October 26, 1863, story of a passion…

It was the Victorian era, witnessing a growing interest in romanticism, mysticism, social values and the arts… Representatives of 11 football clubs in London met one evening at Free Mason’s Tavern, Great Queen Street, to discuss the objective of finding official regulations for the game of football, one of the most beloved team sports in the world, which perhaps arouses the most excitement in most people!

This laid the foundations for a unique code for this sport and led to the definition of a number of fixed points, including the size of the playing field and the rules for goals and offside. It was October 26, 1863, and the Football Association, the English football federation, was born.

In 1888 the first English National Championship was held, according to a criterion that is still in force. From that moment on, football was exported from the British Isles to the whole world. On May 21, 1904, thanks to the representatives of seven different national associations (France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Spain), was born in Paris the FIFA “Federation Internazionale de Football Association”, ie the most important football league in the world. With the constitution of this federation, the aim was to make football unique, through the same regulations. The same F.I.F.A. becomes the only body able to change the rules of the game, giving considerable credibility and impetus to the growth of football.

Football (men’s) was included in the program of the Olympic Games in London in 1908 (women’s since 1996).

In 1909 the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) was born. Since then, the National Championship has been held regularly every year.

These are the foundations for a story of love and passion that only those who are fans can really understand. Football is a team game, in which 11 people play with a single objective, united in values and rules, but never as in this game is often fundamental the “12 on the pitch”, that is, the audience of fans, able to support and push their team to victory.

“Football is the last sacred representation of our time,” said Pier Paolo Pasolini, but the game of football is also a huge container of emotions that offer the viewer a unique opportunity to escape, to relieve tensions and stress of everyday life, and to live moments of sporting values. Because it can be called in a thousand ways: cheers, passion, faith, love, but if lived through ethical qualities, enthusiasm for football always leads to moments of positive sharing and aggregation.

We at AS LUISS live these moments every day, thanks to our 3 football teams, and we know well how much emotion and how many virtues they are able to express, how many stories this game tells every day, for this reason today we feel to celebrate with joy the birthday of modern football and its founding values!