Home Game

Fight Red! Hey!

This is Florence, in Italy.

Fight Red! Hey!

These are modern day gladiators.

And this is calcio storico.

A calcio player is…

out of his mind.

He's crazy.

Twenty-seven players on one side, 27 on the other, clash on a sandy pitch.

You have to bring the ball to the other side

and put it in the net.

It may seem easy,

but it's not.

It's like rugby, but with no rules.

A bloodbath.

It's…

violent.

Calcio storico is Florence.

Since Julius Caesar founded Florence more than 2000 years ago,

the city has always been a vibrant center of renaissance and rebellion.

Its history is a source of pride, forever on display.

It's an honor to have been born in Florence.

I love the culture, the beauty.

It's the cradle of the Renaissance.

Everything is magnificent.

The art, the history.

I love the magic that Florence gifts us.

People here are used to walking amongst myths, legends and gods.

And once a year,

the gods come to life.

I love everything about Florence.

Apart from the fact that Florence is the best city in the world,

due to its history, culture,

when I walk its streets I feel part of the city.

And then, of course, we have calcio storico.

-He's in calcio storico? -Yes.

Two of my nephews play it, with the Reds.

-Who, the Fattori boys? -The Fattori boys, yes.

I am Riccardo Lobue. I play center pitch,

and I play for the Red team, from the district of Santa Maria Novella.

Not everyone can play this game.

You must be in good shape before getting into that arena

because if you don't have 50 minutes of battling inside of you,

you won't be able to fulfill your role on the team.

My first match,

I was just a kid.

19 years old.

I probably weighed 45 pounds less.

When I walked onto that pitch, I was trembling with fear

because everyone seemed colossal. They were all bigger than me.

I just stood back, by the goalpost.

That was a safer position.

But I worked on my fitness

and increased my muscle mass.

And I trained to get to the front.

My position on the pitch is at the center, on the frontline.

Directly in front of our opponents.

We try to knock the other team down in order to advance the ball.

Calcio storico is played on a rectangular pitch

that harkens back to the colosseums of ancient Italy.

There's one ball, two goals,

and teams made up of goalkeepers, defenders and strikers.

Goals are one point each,

but if you shoot and miss, the other team gets half a point.

The team that scores the most goals during the 50 minute match wins.

The thing that separates calcio storico from other balls sports

is the bare-knuckle boxing that's used to clear a path to the goal.

The fights aren't an occasional dust-up.

They are the ball movement strategy.

In American football, you block.

In basketball, you screen.

In calcio, you punch.

You play for the district you were born in,

and there's no changing teams. Ever.

You are either a Red, White, Green or Blue…

for life.

Because of the violence of the game,

they play just one calcio tournament a year.

There are two semifinals

and then, nine days later,

the winners return to play for all the glory.

So if you're good, you play two games a year.

And if you win them both, you're the champions.

A year ago, the Reds beat the Greens for the championship.

This year, the Reds beat them again in the semifinals,

meaning they're now halfway to defending their title.

Come on, faster!

There are any number of skills to practice,

and a countless number of roles to be filled on the pitch.

There are boxers, rugby players, soccer players, wrestlers.

We have to develop everything while training for calcio storico.

Across the river, in the Santo Spirito district,

the Whites are also chasing the championship.

What the fuck do you care about a drone? Stay focused! Come on!

Let's go get them! Come on, boys!

I think the final will be hard

because the Reds of Santa Maria Novella are a similar team to ours.

It's a team based on speed.

They don't give you anything, just like us.

Over the last 10 years, our White squad has dominated the game.

The Reds are a very strong team,

but we'll face them head-on.

No problem.

If the Whites sound confident, it's for good reason.

Because while the Reds may be the current champions,

the Whites defeated them

in their last head-to-head match two years ago.

Even if some will insist it was just luck.

Two years ago, in the final against the Whites,

they took the joy of victory away from us.

Fifty seconds before the end of the game,

they got a lucky bounce.

A nice bit of play from the Whites.

He launches it…

and scores!

An incredible goal!

An incredible goal gives the Whites the lead!

The Whites lead, six goals to five and a half!

Mamma mia! An incredible goal!

In an act of desperation!

That year we proved that you have to stay focused

from the beginning to the very end, or else the other team will win.

We lost to them in the final by half a point. And this has left me with…

a lump in my throat.

I want to win what we lost two years ago.

Three times "Reds!"

Reds!

Three times "Reds!"

Reds!

Come on, all together!

Scream if you want to win! Come on!

Count of three: one, two, three…

One, two, three…

Come on!

For nearly 500 years,

cheers like this have echoed through the streets of Florence.

But the roots of calcio extend even deeper into history.

Calcio storico Fiorentino is a 2000-year-old tradition.

It's the most ancient of Florence's traditions.

In 59 BC,

when Roman legionnaires founded the colony of Florentia,

they would play to keep fit.

The current version of the game

is the one that was played on February 17th, 1530,

to mock the imperial army.

It's a history that everyone here is proud of.

My name is Dario Nardella,

mayor of Florence.

Behind me is a beautiful fresco

which depicts the siege of Florence.

And in February, 1530,

while the battle raged outside the city walls,

the Florentines organized a game to show the enemy

that the Florentines were still very strong and full of energy.

So much so, that they organized a great day of celebrations

with this game.

And it has represented the spirit of Florence to the present day.

- No? Good? - That was very good! Yeah.

With resources scarce during the siege,

the prize that year was a cow;

cooked and shared between the teams and spectators.

Today,

the prize is still a cow.

But no one eats the cow.

The cow just walks the catwalk,

like a model,

then returns to its stall at the end of the game.

There is no compensation given to any calcio player.

It's all voluntary work.

Since you don't get paid, what motivates you to play?

The main reason I play is for Florence and for all of its glory.

We love this tradition

because we love Florence, our district, our color.

You have to live this tradition

to really understand why we do it for love and not for money.

Calcio storico gives me a story, a meaningful life.

I'm part of a tradition and it's beautiful.

Sure, money is important, but…

having a story is more important.

Alright. Everything's ready.

What's the little man doing?

Daddy's going to work.

Give me a hug. A big, big hug.

Bye, sweetie.

- Bye! - Bye, have a nice day!

You too!

Okay. So, let me check the drive.

The program on the drive.

For 12 years, I've been an electronic technician

at a pharmaceutical company.

You're in business. Perfect.

For sure, my look doesn't fit my workplace.

When I go back to work, I'll shave my head

and get rid of the lines.

I'm a security guard at a night club here in Florence.

I work with players from other teams.

We see each other on the weekends, so…

calcio storico is something you live with all year.

To make ends meet, I'm a PE teacher…

Faster!