Lega Calcio organised a cup competition, the Coppa Italia, open to all Serie A and Serie B clubs and some clubs from the Lega Pro and the LND. The Lega Calcio also organised the Supercoppa Italiana, between the champions of the Serie A and the winners of the Coppa Italia. Subsequently, on 1 July 2010, the Lega Calcio has officially ceased to exist and replaced by the two newly formed leagues, Lega Serie A and Lega Serie B
20.
IFFHS
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The International Federation of Football History & Statistics is an organization that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded on 27 March 1984 in Leipzig by Dr. Alfredo Pöge with the blessings of general secretary of the FIFA at the time, the IFFHS was based at Al-Muroor Street 147, Abu Dhabi for some time but, in 2010, relocated to Bonn, Germany. During its early stages, and until 2002, the IFFHS concentrated on publishing the quarterly magazines Fußball-Weltzeitschrift, Libero spezial deutsch and Libero international. When these had to be discontinued for reasons which were not officially told, since 1991, the entity has produced a monthly Club World Ranking. The ranking takes into consideration the results of twelve months of continental and intercontinental competitions, national league matches and the most important national cup. All countries are rated at four levels based upon the national league performance—clubs in the highest level leagues receive 4 points for each match won,2 for a draw and 0 for a defeat. Level 2 is assigned 3 pts.1.5 and 0, in continental competitions, all clubs receive the same number of points at all stages regardless of the performance level of their leagues. However, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores yield more points than UEFA Europa League and Copa Sudamericana, the point assignment system is still lower for the AFC, CAF, CONCACAF and OFC continental tournaments. Competitions between two continents are evaluated depending upon their importance, competitions not organized by a continental confederation, or any intercontinental events not recognized by FIFA, are not taken into consideration. In 2009, the IFFHS released the results of a study which determined the best continental clubs of the 20th century. Based on this study series, the below six clubs were named as continental clubs of the century by the IFFHS between 10 September and 13 October 2009. These clubs were awarded with a trophy and a certificate during the World Football Gala celebrated at Fulham. The award is awarded every January at the World Football Gala, spains Xavi has won the award a record four consecutive times, while compatriot Andrés Iniesta and Argentinian Lionel Messi have won the award twice. Barcelona is the club with the most wins, with eight in total, karl Lennartz, a sports historian and professor at the University of Cologne, Germany, called the organization obscure, describing it as a one man show of its chairman Alfredo Pöge. The IFFHS rankings and their significance have been a matter of criticism, furthermore, it has been stated that the rankings of the IFFHS are not official and the titles they bear serve merely for publicity. Official website Official website Newly launched website Annual Awards
21.
European Champion Clubs' Cup
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The competition in its older format shared its name with the trophy, being also known as the European Cup, before being renamed for the 1992–93 season onwards. Several different physical trophies have had the name, as a club was entitled to keep the cup after five wins or three consecutive wins, with a new cup having to be forged for the following season. The original European Cup trophy was donated by LÉquipe, a French sports newspaper and this trophy was awarded permanently to Real Madrid in March 1967. At the time, they were the champions, and had won six titles altogether. Celtic thus became the first club to win the cup in its current design in 1967, the replacement trophy, with a somewhat different design from the original, was commissioned by UEFA from Jörg Stadelmann, a jeweller from Bern in Switzerland. At a cost of 10,000 Swiss francs, it was silver,74 cm high, the trophy bears the title COUPE DES CLUBS CHAMPIONS EUROPÉENS. Subsequent replacement trophies have replicated this design, the shape of the handles have earned it the nickname of big ears in multiple languages, including French and Spanish. The trophy that currently is awarded is the sixth and has been in use since 2006, since 2009, Champions League winners have not kept the real trophy, which remains in UEFAs keeping at all times. A full-size replica trophy, the Champions League winners trophy, is awarded to the club with their name engraved on it. Winning clubs are permitted to make replicas of their own, however, they must be clearly marked as such. The previous rule introduced before the 1968–69 season, allowed a club to keep the trophy after five wins or three consecutive wins, at that point, Real Madrid was the only club meeting either qualification and indeed met both. Once a club had been awarded the trophy, the count was reset to zero, for example, a club with no prior titles which won six titles in a row would have been permanently awarded trophies after the third and sixth wins but not after their fifth win. Since 2009, the trophy remains with UEFA at all times. Five clubs have kept the trophy under the old rules from the 1968–69 to 2008–09 seasons, Real Madrid. Ajax, after their third title in 1973. Bayern Munich, after their third title in 1976. Milan, after their title in 1994. Liverpool, after their title in 2005
22.
UEFA coefficient
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In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Introduced in 1979, the coefficients are calculated by UEFA, who administer football within Europe and it was first introduced in 2003 and used for seeding the 2004 European Final tournament and 2006 World Cup qualification. Results from the tournaments, Play-off matches and friendly games were all ignored. In those cases where a nation did not take part at one of the two latest qualifying rounds, due to being qualified as a host, only one qualifying round would be taken into account. If two or more nations ended up with exactly the same coefficient, the ranking criteria was applied. Biggest average goal difference per game, found by dividing the sum of all differences by the number of ranked matches. Highest average number of goals scored per game, Highest average number of away goals scored per game. The last three times UEFA used this method was for the final UEFA coefficients in 2003,2005 and 2007. On 20 May 2008, UEFA announced changes to the coefficient ranking system, Ranking points for all games played inside those two and a half cycles, will be awarded according to the rules listed below. 10,000 points are awarded for each match played, regardless of the match result, each team earns an additional 30,000 for winning and 10,000 for drawing. In case of a game decided by penalty shoot-out, the points are allocated as a draw,501 points are earned for each goal scored, and -500 are given for each goal conceded. Coefficients are calculated for each two and a cycle, by dividing the sum of earned points with the number of games played. When calculating the overall average coefficient for the cycles, the latest full cycle and half cycle will each have double the weight, special arrangements are in place for those nations that did not participate in one of the previous qualifying tournaments due to hosting the competition. The UEFA ranking determines the number of competing in the season after the next. This coefficient is determined by the results of the clubs of the associations in the UEFA Champions League, two points are awarded for each win by a club, and one for a draw. The number of points awarded each season is divided by the number of teams participated for that association in that season. This number is rounded down to three decimal places. To determine a countrys coefficient for a season, the coefficients for the last five seasons are added
23.
La Liga
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The Primera División, commonly known as La Liga and as La Liga Santander for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. A total of 60 teams have competed in La Liga since its inception, nine teams have been crowned champions, with Real Madrid winning the title a record 32 times and Barcelona 24 times. Real Madrid dominated the championship from the 1950s through the 1980s, from the 1990s onwards, Barcelona and Real Madrid both dominated, though La Liga also saw other champions, including Atlético Madrid, Valencia, and Deportivo de La Coruña. In more recent years, Atlético Madrid has joined a coalition of now three teams dominating La Liga alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona. Its clubs have won the most UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup titles, and its players have accumulated the highest number of Ballon dOr awards. La Liga is one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. The competition format follows the usual double round-robin format, during the course of a season, which lasts from August to May, each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 38 matchdays. Teams receive three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss, teams are ranked by total points, with the highest-ranked club at the end of the season crowned champion. A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Primera División and the Segunda División, the top teams in La Liga qualify for the UEFA Champions League. The first, second, and third placed teams enter the group stage. Teams placed fifth and sixth play in the UEFA Europa League, if both teams in the cup final finish in the top six, an additional berth in the Europa League is given to the team that finishes in seventh. In April 1927, José María Acha, a director at Arenas Club de Getxo, first proposed the idea of a national league in Spain. After much debate about the size of the league and who would take part, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Arenas Club de Getxo and Real Unión were all selected as previous winners of the Copa del Rey. Atlético Madrid, Espanyol and Europa qualified as Copa del Rey runners-up, only three of the founding clubs, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, have never been relegated from the Primera División. They were also runners-up in 1932 and 1933, in 1935, Real Betis, then known as Betis Balompié, won their only title to date. Primera División was suspended during the Spanish Civil War, in 1937, the teams in the Republican area of Spain, with the notable exception of the two Madrid clubs, competed in the Mediterranean League and Barcelona emerged as champions. Seventy years later, on 28 September 2007, Barcelona requested the RFEF to recognise that title as a Liga title and this action was taken after RFEF was asked to recognise Levante FCs Copa de la España Libre win as equivalent to Copa del Rey trophy. Nevertheless, the body of Spanish football has not made an outright decision yet
24.
Premier League
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The Premier League is an English professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League, Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify. The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders, seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each, totalling 380 matches in the season, most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, others during weekday evenings. It is colloquially known as the Premiership and outside the UK it is referred to as the English Premier League. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB, the league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2014/15, teams were apportioned revenues of £1.6 billion, the Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people. In the 2014–15 season, the average Premier League match attendance exceeded 36,000, most stadium occupancies are near capacity. The Premier League ranks third in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons. While 47 clubs have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, only six have won the title, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, the current champions are Leicester City, who won the title in 2015–16. Despite significant European success in the 1970s and early 1980s, the late 80s marked a low point for English football, the 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league, ten clubs threatened to leave and form a super league, but were eventually persuaded to stay. As stadiums improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the influx of money into the sport. At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal was tabled for the establishment of a new league that would bring money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the games top-flight clubs, the argument given at the time was that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams across Europe. The managing director of London Weekend Television, Greg Dyke, met with the representatives of the big five clubs in England in 1990. The meeting was to pave the way for an away from The Football League. The FA did not enjoy a relationship with the Football League at the time
25.
Bundesliga
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The Bundesliga, is a professional association football league in Germany and the football league with the highest average stadium attendance worldwide. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germanys primary football competition, the Bundesliga is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Seasons run from August to May, most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played on weekdays. All of the Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal, the winner of the Bundesliga qualifies for the DFL-Supercup. A total of 54 clubs have competed in the Bundesliga since its founding, FC Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga the most, winning the title 25 times. However, the Bundesliga has seen other champions with Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Bundesliga is broadcast on television in over 200 countries. The Bundesliga was founded in 1962 in Dortmund and the first season started in 1963, the structure and organisation of the Bundesliga along with Germanys other football leagues have undergone frequent changes right up to the present day. The Bundesliga was founded by the Deutscher Fußball-Bund, but is now operated by the Deutsche Fußball Liga, the Bundesliga is composed of two divisions, the 1. Bundesliga, and, below that, the 2, Bundesliga, which has been the second tier of German football since 1974. Below the level of the 3, Liga, leagues are generally subdivided on a regional basis. For example, the Regionalligen are currently made up of Nord, Nordost, Süd, below this are thirteen parallel divisions, most of which are called Oberligen which represent federal states or large urban and geographical areas. The levels below the Oberligen differ between the local areas, the league structure has changed frequently and typically reflects the degree of participation in the sport in various parts of the country. In the early 1990s, changes were driven by the reunification of Germany, every team in the two Bundesligen must have a licence to play in the league, or else they are relegated into the regional leagues. To obtain a licence, teams must be healthy and meet certain standards of conduct as organisations. As in other leagues, there are significant benefits to being in the top division. Bundesliga teams draw significantly greater levels of fan support, average attendance in the first league is 42,673 per game — more than twice the average of the 2. Greater exposure through television and higher attendance levels helps 1, Bundesliga teams attract the most lucrative sponsorships. Bundesliga teams develop substantial financial muscle through the combination of television and gate revenues, sponsorships and this allows them to attract and retain skilled players from domestic and international sources and to construct first-class stadium facilities
26.
Ligue 1
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Ligue 1, is a French professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the primary football competition. Administrated by the Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1 is contested by 20 clubs, seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each, totaling 380 matches in the season, most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. Play is regularly suspended the last weekend before Christmas for two weeks before returning in the week of January. The name lasted until 2002 before switching to its current name, AS Saint-Étienne is the most successful club with ten league titles in France while Olympique Lyon is the club that has won the most consecutive titles. With the presence of 67 seasons in Ligue 1, Olympique de Marseille hold the record for most seasons among the elite, the current champions are Paris Saint-Germain, who won their sixth title in the 2015–16 season. Prior to 1930, professionalism in French football was non-existent, in July 1930, the National Council of the French Football Federation voted 128–20 in support of professionalism in French football. The founding fathers of professionalism in French football are Georges Bayrou, Emmanuel Gambardella, professionalism was officially implemented in 1932. In order to create a professional football league in the country. In order to participate in the competition, clubs were subjected to three important criteria, The incoming club must have had positive results in the past, the incoming club must be able to pull in enough revenue to balance its finances. The incoming club must be able to recruit at least eight professional players. Jooris feared his league would fold and proposed it become the division of the new league. The leagues inaugural season of the league, called National, was held in 1932–1933. The 20 clubs were inserted into two groups of 10 with the three of each group suffering relegation to Division 2. The two winners of each group would face each other in a final held at a neutral venue. The first final was held on 14 May 1933 and it matched the winner of Group A, Olympique Lillois, against the runner-up of Group B, Cannes. Antibes, the winner of Group B, was supposed to take part in the final but was suspected of bribery by the French Football Federation and was forced into disqualification, in the first final, Lillois were crowned the inaugural champions following the clubs 4–3 victory
27.
Serie A
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It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new league, the Lega Serie A, was created for the 2010–11 season. Serie A is regarded as one of the best football leagues in the world, Serie A led the UEFA ranking from 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1999. In its current format, the Italian Football Championship was revised from having regional and interregional rounds, the championship titles won prior to 1929 are officially recognised by FIGC with the same weighting as titles that were subsequently awarded. However, the 1945–46 season, when the league was played over two groups due to the ravages of WWII, is not statistically considered, even if its title is fully official. All the winning teams are recognised with the title of Campione dItalia, Juventus, Italys most successful club of the 20th century and the most successful Italian team, is tied for fourth in Europe and eighth in the world with the most official international titles. The club is also the one in the world to have won all possible official continental competitions. Milan is joint third club for international titles won in the world. Internazionale, following their achievements in the 2009–10 season, became the first Italian team to have achieved a treble, Juventus, Milan and Inter, along with Roma, Fiorentina, Lazio and Napoli, are known as the Seven Sisters of Italian football. For most of Serie As history, there were 16 or 18 clubs competing at the top level, since 2004–05, however, there have been 20 clubs altogether. One season was played with 21 teams for political reasons, thus, in Italian football a true round-robin format is used. In the first half of the season, called the andata, each team plays once against each league opponent, since the 1994–95 season, teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. Since Italy is currently rated fourth in Europe in terms of club football ratings, teams finishing fourth and fifth qualify for the UEFA Europa League tournament. A third UEFA Europa League spot is reserved for the winner of the Coppa Italia, if both Coppa Italia finalists finish among the top five teams in Serie A, the sixth-ranked team in Serie A is awarded the UEFA Europa League spot. The three lowest-placed teams are relegated to Serie B, any play-off was held after the end of regular season. The last championship playoff occurred in the 1963-64 season when Bologna, below is a list of Serie A clubs who have competed in the competition when it has been a league format. There are 66 teams that have taken part in 85 Serie A championships in a round that was played from the 1929–30 season until the 2016–17 season. The teams in bold compete in Serie A currently, Internazionale is the only team that has played Serie A football in every season. Serie A, as it is structured today, began during the 1929–1930 season, from 1898 to 1922, the competition was organised into regional groups
28.
FIGC
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The Italian Football Federation, also known as Federcalcio, is the governing body of football in Italy. It organises the Italian football league, Coppa Italia, Italian national football team, and it is based in Rome, and technical department in Florence, and is a founding member of UEFA and a member of FIFA. The Federation was founded in 1898 when the sport was picking up in the country and it needed a structure to take football. The first presidency was decided in the Piedmontese capital of Turin, when created, this football federation was given a different name, Federazione Italiana Football because all play terms and rules were the same as the official FA rules. In the few years before and after the introduction of the Federation, clubs all over the country from Genoa, Turin, Milan, Naples, Rome, Palermo, and others were forming. The new name approved was Federazione Italiana Giuoco del Calcio and since then this has been the name of the Italian Football Federation, the debut of the Mens National Team was on 15 May 1910, at Arena Civica, wearing a white jersey where Italy defeated France 6–2. The following year, the jersey was introduced on the occasion of the match against Hungary. This Italian Federation was an amateur federation respecting FIFA rules when it became a member in 1905, at the end of World War 1, the federation had seen impressive development and several footballers were judged to be professional players and banned according to FIFA agreements. Foreigners had to live in the country in order to get a residence visa and they had to sign the declaration not being professional players so that FIFA rules were respected because for FIGC they were appearing as amateurs receiving just refunds. It was the beginning of the professionalism in Italy, the Carta di Viareggio reduced the number of foreign players to be fielded to just one per match so that the majority of Hungarians remained jobless and got back to their country. Commissioner Bruno Zauli led the FIGC renovation process, with the establishment of three Leagues and the creation of the Technical and the Youth Sectors, between 1964 and 1980, foreign players were banned from the Italian league, primarily to revive the national team. In December 1998, the FIGC celebrated its centenary at the Stadio Olimpico in a match featuring Italy vs World XI, the FIGC was placed in administration in May 2006 as a result of the 2006 Italian football scandal and was put under the management of Guido Rossi. In May 2006, Rossi was chosen and accepted the role of President of Telecom Italia and this appointment caused angry reactions from club presidents in Italy. On September 19, Rossi resigned his position as Commissioner of FIGC, on September 21, Luca Pancalli, head of the Italian Paralympic Committee, was chosen to replace Rossi. On April 2,2007, a new President was elected, following the 2014 FIFA World Cup Abete resigned and Carlo Tavecchio was elected President of the Federation and Michele Uva as general manager. In support of the activity and with a view of maximum transparency, World Cup,4 times European Football Championship, once Olympics, once Central European International Cup, twice Official site Italy at FIFA site Italy at UEFA site Italian calcio glossary
29.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
30.
A.C. Milan
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Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A. C. Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons, in the top flight of Italian football, known as Serie A since 1929–30. With 18 officially recognised UEFA and FIFA titles, they are the fourth most successful club in the world, with 18 league titles, Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Serie A, along with local rivals Internazionale. They have also won the Coppa Italia five times, and the Supercoppa Italiana seven, Milans home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which is shared with city rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, inter are considered their biggest rivals, and matches between the two teams are called Derby della Madonnina, which is one of the most followed derbies in football. The owner of the club is former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, the club is one of the wealthiest in Italian and world football. It was a member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europes leading football clubs as well as its replacement. A. C. Milan was founded as Milan Cricket and Foot-Ball Club on 13 December 1899 by English expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin, who came from the English city of Nottingham. In honour of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the name, as opposed to the Italian spelling Milano. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901 and a two in succession in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, Milan experienced a split caused by disagreements over the signing of foreign players. Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a domestic title until 1950–51. The 1950s saw the return to the top of Italian football, headed by the famous Gre-No-Li Swedish trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl. This was one of the clubs most successful periods domestically, with the Scudetto going to Milan in 1951,1955,1957,1959 and 1962, in 1963, Milan won its first continental title by beating Benfica in the final of the European Cup. This success was repeated in 1969, with a 4–1 win over Ajax in the final, during this period Milan also won its first Coppa Italia, with victory over Padova in the 1967 final, and two European Cup Winners Cups, in 1967–68 and 1972–73. Milan won a league title in 1979, but after the retirement of Gianni Rivera in the same year. The club was involved in the 1980 Totonero scandal and as punishment was relegated to Serie B for the first time in its history, the scandal was centred around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan achieved promotion back to Serie A at the first attempt, winning the 1980–81 Serie B title, in 1983, Milan won the Serie B title for the second time in three seasons to return to Serie A, where they achieved a sixth-place finish in 1983–84
31.
Inter Milan
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The club have played continuously in the top tier of the Italian football league system since its debut in 1909. Inter have won 30 domestic trophies as well as local rivals A. C. Milan, from 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times, two back-to-back in 1964 and 1965 and then another in 2010 and their latest win completed an unprecedented Italian seasonal treble, with Inter winning the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto the same year. The club has won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. Inters home games are played at the San Siro stadium, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, shared with rivals A. C. Milan, the stadium is the largest in Italian football. The local team A. C. Milan are considered among their biggest rivals, as of 2010, Inter is the second-most supported team in Italy, and the sixth most-supported team in Europe. The club is one of the most valuable in Italian and world football and it was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europes leading football clubs. The club was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, following the schism with the Milan Cricket, the name of the club derives from the wish of its founding members to accept foreign players as well as Italians. The club won its very first championship in 1910 and its second in 1920, the captain and coach of the first championship winning team was Virgilio Fossati, who was later killed in battle while serving in the Italian army during World War I. In 1922, Inter remained in the top league after winning two play-offs, six years later, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Unione Sportiva Milanese and was renamed Società Sportiva Ambrosiana. The team wore white jerseys around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it, the jerseys design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan. Their first Coppa Italia was won in 1938–39, led by the iconic Giuseppe Meazza, a fifth championship followed in 1940, despite Meazza incurring an injury. After the end of World War II the club regained its name, winning its sixth championship in 1953. He would transform Inter into one of the greatest teams in Europe and he modified a 5–3–2 tactic known as the Verrou to include larger flexibility for counterattacks. The catenaccio system was invented by an Austrian coach Karl Rappan, herrera would modify it by adding a fifth defenders, the sweeper or libero behind the two centre backs. The sweeper or libero who acted as the man would deal with any attackers who went through the two centre backs. Inter finished third in the Serie A in his first season, second the next year, then followed a back-to-back European Cup victory in 1964 and 1965, earning him the title il Mago. In 1964, Inter reached the European Cup Final by beating Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final, in the final, they met Real Madrid, a team that had reached seven out of the nine finals to date
32.
European Club Association
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The European Club Association is a body representing the interests of association football clubs in UEFA. It is the sole such body recognised by UEFA, and has member clubs in each UEFA member association and it was formed in 2008 to replace the G-14, which comprised a small number of élite clubs and was unrecognised by UEFA. The ECAs mission statement is to create a new, more democratic governance model that reflects the key role of the clubs. In addition to replacing the G-14, which was dissolved in favour of the ECA on 15 February 2008, the European Club Forum utilized a similar membership selection process as the European Club Association, with 102 members picked every two years. It was decided that the ECA Board would comprise eleven members, the European Club Association will also provide half of the members of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee. The transitional ECA Board was Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Joan Laporta, John McClelland, Umberto Gandini, Peter Kenyon, Maarten Fontein, elections for the Executive Board for the 2017-19 cycle are set to take place at the next General Assembly in Geneva in September 2017. The European Club Association is made up of bodies including working groups, expert panels. These are as follows, Since the creation of the ECA and they provide active advice and support to the ECA Executive Board and to ECA representatives participating in committees or working groups at UEFA, FIFA and EU level. Their contribution is key and strategic to the association, in addition, they drive membership engagement and communication across the organisation on key issues, challenges and opportunities. All working groups are made up of both Ordinary Member and Associated Member Clubs from all four subdivisions, Youth Working Group, Chaired by ECA Executive Board Member Edwin van der Sar, the Youth Working Group attempts to stimulate, develop and protect the grassroots of European club football. Financial Fair Play Panel, charged with collaborating with UEFA in order to elaborate, implement and assess the UEFA Club Licensing. Statutory Affairs Panel, Entrusted with dealing with and analyzing membership applications, issues of eligibility of Members, Womens Football Committee, Acts as a platform to discuss issues related to womens football and to establish a dialogue with relevant stakeholders in womens football. The committee originally consists of 23 clubs including the section of 18 ECA members and 5 non-ECA member womens teams ranked top of their respective National Associations. FFC Turbine Potsdam, Bayern Munich, PAOK, Torres, FC Skonto, Birkirkara, Twente, Lillestrøm FK Kvinner, FC Rossiyanka, Slovan Bratislava, Elitdamfotbal, Zürich Frauen. Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed by UEFA in 2008, the European Club Association was recognized as the body representing the interests of clubs at European level. The target distribution amount for Euro 2008 is €43.5 million, a renewed Memorandum of Understanding for the period 2012-2018 was signed on 22 March 2012 between ECA and UEFA at the occasion of the XXXVI Ordinary UEFA Congress. The memorandum was signed by ECA Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and UEFA President Michel Platini and it paves the way for a fruitful relationship between European clubs and Europes football governing body, reflecting an improved balance between national team and club football. The new MoU supersedes the 2008 MoU and is now in effect until 30 May 2018
33.
Ballon d'Or
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The Ballon dOr, is an annual association football award presented by France Football. Conceived by sports writer Gabriel Hanot, the Ballon dOr award honours the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year. Originally, only European players were in contention for the Ballon dOr, in 1995 the award was expanded to all players at European clubs. Stanley Matthews of Blackpool was the winner of the Ballon dOr. Prior to 1995, the award was known in English language media as the European Footballer of the Year award. Milans George Weah, the only African recipient, became the first non-European to win the award in the year the rules of eligibility were changed, ronaldo of Internazionale became the first South American winner two years later. Three players have won the three times each, Johan Cruyff of Ajax and Barcelona, Michel Platini of Juventus and Marco van Basten of Milan. With seven awards each, Dutch and German players won the most Ballons dOr, spanish club Barcelona had the most winners. After 2011, UEFA created the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award to maintain the format of the original Ballon dOr, one-time winners are only included if they have also finished 2nd or 3rd in another year. A special Ban dOr, under the name Super Ballon dOr, was awarded to Alfredo Di Stéfano in 1989, after he surpassed Johan Cruyff, a decade later, France Football elected Pelé the Football Player of the Century after consulting their former Ballon dOr recipients. Among the 34 previous winners,30 cast their votes, Stanley Matthews, Omar Sívori and George Best abstained, and Lev Yashin had died. Each voter was allotted five votes worth up to five points, however, Di Stéfano only chose a first place, Platini a first and second place, and George Weah two players for fifth place. Pelé was named the greatest by 17 voters, receiving almost double the number of points earned by the runner-up, the original recipients, however, remain unchanged. Maradona and Pelé received honorary Ballons dOr for their services to football in 1996 and 2013, FIFA World Player of the Year FIFA Ballon dOr The Best FIFA Football Awards FIFPro World XI European Footballer of the Year. La liste complête des lauréats du Ballon dor, de 1956 à nos jours
34.
FIFA Ballon d'Or
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The FIFA Ballon dOr was an annual association football award presented to the worlds best mens player from 2010 to 2015. Awarded jointly by FIFA and France Football, the prize was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and the Ballon dOr, the six editions of the FIFA Ballon dOr were dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as part of their ongoing rivalry. Barcelonas Messi won the inaugural Ballon dOr in 2010, before retaining the title twice, Ronaldo, who plays for Real Madrid, won successive awards in the next two years. The final FIFA Ballon dOr was presented to Messi in 2015 and its awarding bodies subsequently ended their partnership, for 2016, France Football reintroduced the previous format of the Ballon dOr, while FIFA created The Best FIFA Mens Player award. Historically, the individual awards in association football were the Ballon dOr. The original Ballon dOr, also known as the European Footballer of the Year award, had been awarded by the French publication France Football since 1956, the FIFA World Player of the Year award was presented by FIFA, the sports governing body, from 1991. From 2005, the winners of the Ballon dOr and FIFA World Player of the Year award were identical each year, following the introduction of a global Ballon dOr format in 2007, France Football and FIFA opted to merge the two awards. The creation of the FIFA Ballon dOr was subsequently announced during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the inaugural award was presented that same year to the Argentine Lionel Messi. After a six-year partnership, France Football and FIFA terminated the joint award, Lionel Messi had received the final FIFA Ballon dOr. For historical purposes, both awarding bodies regard the six editions of the FIFA Ballon dOr as a continuation of their respective awards, the winners of the FIFA Ballon dOr were chosen by international journalists and the coaches and captains of the national teams under FIFAs jurisdiction. In a system based on voting, each voter was allotted three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the three finalists were ordered based on total number of points. Voters were provided with a shortlist of 23 players from which they could select the three players they deemed to have performed the best in the calendar year. Ballon dOr FIFA World Player of the Year The Best FIFA Football Awards FIFPro World XI Notes Citations Official website by FIFA Official website by France Football
35.
A.S. Roma
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Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence except for 1951–52, for their 65th season in a row, Roma are competing in Serie A for the 2016–17 season. Roma have won Serie A three times, first in 1941–42 then in 1982–83 and again in 2000–01, as well as winning nine Coppa Italia titles and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. On the European stage Roma won an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960–61, coming close to European Cup victory in 1983–84, therefore, Roma is the fourth Italian club by major honours won, behind Juventus, Milan and Inter. Home games are played at the Stadio Olimpico, a venue they share with city rivals Lazio. With a capacity of over 72,000, it is the second largest of its kind in Italy, in September 2009 the club unveiled plans to build a Stadio della Roma in the western suburbs of Rome. Its design was modelled after English football stadiums with the objective being to give fans a view of the pitch. In September 2011, it was announced that the new president, Thomas R. DiBenedetto, had reached an agreement with the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, to have the new stadium completed by 2016. The purpose of the merger was to give the Italian capital a strong club to rival that of the more dominant Northern Italian clubs of the time. The only major Roman club to resist the merger was S. S. Lazio because of the intervention of the army General Vaccaro, member of the club and executive of Italian Football Federation. An early season in which Roma made a mark was the 1930–31 championship. Captain Attilio Ferraris along with Guido Masetti, Fulvio Bernardini and Rodolfo Volk were highly important players during this period, after a slump in league form and the departure of high key players, Roma eventually rebuilt their squad adding goalscorers such as the Argentine Enrique Guaita. Under the management of Luigi Barbesino, the Roman club came close to their first title in 1935–36, Roma returned to form after being inconsistent for much of the late 1930s, Roma recorded an unexpected title triumph in the 1941–42 season by winning their first ever scudetto title. The eighteen goals scored by local player Amedeo Amadei were essential to the Alfréd Schaffer coached Roma side winning the title, at the time Italy was involved in World War II and Roma were playing at the Stadio del Partito Nazionale Fascista. In the years just after the war, Roma were unable to recapture their league stature from the early 1940s, under future national team manager Giuseppe Viani, promotion straight back up was achieved. After returning to the Serie A, Roma managed to stabilise themselves as a top half club again with such as Egisto Pandolfini, Dino Da Costa. Although Roma were unable to break into the top four during the following decade and their first honour outside of Italy was recorded in 1960–61 when Roma won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by beating Birmingham City 4–2 in the finals. A few years later Roma won their first Coppa Italia trophy in 1963–64, supporters kept the club going with a fundraiser at the Sistine Theatre and bankruptcy was avoided with the election of a new club president Franco Evangelisti
36.
ACF Fiorentina
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ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Fiorentina has won two Italian Championships, in 1955–56 and again in 1968–69, as well as six Coppa Italia trophies, on the European stage, Fiorentina won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1960–61 and lost the final one year later. Since 1931, the club have played at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, the stadium has used several names over the years and has undergone several renovations. Fiorentina are known widely by the nickname Viola, a reference to their distinctive purple colours, the aim of the merger was to give Florence a strong club to rival those of the more dominant Italian Football Championship sides of the time from Northwest Italy. Also influential was the revival and rediscovery of Calcio Fiorentino. After a rough start and three seasons in lower leagues, Fiorentina reached the Serie A in 1931 and that same year saw the opening of the new stadium, originally named after Giovanni Berta, after a prominent fascist, but now known as Stadio Artemio Franchi. At the time, the stadium was a masterpiece of engineering, to be able to compete with the best teams in Italy, Fiorentina strengthened their team with some new players, notably the Uruguayan Pedro Petrone, nicknamed el Artillero. Despite enjoying a season and finishing in fourth place, Fiorentina were relegated the following year. In 1941, they won their first Coppa Italia, but the team were unable to build on their success during the 1940s because of World War II, in 1950, Fiorentina started to achieve consistent top-five finishes in the domestic league. This team won Fiorentinas first scudetto in 1955–56,12 points ahead of second-place Milan, Fiorentina were runners-up again in the three subsequent seasons. In the 1960–61 season, the won the Coppa Italia again and was also successful in Europe. After several years of runner-up finishes, Fiorentina dropped away slightly in the 1960s, bouncing from fourth to sixth place, although the club won the Coppa Italia and the Mitropa Cup in 1966. While the 1960s did result in some trophies and good Serie A finishes for Fiorentina, the 1968–69 season started with Milan as frontrunners, but on matchday 7, they lost to Bologna and were overtaken by Gigi Rivas Cagliari. Fiorentina, after a start, then moved to the top of the Serie A. The second half of the season was a battle between the three contending teams, Milan, Cagliari and Fiorentina. Milan fell away, instead focusing their efforts on the European Cup, after Cagliari lost against Juventus, however, Fiorentina took over at the top. The team then won all of their matches, beating rivals Juve in Turin on the penultimate matchday to seal their second. Viola players began the 1970s decade with Scudetto sewed on their breast, after a fifth-place finish in 1971, they finished in mid-table almost every year, even flirting with relegation in 1972 and 1978
37.
S.S. Lazio
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Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football. Lazio have been Italian champions twice, and have won the Coppa Italia six times, the club had their first major success in 1958, winning the domestic cup. In 1974, they won their first Serie A title, Lazios traditional kit colours are sky blue shirts and white shorts with white socks, the colours are reminiscent of Romes ancient Hellenic legacy. Sky blue socks have also been used as home colours. Their home is the 70,634 capacity Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Roma until the year 2018, when the latter will leave for the Stadio della Roma. Lazio have a rivalry with Roma, with whom they have contested the Derby della Capitale since 1929. Lazio is also a club that participate in 40 sports disciplines in total. Società Podistica Lazio was founded on 9 January 1900 in the Prati district of Rome, in 1927, Lazio was the only major Roman club which resisted the Fascist regimes attempts to merge all the citys teams into what would become A. S. The club played in the first organised Serie A in 1929 and, led by legendary Italian striker Silvio Piola, the 1950s produced a mix of mid and upper table results with a Coppa Italia win in 1958. Lazio was relegated for the first time in 1961 to the Serie B, after a number of mid-table placements, another relegation followed in 1970–71. Lazio improved such successes the following season, ensuring its first title in 1973–74, however, tragic deaths of Re Cecconi and Scudetto trainer Maestrelli, as well as the departure of Chinaglia, would be a triple blow for Lazio. The emergence of Bruno Giordano during this period provided some relief as he finished League top scorer in 1979, Lazio were forcibly relegated to Serie B in 1980 due to a remarkable scandal concerning illegal bets on their own matches, along with Milan. They remained in Italys second division for three seasons in what would mark the darkest period in Lazios history and they would return in 1983 and manage a last-day escape from relegation the following season. The 1984–85 season would prove harrowing, with a pitiful 15 points, in 1986, Lazio was hit with a nine-point deduction for a betting scandal involving player Claudio Vinazzani. The arrival of Sergio Cragnotti in 1992 changed the clubs due to his long-term investments in new players to make the team a Scudetto competitor. A notable early transfer during his tenure was the capture of English midfielder Paul Gascoigne from Tottenham Hotspur for £5.5 million, gascoignes transfer to Lazio is credited with the increase of interest in Serie A in the United Kingdom during the 1990s. Lazio had two more Coppa Italia triumphs in 1998 and 2004, as well as the last ever UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1999 and they also reached the UEFA Cup, but lost 0–3 against Internazionale
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Italy
2018–19 Serie A
Javier Zanetti
Gunnar Nordahl
Lothar Matthäus: 1991 (Internazionale)
Marco van Basten: 1992 (Milan)
Roberto Baggio: 1993 (Juventus)
George Weah: 1995 (Milan)
Ronaldo: 1997 (Internazionale)
Zinedine Zidane: 1998, 2000 (Juventus)
