Football Stories
A heated election season, new and uncertain times for football with an ever-increasing sense of urgency within football to deliver positive change. What moments in football history are we looking to highlight in the coming month which might provide us with historical mirrors to the present?
In this article:
COVER Image
Archive photo of Ponziana: Enrico Cavalieri.
Football People
Between 8-22 October, Football Makes History founding partner Fare Network champions grassroots football activism that advances inclusion in all shapes and forms. We will highlight the lives of pioneers in football who have broken ceilings and changed perspectives to allow for more inclusion in the game and combat racism and hate.
Highlights to cherish
We pay close attention to stories – large and small – that connect football to social and cultural developments on the continent. Some of our highlights from November were that on:
- 1 November 1946 a team from Trieste joined the Yugoslavian Prva Liga, The city in that period had 2 teams in 2 different national championships, US Triestina in Italian and ASD Ponziana in Yugoslavian. Our developer Enrico Cavallieri explored this in a social media post (on Facebook and LinkedIn)
- 11 November 1918, the Austrian Republic was founded. Our developer Dario Brentin penned a little social media post (on Facebook and LinkedIn) to look at the role of football in the emergence of this nation-state.
- 18 November 1922, Agustín Gómez de Pagola was born. Check out Agustin de Julio’s article about the Basque in the USSR.
- 20 November 1966, a charity match was played between Wales and a TV stars team to raise money for the victims of the Aberfan disaster. Our developer Marcel Put put together a little social media post (on Facebook and LinkedIn).
- 24 November 1953, Dutch-Jewish referee Leo Horn supervised the “Match of the Century” where England lost to Hungary’s Mighty Magyars. We took a look at his life and war-time experience in our article about the Referee in the Resistance. Our developer Gabriella van Karsbergen translated from the original story posted on the Dutch portal Sportgeschiedenis.
These were just some of the highlights! Explore more of our November stories on our social media. Miss something? Why not tell us if you think we missed something important in November!
Pass the ball around
Our campaign’s content is almost entirely produced by educators. Each day we aim to deliver interesting mini-stories from football’s rich history. These will be posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The content is aimed to support the educational objectives of the Football Makes History project. If you are reading this and have suggestions or ideas for the months ahead, we are most happy to receive those! Join us! Help our team tell the stories that matter.
RELATED STORIES You may also be interested in
A game for equality
Today in 1895, a football game was played as women were claiming equality in a patriarchal society.
My boyfriend, my husband, and my lover
Football was never a boys’ club: the story of a trailblazing woman in the stands.
Have World Cup Team become more diverse over time?
Researchers of the Sport and Nation Programme at Erasmus University Rotterdam conducted an analysis on 4.761 footballers, derived from the fifteen national teams that competed in at least ten editions of the World Cup between 1930 and 2018, which comprises of 301 foreign-born football players.

Football Highlights

May in Football
What moments in football history have we highlighted in the last month? How do they provide us with historical mirrors to the present?

April in Football
What moments in football history have we highlighted in the last month? How do they provide us with historical mirrors to the present?

March in Football
What moments in football history have we highlighted in the last month? How do they provide us with historical mirrors to the present?
May in Football
What moments in football history have we highlighted in the last month? How do they provide us with historical mirrors to the present?
April in Football
What moments in football history have we highlighted in the last month? How do they provide us with historical mirrors to the present?
March in Football
What moments in football history have we highlighted in the last month? How do they provide us with historical mirrors to the present?
LATEST POST You may also be interested in

Formation for Human Rights
A class of high school history students in Oslo was asked to create an ideal starting XI line-up based on Human Rights. Find out why and how it went.

Pass, Shoot, Goal! Football in the Jazz Age – a review
A loving fan and musician put together his two passions and created this compilation of tunes from the Jazz Age.

Mo Salah’s Song to Integration
Prayer days on stadiums, faith rooms and inclusive chants: here is how English football is adapting to a changing world.

Engage young people with football history
Engage young people through Football Makes History’s own Guidebook and Toolkit for promoting social inclusion in formal education or Non-formal settings

21 short stories of football in Amsterdam
Telling the history of a city through football stories: a celebration of Amsterdam.

Angel City FC: An in-vitro football sensation
Angel City FC, the brand new women-majority owned and run club in Los Angeles