SS Lazio

Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as simply Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football. Lazio have been Italian champions twice, and have won the Coppa Italia five times, the Supercoppa Italiana three times, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup once.

The club had their first major success in 1958, winning the league cup. In 1974 they won their first Serie A title. The past fifteen years have been the most successful period in Lazio’s history, capped by winning UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 1999, the Serie A title in 2000, several league cups and reaching their first UEFA Cup final in 1998.

Lazio's traditional kit colours are sky blue shirts and shorts with white socks. Their home is the 72,689 capacity Stadio Olimpico in Rome, which they share with city rivals A.S. Roma. Lazio have a long-standing rivalry with this neighbouring club, with whom they have contested the Derby della Capitale since 1929.

Lazio is also a sports club that participate in thirty-seven sports disciplines in total, more than any other sports association in Europe.

Lazio's colours of white and sky blue were inspired by the national emblem of Greece, due to the fact that Lazio is a mixed sports club this was chosen in recognition of the fact that the Ancient Olympic Games and along with it the sporting tradition in Europe is linked to Greece.

Originally Lazio wore a shirt which was divided into white and sky blue quarters, with black shorts and socks. After a while of wearing a plain white shirt very early on, Lazio reverted to the colours which they wear today. Some seasons Lazio have used a sky blue and white shirt with stripes, but usually it is sky blue with a white trim, with the white shorts and socks. The club's colours have led to their Italian nickname of biancocelesti.

Lazio's traditional club badge and symbol is the eagle, which was chosen by founding member Luigi Bigiarelli. It is an acknowledgment to the emblem of the Roman Empire's army commonly known as the Aquila; the Roman legion carried the symbol with them when going in to battle. Lazio's use of the symbol has led to two of their nicknames; le Aquile (the Eagles) and Aquilotti (Young Eagles). The current club badge features a golden eagle above a white shield with a blue border; inside the shield is the club's name and a smaller tripartite shield with the colours of the club.

Lazio is the sixth most supported football club in Italy with around 2% of Italian football fans supporting the club (according to the la Repubblica’s research of August 2008). Historically the largest section of Lazio supporters in the city of Rome has come from the northern section just above the Vatican City, creating an arch like shape across Rome with affluent areas such as; Parioli, Prati, Flaminio, Salario, Nomentano, Cassia and Monte Mario.

Founded in 1987 Irriducibili Lazio are currently the club's biggest ultras group. In terms of match day displays Lazio ultras opt for a traditionally English style and embrace elements of lad culture. Usually the only time they create traditional Italian ultras displays is for the Derby della Capitale.

The Derby della Capitale, known in English speaking countries as the Rome derby is a match between Lazio and their main rivals Roma; it is amongst the most heated and emotional footballing rivalries in the world. A Lazio fan, Vincenzo Paparelli was killed at one of the derby games during the 1979–80 season after being hit in the eye by a flare thrown by a Roma fan. Lazio also have a strong rivalry with Napoli and Livorno. Conversely the ultras have friendly relationships with Inter, Triestina and Hellas Verona. They also have friendships with clubs elsewhere in Europe, including Real Madrid, Espanyol and Chelsea

FC Barcelona

Fútbol Club Barcelona, also known simply as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The team was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Spanish men led by Joan Gamper. The club has become a Catalan institution, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). The official Barça anthem is El Cant del Barça by Josep Maria Espinàs.

FC Barcelona is one of three clubs never to have been relegated from La Liga and the most successful club in Spanish football after Real Madrid, having won nineteen La Liga titles, a record twenty-five Spanish Cups, eight Spanish Super Cups, four Eva Duarte Cups and two League Cups. They are also one of the most successful clubs in European football having won thirteen official major European trophies in total, including ten UEFA competitions. They have won three UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups (the forerunner to the UEFA Europa League) and three UEFA Super Cups. In 2009, Barcelona became the first club in Spain to win the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League. The club is also the only European side to have played continental football in every season since its inception in 1955.

The club's stadium is the Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe with a capacity of 98,772 seats. Barcelona enjoys a high rate of popularity; about 25.7% of Spanish population support the club, while according to a recent survey Barcelona is the most popular football club in Europe with around 44.2 million fans. With 170,000 socis (members) in September 2009, the Catalan club is also placed among the top football clubs in the world with the most registered members, and the number of penyes, the officially-registered supporter clubs, reached the number of 1,888 worldwide in August 2009. The fans of FC Barcelona are known as culés. The club shares a great rivalry with Real Madrid and contest in one of the most famous football matches worldwide, known as El Clásico.

During the 2007–08 season, FC Barcelona was the third richest club in the world with a revenue of €308.8 million. It was also one of the founding members of the now-defunct G-14 group of the leading European football clubs and its modern replacement, the European Club Association. The club also operates a reserve team, FC Barcelona Atlètic, while there was a youth team until 2007, FC Barcelona C.

As of July 1, 2009, FC Barcelona was ranked first in UEFA team ranking. According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), Barça has been the most consistently successful club in the world since the organisation began collecting statistics, in the period 1991-2008

Manchester City FC

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club who play at the City of Manchester Stadium. The first known competitive fixture was played in November 1880, when the side was known as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they then became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 before changing their name to Manchester City Football Club in 1894. The club's most successful period was in the late 1960s and early 1970s when they won the League Championship, the FA Cup, the League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup under the management team of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison and with players including Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee and Francis Lee.

Since winning the League Cup in 1976, the club has failed to win any major honours. The club's decline led to relegation twice in three years in the 1990s, spending the 1998–99 season in the third tier of English football. The club has since regained top flight status, the level at which they have spent the majority of their history. Manchester City is now believed to be the wealthiest football club in the world after its purchase by the Abu Dhabi United Group in September 2008.

It is widely accepted that Manchester City F.C. was founded as St. Mark's (West Gorton) in 1880 by Anna Connell and two churchwardens of St. Mark's Church, in Gorton, a district in east Manchester. Prior to this, St. Mark's played cricket from 1875 and the side evolved out of that cricket team – the key organiser was Church Warden William Beastow. In 1887, they moved to a new ground at Hyde Road, in Ardwick just to the east of the city centre, and were renamed Ardwick Association Football Club to reflect their new location. Ardwick joined the Football League as founding members of the Second Division in 1892. Financial troubles in the 1893–94 season led to a reorganisation within the club, and Ardwick were reformed as Manchester City Football Club.

City gained their first honours by winning the Second Division in 1899; with it came promotion to the highest level in English football, the First Division. They went on to claim their first major honour on 23 April 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers 1–0 at Crystal Palace to win the FA Cup; City narrowly missed out on a League and Cup double that season after finishing runners-up in the League. In the seasons following the FA Cup triumph, the club was dogged by allegations of financial irregularities, culminating in the suspension of seventeen players in 1906, including captain Billy Meredith, who subsequently moved across town to Manchester United. A fire at Hyde Road destroyed the main stand in 1920, and in 1923 the club moved to their new purpose-built stadium at Maine Road in Moss Side.

Hull City A.F.C.

Hull City Association Football Club are an English football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. They play in the Premier League, with the 2008–09 season being the first time in their history participating in the top tier of English football. Founded in 1904, the highest position Hull City have finished in the English Football League was 3rd in the old second division in 1909–10, a feat they repeated in 2007–08 when they gained promotion from The Championship by beating Bristol City 1–0 in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. Their greatest achievement in cup competitions came in 1930, when the team reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. The club play their home games at the KC Stadium in Hull. They previously played at Boothferry Park, but moved to their current home in 2002, with Boothferry Park set for demolition. They traditionally play in black and amber, often with a striped shirt design, hence their nickname The Tigers. The club's mascot is Roary the Tiger.

Manchester United (1910-1919)

1910-1919
The words Old Trafford entered football folklore for the first time during the 1909/10 season. The land on which the stadium was built was bought by the Manchester Brewery Company (John Henry Davies) and leased to the club. Davies himself paid for the building work, which commenced in 1908 under the supervision of the renowned architect Archibald Leitch. By 1910, the club had moved lock, stock and barrel from their old home of Bank Street. United's first fixture at Old Trafford was played on 19 February 1910. The new hosts lost 4-3 to their first visitors Liverpool, but the stadium was successful in accommodating an 80,000 capacity crowd. Two days previously, the old wooden stand at Bank Street had been blown down by strong winds - further evidence, perhaps, that United were suited to and needed their new home. Indeed, United were crowned League Champions for the second time in their history, at the end of their first full season at Old Trafford - 1910/1911. They clinched the title at home on the final day of the season, beating Sunderland 5-1 with Harold Halse grabbing two of the goals. Halse wasn't the only goalscoring hero of that second Championship season. Another was the swashbuckling forward Enoch ‘Knocker’ West, who scored 19 goals during the campaign. United also won the Charity Shield, beating Swindon Town 8-4, with Halse grabbing a double hat-trick.

Despite such feats, United could not keep up their winning run and in 1911/12, the defending champions finished disappointingly in thirteenth place. Secretary-manager Ernest Mangnall bore the brunt of the criticism, and resigned to join United's neighbours and rivals Manchester City. The search for Mangnall's successor finished at the door of JJ Bentley, the president of the Football League. Under his guidance the Reds claimed fourth place in the League at the end of the 1912/13 season. The 1913/14 season was a period of transition, with Charlie Roberts and Alex Bell sold to Oldham and Blackburn respectively. United finished in 14th, with West finishing as top scorer for the third season in a row. The 1914/15 campaign was notable for a change of management - in December 1914, the roles of secretary and team manager were separated for the first time. Bentley became full-time secretary and John Robson was appointed to look after and select the team.

Robson's team was a shadow of the one which had performed so well in the previous decade, as only George Stacey, Billy Meredith, Sandy Turnbull and George Wall remained from the 1909 FA Cup-winning side. Not surprisingly, the club struggled, only escaping relegation by a single point. To rub salt into the wound, Mangnall's Manchester City side finished in fifth place, thirteen places above United. Before United could form a plan for recovery, the outbreak of the First World War put football firmly to the back of people's minds. The Football League was suspended, and clubs resorted to playing in regional competitions. United played in the Lancashire Prinicipal and Subsidiary Tournaments for four seasons, but this was a less than successful diversion, the misery compounded by the fact that two of the club's players were found guilty of match fixing. Enoch West was banned for life as was Sandy Turnbull, who joined the Footballers' Battalion to help Britain's war effort. Tragically Turnbull was killed during a battle in France in May 1917, to leave Manchester United without another of their early century heroes for their return to league football in 1919/20.

Manchester United (1878-1899)

1878-1899
Manchester United Football Club was first formed in 1878, albeit under a different name - Newton Heath LYR (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway). Little suspecting the impact they were about to have on the national, even global game, the workers in the railway yard at Newton Heath indulged their passion for association football with games against other departments of the LYR or other railway companies. Indeed, when the Football League was formed in 1888, Newton Heath did not consider themselves good enough to become founder members alongside the likes of Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End. They waited instead until 1892 to make their entrance. Financial problems plagued Newton Heath, and by the start of the twentieth century it seemed they were destined for extinction. The club was saved, however, by a local brewery owner, John Henry Davies. Legend has it that he learned of the club's plight when he found a dog belonging to Newton Heath captain Harry Stafford.

Arsenal FC

FROM FOUNDATION TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Arsenal Football Club began life when a group of workers at the Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory decided to form a football team in late 1886. The Club played under the name of Dial Square. Their first match was a 6-0 victory over Eastern Wanderers, on December 11, 1886. Soon after, the name Royal Arsenal was adopted and the Club continued playing in friendlies and local cup competitions for the next few years. In 1891 the Club turned professional and changed its name to Woolwich Arsenal, finally joining the Football League in 1893. The Gunners moved to their current home at Highbury in 1913, as a Second Division side. Following the First World War Arsenal were voted into the newly expanded First Division, where they have remained ever since.

CHAPMAN AND THE GLORIOUS THIRTIES
Herbert Chapman took over at Arsenal in 1925, and in 1930 he guided the Gunners to their first ever trophy — beating Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup Final. The following season Arsenal were champions for the first time. Between 1933 and 1935 the Club won a hattrick of league titles (which has only been achieved by four teams in the top flight). Sadly Chapman died in the middle of the run, by which time he had reached legend status. George Allison took over and the dominance continued for the rest of the decade, winning one more FA Cup (1936) and another title (1938). During this time Arsenal had some of the game’s greatest players on its books: Alex James, Ted Drake, Cliff Bastin, David Jack, Eddie Hapgood and George Male were just some of the names in what was one of the greatest sides ever to play in the Football League.

POST-WAR TO THE FIRST DOUBLE
The Second World War stopped Arsenal in their tracks but Tom Whittaker became manager and more success followed. Arsenal were Champions in 1947/48 and 1952/53; FA Cup winners in 1950 and runners-up in 1952. The ‘60s provided little in the way of silverware at Highbury, with two losing appearances in the League Cup Final in 1968 and 1969 being the closest thing to success. Bertie Mee had taken over in the mid-Sixties and Arsenal lifted their first ever European trophy in 1969/70, beating Anderlecht 4-3 over the two legged Fairs Cup Final. Better was to follow the following season. An Arsenal side containing the likes of Charlie George, George Armstrong, Ray Kennedy and captain Frank McLintock, won the league and FA Cup ‘double’. They clinched the title at White Hart Lane, then beat Liverpool after extra time at Wembley to win the Cup. The side returned to Wembley for three consecutive FA Cup Finals under Terry Neill at the end of the decade — winning the second of them, 3-2 against Manchester United. The game became known as the ‘Five Minute Final’. The Gunners also reached the 1980 Cup Winners’ Cup Final, with a team that included Graham Rix, Frank Stapleton, Pat Rice, David O’Leary and Liam Brady, but lost on penalties to Valencia.

GEORGE GRAHAM’S HONOURS
In 1986 George Graham, a member of the 1971 ‘double’ winning team, took over as manager from Don Howe and more glory days followed. He led Arsenal to their first ever League Cup triumph in 1986/87, beating Liverpool 2-1 in the Final. Two years later the Gunners won the League Championship, with a famous last minute goal from Michael Thomas clinching the title with a 2-0 win at Anfield. Another title followed in 1990/91, when the side, including the famous defensive back four, lost just one league game. More silverware followed. In 1992/93 Arsenal became the first club to win both domestic cups in the same season. Sheffield Wednesday were the beaten side on both occasions. Graham’s era of success was rounded off the following season. A superb run in the European Cup Winners’ Cup ended with a memorable 1-0 win over Parma in the Final in Copenhagen, thanks to Alan Smith’s strike. Arsenal failed to retain the trophy the following season, losing in the 1995 final to Real Zaragoza. By this time George Graham had left the Club. He was succeeded by Bruce Rioch, who was in charge for one season, during which time he signed Dennis Bergkamp.

THE ARSÈNE WENGER ERA
Early in the 1996/97 season Arsène Wenger arrived at Highbury, becoming the Club’s first ever manager from outside the British Isles. In 1997/98, Wenger’s first full season at Highbury, Arsenal achieved the League and FA Cup ‘double’, for the second time in the Club’s history. Dennis Bergkamp was named Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Player of the Year, and PFA Player of the Year. A tremendous season was rounded off perfectly for French Internationals Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira as the Gunners stars played their part in France’s victorious World Cup campaign. The Club also said goodbye to striking legend Ian Wright, who left Arsenal as record goalscorer with 185 goals in all competitions. In each of the next three seasons Arsenal were runnersup in the Premier League, and had plenty of involvement in cup competitions. In 2000 Arsenal lost in the UEFA Cup Final on penalties to Galatasaray, and the following year lost the first ever FA Cup Final played at the Millennium Stadium, 2-1 to Liverpool. In 2001 the Gunners also reached the Quarter- Final stages of the UEFA Champions League for the first time, but lost out on away goals to Valencia. 2001/02 was to prove another momentous, recordbreaking season for the Club. Arsenal completed the first leg of their third ‘double’ by beating Chelsea 2-0 in the FA Cup Final, and ended the season with a 13-game winning streak. The 12th Championship was made secure with a game to spare courtesy of a memorable 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. Arsenal were unbeaten away from home for the entire league campaign. The following season Arsenal narrowly missed out on retaining the title but the Gunners became the first English club in more than 20 years to retain the FA Cup with their 1-0 victory over Southampton at Cardiff. Thierry Henry was voted player of the season by the PFA and the Football Writers’ Association. Season 2003/2004 saw Arsenal win back the title in unbeatable fashion - managing to go though the entire league season without a single defeat. Finishing 11 points ahead of second-place Chelsea, Arsenal smashed several records on the way to their 13th league title win. Spanish youngster Cesc Fabregas arrived in January and by the end of the season he had broken the records for the youngest Arsenal player and goalscorer. The Club, playing some mesmerising attacking football, were also close to an unprecedented fourth ‘double’ but lost in the FA Cup semi-final. The Champions League campaign came to an end at the quarter-final stage The unbeaten run continued into the following season, and in August 2004 Arsenal overtook Nottingham Forest’s record for the longest all-time unbeaten sequence in English league football. The tally eventually reached 49 games. The Gunners made it five trophies in four seasons by winning the FA Cup following a penalty shoot-out success over Manchester United. Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira converted the decisive spot-kick, and it proved to be his final kick for the Club, as he left after nine years’ service to join Juventus shortly afterwards. The 2005/06 campaign will be Arsenal’s final season at Highbury, the Club’s home since 1913.