Calcio in Costume: Football was born in Florence

Forget about England when itcomes to football because the native country of the most beautiful of games ishere. Be it soccer or football or whatever name you want to put on its identitycard, for “birthplace” you cannot put anything else but: Florence.

 In fact, Calcio inCostume (football in costume) also called “in livrea” (in livery) and inrecent times “Calcio Storico” was born in Florence:it’s truly a team sport and has its roots far back in times. According to somethe first signs of this type of sport date back to times of the Romans, seeingthat in Latin the game was called “florentinum harpastum”.

 

The way the game is playedand the way the ball is used is very simple: two teams meet and the team thatmakes the most goals wins, but the players are called “calcianti”(kickers) and the goals are called “caccia” (hunt). The players can usetheir hands and their feet and physical body contact is an integral part of thegame.

 After a long dark period oftwo centuries, the tradition of the “Calcio in Costume” took off in thebeginning of the 1930s mixing the historical features of the games with thoseof the old, true antagonism between the four main historical quarters of Florence: Santo Spirito(white) Santa Croce (blue) Santa Maria Novella (red) e San Giovanni (green).

 The final, after the eliminatorymatches, is played in the square of Santa Croce on June 24, the day of Saint John the Baptist, Florence’spatron. In this occasion the most famous match in the history of “Calcio inCostume” is relived, the one which dates back to February 17, 1530 when theFlorentines, who were besieged by the imperial troops of Charles V, decided toplay in a very disregarding way scoffing the adversary. After all it is renowned that, whether it’s an intruder or a friend, the Florentines love mocking almost as much as they love football.