Calcio Fiorentino was an early form of football

Football

Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...

 that originated in 16th century Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. The Piazza Santa Croce

Piazza Santa Croce

Piazza Santa Croce is one of the main squares of the centre of Florence, Italy.It is located near piazza della Signoria and the National Central Library, and takes its name by the Basilica of Santa Croce that overlook the square.-Basilica of Santa Croce:...

of Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 is the cradle of this sport, that became known as giuoco del calcio fiorentino ("Florentine kick game") or simply calcio ("kick").

The official rules of calcio were published for the first time in 1580 by Giovanni de' Bardi

Giovanni de' Bardi

Giovanni de' Bardi , Count of Vernio, was an Italian literary critic, writer, composer and soldier.- Biography :Giovanni de' Bardi was born in Florence....

, a Florentine count. Just like Roman harpastum

Harpastum

Harpastum, also known as Harpustum, was a form of ball game played in the Roman Empire. The Romans also referred to it as the small ball game. The ball used was small and hard, probably about the size and solidity of a softball...

, it was played in teams of 27, using both feet and hands. Goals could be scored by throwing the ball over a designated spot on the perimeter of the field. The playing field is a giant sand pit with a goal running the width of each end. There is a main referee, six linesmen and a field master. Each game is played out for 50 minutes with the winner being the team with the most points or 'cacce'.

Originally, calcio was reserved for rich aristocrats, who played every night between Epiphany and Lent

Lent

In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

. In the Vatican

Vatican City

Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...

, even Popes, such as Clement VII, Leo XI and Urban VIII were known to play.

The sport was not played for around two hundred years but then revived in the twentieth century when organized games began again in 1930. Today, three matches are played each year in Piazza Santa Croce, in the 3rd week of June. The modern version allows tactics such as head-butting, punching, elbowing, and choking, but forbids sucker punching and kicks to the head.

Teams

• Santa Croce / Azzurri (Blues)
• Santa Maria Novella / Rossi (Reds)
• Santo Spirito / Bianchi (Whites)
• San Giovanni / Verdi (Greens)

External links

• http://www.expertfootball.com/history/ History of Soccer from ExpertFootball.com
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsRqSNSjy3E Video: Calcio Storico Fiorentino Mini-Documentary http://www.puredesign.it/gallery2/main.php/v/calciostorico/ Photogallery: parade and match on 24 June 2008