View source for AS Roma

=== Foundation ===
[[File:FerrarisIV.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Attilio Ferraris]], Roma captain during their formative years]]
[[File:A.S. Roma - 98 Anni (1927—2025).jpg|thumb|[[Mural]] in Rome in honor of Roma's 98th anniversary]]
AS Roma was founded in the spring of 1927 when Italo Foschi<ref name = lastoria/> initiated the merger of three older [[Italian Football Championship]] clubs from the city of Rome: [[Roman F.C.|Roman FC]], [[S.S. Alba-Audace Roma|SS Alba-Audace]] and [[Fortitudo-Pro Roma S.G.S.|Fortitudo-Pro Roma SGS]].<ref name = lastoria/> Foschi was an important Roman representative of the ruling [[National Fascist Party]].<ref name=HallHodges>{{cite news |last1=Hall |last2=Hodges-Ramon |first1=Richard |first2=Luca |date=11 December 2014 |title=Roma: Serie A alternative club guide |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/dec/11/roma-serie-a-alternative-club-guide |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=[[London]] |publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited |access-date=18 May 2020 |archive-date=27 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227211737/https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/dec/11/roma-serie-a-alternative-club-guide |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Testa |last2=Armstrong |first1=Alberto |first2=Gary |date=2010 |title=Football, Fascism and Fandom: The UltraS of Italian Football |location=[[London]] |edition=1st |publisher=[[A&C Black|A&C Black Publishers Limited]] |page=31 |isbn=978-1-4081-2371-3 }}</ref>

The purpose of the merger was to give the Italian capital a strong club to rival that of the more dominant [[Northern Italy|Northern Italian]] clubs of the time.<ref name="lastoria">{{cite web|url=http://www.asroma.it/DocList.aspx?Categoria=42|website=asroma.it|title=La Storia|archive-date=23 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223014855/http://www.asroma.it/DocList.aspx?Categoria=42 |publisher=AS Roma|language=it}}</ref> The only major Roman club to resist the merger was [[S.S. Lazio|Lazio]] because of the intervention of the army General Vaccaro, a member of the club and executive of [[Italian Football Federation]] (FIGC).
All three founding clubs were [[Serie B|relegated]], but the fascist-aligned FIGC bet over the capacity of the new team to give a stronger representation to the capital of Italy, and they were awarded a [[Wild card (sports)|wild card]] for the {{lang|it|[[Divisione Nazionale]]|italic=no}}, the Serie A forerunner. The club played its earliest seasons at the Motovelodromo Appio stadium,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://albionroad.com/club-profiles/roma.html |publisher=AlbionRoad.com |title=A.S. Roma |date=24 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414212915/http://albionroad.com/club-profiles/roma.html |archive-date=14 April 2008 }}</ref> before settling in the working-class streets of [[Testaccio]], where it built an all-wooden ground Campo Testaccio; this was opened in November 1929.<ref name = "Testaccio" /> An early season in which Roma made a large mark was the [[1930–31 Serie A|1930–31]] championship, where the club finished as runners-up behind {{lang|it|[[Juventus]]|italic=no}}.<ref name = league/> Captain [[Attilio Ferraris]], along with [[Guido Masetti]], [[Fulvio Bernardini]] and [[Rodolfo Volk]], were highly important players during this period.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.asrtalenti.altervista.org/index.php?a=ferraris.htm|publisher=Viva la Roma|title=Attilio Ferraris|date=24 June 2007|access-date=23 September 2007|archive-date=14 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914082245/http://www.asrtalenti.altervista.org/index.php?a=ferraris.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>