Written by Hala Sarabi
Imagine your team gets awarded a Scudetto title, 58 years after winning it.
Unimaginable, right?
Well, that is what happened in 2002 when the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) awarded Spezia Calcio its “honorary” Serie A title for the 1944 championship.
I was not aware of this until last week, but this is one hell of an interesting story.
As I always say, these stories make Serie A the best league in the world, so let us understand the context behind the events in question and see how this “honorary” title came into place.
After Italy’s defeat in World War II, the FIGC split in two based on geographical and political divisions.The official FIGC remained in the south, ruled by the Kingdom of Italy, while the northern FIGC was ruled by the Italian Social Republic.
The northern FIGC organised a “Campionato di divisione nazionale misto” (mixed national division championship) also known as “Campionato Alta Italia” (High Italy Championship) covering Serie A and Serie B teams plus others in the region.
Freedom of movement was restricted during that time of war, as such Spezia Calcio players were temporarily inactive, so, the team was taken over by the 42nd fire Brigade Sports Group in order to be able to play football games in other cities. This is why you may stumble upon the club’s name as VV.FF Spezia Calcio VV.FF means “Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco” (the National Fire Brigade).
Furthermore, to manoeuvre around the rules of restricted movement, Torino Calcio came up with an idea to avoid their players being called to the war. The players were listed as employees of the most important defence industries in the country and a collaboration FIAT was established to activate the idea. As such, the Torino FIAT club was born (there are photos of Valentino Mazzola and other members of that team photographed with machine tools).
The final round of the “Campionato Alta Italia” constituted three teams: VV.FF Spezia Calcio, Torino FIAT (1943 winners) and Venezia. As you probably gathered by now, VV.FF Spezia Calcio was the one to come out on top, acquiring three points after drawing with Venezia 1-1 and winning Torino FIAT 2-1.
In the northern FIGC’s plans, the winning team in the tournament would have been recognized as Champion of Italy; however, after the end of the championship, a statement from the northern federation – following external pressure – announced that VV.FF Spezia Calcio would not be awarded the “Scudetto” title.
Fast forward (or slowly for the broken-hearted fans) to 2002, where the FIGC recognised the scudetto win as “honorary” and authorised Spezia Calcio to exhibit a tricolor (Italian flag) badge on the official jerseys.
The badge is unique in its nature, and is very different from the usual tricolor we see on the jerseys of defending Serie A champions. Not only is it permanent (remains across all seasons, unlike the usual tricolor that gets passed around depending on who wins the title), but it also has its own shape and size that sets it apart from what we usually see in Serie A.
But why is this badge so important? Is it because it simply rewards the best team that won fair and square, is it about joining the list of the “big boys” the champions of Italy even once, or is it to honour the squad of the 42nd fire brigade?
Firefighters in war, playing football, and winning, all make up a very poetic and stereotypically Italian story. No member of that squad is alive today, but for them and for their families, the victory must have been anything but “honorary” – it must have been the real deal!
To close out this article, I will leave you with some food for thought: if this was Milan, Juventus or Inter under the same circumstances, do you think the title would still be considered “honorary”?
I do not think so.
For some additional quick facts, Spezia Calcio currently plays in Serie B where they are considered regular contenders. They had multiple Serie A promotions over the last few years.
The club was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurni, who played for the early Crystal Palace amateur teams in London during his time there as a student.