Spanning
well over a century, the history of soccer in Italy is marked by a long
list of trophies on club and national team levels, but also by some
seriously negative events and scandals.
It doesn't really matter how big or small your soccer knowledge is, you
probably heard this before: Italian soccer is one of the most tactical
and defensive in the World. It's definitely not a soccer that every fan
enjoys or that any player will fit in, but its beauty comes from its
perfect organization.
let's go through the history of soccer in Italy, slicing it in
chapters.
History of Soccer in Italy
Early Years
You simply cannot call yourself a real
soccer enthusiast if you don't own this series of DVDs.
The History of Soccer – The Beautiful Game has over 14 hours of
impressive footage, legendary interviews and a complete collection of
all goals from World Cup finals. Read
my
review…
Most people consider the year 1898 the
starting point in the history of Italian soccer, as this is the time
the first official matches were played, although there wasn't a single
championship throughout the country, as the teams would battle in
regional ones, under semi-professional rules.
In 1929 however, a larger championship was
formed, which took the best teams from these regions and made them play
head to head in what would soon become the Serie A league, ruled by the
Italian Football Federation.
It was around this time that the championship title of Serie A received
the nickname of "Scudetto", or the small shield,
which would mark the current champions with a small picture of a shield
with the Italian flag, all throughout the following season.
History
of Soccer in Italy – Events At least three negative events cannot miss
from any history of Italian soccer lesson. The first one was the
stripping of Torino's won championship in 1927. Of course, you're
probably saying that this was still an early age for soccer and Torino
was still playing in its regional championship, so what's the
big deal?
The importance of this scandal is given by the
fact that almost a
century later, in 2006, another huge scandal with a close resemblance
rocked Italian soccer, involving another Torino-based team, Juventus.
Of course, the latest scandal, called "Calciopoli"
by the press, was on a much larger scale as it stripped Juventus Torino
of two championship titles, relegated the team in the second division
and also affected several other teams, such as Fiorentina, Lazio or AC
Milan, who did not get relegated but started the 2006/2007 season with
a large deficit of points.
Another tragic event that will mark the history of Italian soccer
forever occurred in 1948, when the plane that was carrying the entire
Torino team crashed, ending the lives of everyone on board. Although
the season was not yet over, the Italian Football Federation awarded
them the title in an unprecedented display of honor in the history of
soccer in Italy.
The
legendary 1948 Torino's team
History of Italian Soccer
– Modern Day Today, Serie A is considered one of the most
(if not THE most) powerful championships in Europe and the entire
World. Teams like Juventus Torino (who were relegated in 2006/2007 but
managed to promote back to the Serie A for 2007/2008), AC Milan,
Internazionale Milan, AS Roma or AC Fiorentina are always tough
competition in European tournaments.
A lot of world class players choose Serie A, as this is both one of the
best played championships in the World and it also offers all necessary
conditions for winning important trophies. But that
does not mean that everyone will fit in automatically. Strikers
especially find a hard time adapting to Italian soccer, as it's a lot
harder to score in a championship dominated by defensive tactics.
Spanning
well over a century, the history of soccer in Italy is marked by a long
list of trophies on club and national team levels, but also by some
seriously negative events and scandals.
Of course, the latest scandal, called "Calciopoli"
by the press, was on a much larger scale as it stripped Juventus Torino
of two championship titles, relegated the team in the second division
and also affected several other teams, such as Fiorentina, Lazio or AC
Milan, who did not get relegated but started the 2006/2007 season with
a large deficit of points. 