Le Aquile (The Eagles),
Founded: 1900, Stadium: Stadio Olimpico, Capacity: 70,634
Società Podistica Lazio was founded in 1900 in the Prati district of Rome and is Rome’s oldest football club. Until 1910, the club played at an amateur level until it officially joined the league competition in 1912 as soon as the Italian Football Federation began organising championships in the center and south of Italy. Lazio is the sixth-most supported football club in Italy and the second in Rome, with around 2% of Italian football fans supporting the club (according to La Repubblica’s research of August 2008). Twice a year, the Stadio Olimpico stands fill with screaming fans, as the supposedly more middle-class Lazio plays the supposedly more working-class main rival Roma in the Derby della Capitale (Rome Derby). It is amongst the most heated and emotional footballing rivalries in the world. Lazio also have a strong rivalry with Napoli and Livorno, as well as with Pescara and Atalanta. The club also maintains strong competitive rivalries with Fiorentina, Juventus and Milan. 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. 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 Zeus (the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology) commonly referred to as Aquila; Lazio’s use of the symbol has led to two of their nicknames; le Aquile (“the Eagles”) and Aquilotti (“Eaglets”). 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.
