A.S. Roma History

A.S. Roma was founded in July 1927. The city of Rome, at the time, had several teams in the Italian football league: S.S. Alba-Audace Roma (founded in 1926 with the fusion of Alba - 1911 - and Audace), Fortitudo-Pro Roma S.G.S. (founded in 1926 with the fusion of Fortitudo - 1908 - and Pro Roma - 1912), Roman F.C. (1901) and S.S. Lazio (1910). However the Fascist regime wanted to merge the latter into one which the working classes could identify with and strong enough to challenge the traditional northern teams to reinforce Rome's image as regime capital for propaganda purposes.[citations needed] Lazio management refused to even discuss the matter, but Alba-Audace, Fortitudo-Pro Roma and Roman agreed to merge and thus A.S. Roma was founded. Roma was named after the city with the traditional colors of the city of Rome. Their first stadium was Motovelodromo Appio. The following grounds have been Testaccio, Stadio Flaminio and Stadio Olimpico (the latter was built in 1952).

AS Roma took part in their first national league in the 1929-30 season and won their first Scudetto in 1941-42. The second one was won in the 1982-83 season and the third in 2000-01. They were runners-up in 1930-31, 1935-36, 1980-81, 1983-84, 1985-86, 2001-02 and 2003-04. They were relegated only once, at the end of the 1950-51 season, returning to Serie A the next season.

As of 2005-06, Roma have matched Milan's record (in 1989-1990) for consecutive wins, beating (on February 26th) Lazio 2-0 in the Rome derby for their 11th consecutive win.

AS Roma also made it to the final of the 2005/06 Coppa Italia to face Inter Milan. They drew the First leg 1-1 but lost the return leg 3-1, losing 4-2 on aggregate.

After Serie A rivals Lazio, AC Milan, Juventus and Fiorentina were all banned from entry into the 2007/07 Champions League on 14th July 2007, AS Roma gained automatic entry into the competition, as the aforementioned teams' point deductions meant that they effectively finished second to Inter Milan for the Serie A 2005-06 season.

During the 2007 World Cup five A.S. Roma players competed: Samuel Osei Kuffour played for Ghana which was the only African team to qualify for the last 16. Leandro Cufré played for Argentina and was sent off in their quarter final defeat to Germany. Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi, and Simone Perrotta all played for World Cup Champions Italy and all of them played a part in the World Cup final in which Italy defeated France 5-3 in Penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw.