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Why is Piazza della Novere in Florence considered by some to be the cradle of European soccer?

In the sixteenth-century in Florence, Italy, there emerged an early European cousin of soccer called calcio. It was played in the city’s Piazza della Novere by teams of 27 using the feet and hands to try to kick, throw, or carry a ball over a designated spot on the perimeter of a playing pitch covered in sand. The first official rules of calcio were published in 1580 AD by Giovanni Bardi. Originally, calcio was only reserved for the rich aristocrats, who played every night between Epiphany and Lent.

What is the oldest record of a soccer club in existence?

The title of the world’s oldest soccer club is often disputed, or is claimed by several different clubs, across several different codes of soccer. It is possible that an organization of soccer players existed in London between 1421 and 1423. The records of the Brewers’ Company of London, a guild, mention the hiring out of their hall “by the ‘ffooteballepleyers’ for 20 pence,” under the heading “Trades and Fraternities.” The listing of such players as a “fraternity” is the earliest allusion to what might be considered a soccer club.