Historical Florentine Soccer Event
I happened to be in Florence in June. My accommodation, the Hotel Duomo, was located right next to the Dom. And most importantly, it had a tiny balcony with a great view on to the square and church. This was important as I planned to experience the “Calcio Storico” that was going to take place.
Calcio storico fiorentino (historic soccer tournament)
First a bit of explanation what this event is all about.
The Calcio Storico is an early form of soccer. It dates back to the 16th century and was originally played only by the upper class of society. They would engage in rather hefty battles on the playing field. In fact, there is a famous saying of Henry III who attended one of the games in 1574 : “Too small to be a real war and too cruel to be a game”.
Four teams from historical neighbourhoods
The tournament consists of four teams of four historical neighborhoods of Florence: Santa Croce (blues), Santa Maria Novella (reds), Santo Spirito (whites), and San Giovanni (greens).
The field
The soccer tournament is played on a sandy field of 80×40 dimension divided by a white line. A goal net runs the width of each end.
The rules
While official rules of the Calcio Storico were first published in 1580, the only real rule of the soccer game is to respect the adversary. For the rest, feet and hands can be used turning the 50 minute matches turning it into a mix of rugby and soccer with a lot of wrestling in between.
Having said that, after some serious injuries to players, a number of “no goes” were introduced such as no sucker punches and kicks to the head. Also, one player can only be attacked by one player of the other team.
The matches
Three matches are played in Piazza Santa Croce in the 3rd week of June.
The teams play each other and the two overall winners play the finals which take place on 24 June each year.
Where to watch it
I did not have a ticket to attend the soccer games. But it was possible to watch the parade starting from Piazza Santa Maria Novella and passing through a number of roads of the centre of Florence.
Historic costumes
Part of the fun in attending this event is to watch the parade before the game.
The four involved neighbourhoods gear up in historic costumes.
They are followed by their numerous fans.
The fan club
The Calcio Storico is taken very seriously by the teams.
It is a matter of honour to win. And that is all that counts as the players do not receive any compensation for participating in the tournament.
Fired up
During the parade, the players and their fans get really geared up. They obviously wear the colour of their neighbourhood. There is plenty of noise and coloured smoke in the air.
The judges and referees
There is a main referee, a field master and six line referees that attempt to keep some sort of order in the match. And more importantly, they try to make sure that the players do not engage in adverse behaviour.
The Trophy
Following a long tradition, this ox is the prize for the winning team.
Nowadays, it is more symbolic as the animal does not get slaughtered at the end. The winning team gets a free dinner instead.
Now, if you are visiting Florence during the days of the “Calcio Storico” be prepared that the inner city of Florence gets pretty much disrupted. Roads are closed to traffic for the parade to pass. Good thing is that it does not last that long. However, this does not go for the area around Piazza Santa Croce where the matches take place.
Concluding, if you are a soccer fan try to get to Florence at this point time. It is really quite spectacular.
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Check out the other places that I visited during my road trip in this area of Italy.
and
SELF DRIVE ROAD TRIP IN TUSCANY, UMBRIA, MARCHE
ENJOY THE READ !
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