AS Roma

AS Roma, in full Associazione Sportiva Roma, also called i Lupi (Italian: “the Wolves”), Italian professional football (soccer) team based in Rome. AS Roma has been an almost constant presence in Italy’s top league, Serie A, throughout its history. It is one of the best-supported teams in the country.

AS Roma was founded in 1927 and joined Serie A upon the league’s formation in 1929. Relegated from the league only once, during the 1951–52 season, Roma is second only to Inter Milan in total seasons spent in Serie A. Roma has won the league title three times (1941–42, 1982–83, and 2000–01). The club has also won the Italian Cup nine times and the Italian Super Cup twice (2001, 2007). Moreover, Roma has reached the Italian Cup final on seven other occasions.

The club plays in Rome’s Olympic Stadium; built for the 1960 Olympic Games and renovated for the 1990 World Cup, it can accommodate more than 80,000 spectators. The ground is shared with Roma’s fierce rival, SS Lazio, and matches between the pair tend to be intense.

Few managers have enjoyed long reigns at Roma since the 1960s. Fabio Capello, who spent five and a half seasons with the club (1999–2004), remains one of the longest-serving. In contrast, many Roma players spend most or all of their careers with the club. Notable Roma players include the Brazilian defenders Cafu and Aldair, Argentinean striker Gabriel Batistuta, and the long-serving Italian attacker Francesco Totti, who is also the club’s all-time leading goal scorer.