The Vatican City Championship (; ) is the top men's association football league of Vatican City. Founded in 1972 as the Coppa Amicizia, teams are composed of workers representing various state departments. Teams are permitted to field an outside player from Italian amateur teams to play as goalkeeper, and players combine to form the Vatican City national team for rare friendly matches. The Vatican football association, Federazione Vaticanese Giuoco Calcio, is not a member of FIFA and is overseen by its president Domenico Ruggiero as of May 2014. All matches are played at the Associazione Sportivo La Salle complex in Western Rome, although the larger Campo Cardinale Francis Joseph Spellman served as home until recently. The league has amateur status with matches and training taking place outside of work hours. Matches take place on Mondays and Tuesdays. Equipment and uniforms are occasionally donated by organizations and benefactors with deficits being covered by the Vatican government. The league takes place between October and May each year with a two-month break in December and January.
History The first organized football took place in the Vatican in 1947 when a four-team league was staged. The final that year was contested between Pontifical Villas and the Fabbrica di San Pietro. The league was suspended shortly after creation because of fierce competitiveness. Only friendly matches were allowed for the next two decades until another league was reformed in 1966. Seven teams competed during the first season with employees of L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, claiming the first championship. The current league was founded as the Coppa Amicizia, later renamed the Campionato della Citta Vaticano, by Sergio Valci who was former president of the FA and a Vatican healthcare employee until his death in 2012.
A secondary cup known as the Coppa ACDV was created in 1985. It was renamed the Coppa Sergio Valci in 1994. The Vatican Supercoppa began in 2005 and sees the winner of the Campionato della Citta Vaticano face the Coppa ACDV winners.
Teams in the 2019–20 season TeamsDirTel TeamFortitudo 2007Pontificia Università LateranenseArchivio SegretoDirsecoFC GuardiaMusei VaticaniRappresentativa OPBG Source: Sport in Vaticano
Champions SeasonChampions(number of titles)Coppa Vaticano 1947 Final abandonedCoppa Amicizia 1973 Osservatore Romano (1) 1974 Governatorato (1) 1975–1978 Not held 1979 Astor Osservatore Romano (2) 1980 Not heldCampionato della Citta Vaticano 1981 Malepeggio Edilizia (1) 1982 Hercules Biblioteca (1) 1983SS HermesLater renamed Musei Vaticani (1) 1984 Virtus VigilanzaLater renamed Gendarmeria (1) 1985 Teleposte (1) 1986 Teleposte (2) 1987 Tipografia Osservatore Romano (3)SeasonChampions(number of titles) 1988 Servici Tecnici (1) 1989 Associazione S.S. Pietro e Paolo (1) 1990 Dirseco (1) 1991 Dirseco (2) 1992 Associazione S.S. Pietro e Paolo (2) 1993 Dirseco (3) 1994 Dirseco (4) 1995 Dirseco (5) 1996–2000 Not held 2001 Associazione S.S. Pietro e Paolo (3) 2002–2004 Not held 2005 Galacticos Musei Vaticani (2) 2006 AS Cirioni (1) 2007 AS Cirioni (2) 2008 Associazione S.S. Pietro e Paolo (4) 2009 Gendarmeria (2)SeasonChampions(number of titles) 2010 Dirseco (6) 2011 Dirseco (7) 2012 Dirseco (8) 2013 San Pietro Team (1) 2014 San Pietro Team (2) 2015 Musei Vaticani (3) 2016 Musei Vaticani (4) 2017 Santos (1) 2018 Rappresentativa OPBG (1) 2019 Rappresentativa OPBG (2) 2020–2021 Not held 2022 Rappresentativa OPBG (3) 2023 Rappresentativa OPBG (4) 2024 Santos (2) 2025 Archivio Calcio (1) 2026 Archivio Calcio (2)
Source:
Top scorers SeasonTeamScorerGoalsRef.1973–2006Unknown2007Musei VaticaniAlessandro Quarta2008Cirioni-FortitudoCorrado Rossi2009–2010Unknown2011Dirseco Armando Goxhaj152012–2014Unknown2015Musei VaticaniAlessandro Quarta192016Fortitudo 2007/PantheonFlaviano Sperati202017DirTelArmando Goxhaj222018Fortitudo 2007Flaviano Sperati162019DirsecoSanto Morabito20<ref name="COPPA VATICANA 2018 – 2019
Notable former players and coaches Gabriele Giordano Caccia - Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon / Dino da Costa-former Italian international Source(s):
See also Sport in Vatican City Index of Vatican City–related articles
References
Footnotes
External links Official Vatican Sports
See also Vatican City national football team Coppa Sergio Valci Clericus Cup