Alumni Athletic
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| Full name | Alumni Athletic Club of Archangels | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Rizos (The Rizos) Magistrati (The Magistrates) | ||
| Short name | Alumni | ||
| Founded | 1 March 1919 | ||
| Ground | Nikola Berikashvilis Stadioni | ||
| Capacity | 23,200 | ||
| President | Ekhos Sabauri | ||
| Manager | Lito Balanchivadze | ||
| League | Satsolivelos Bolnisiliga | ||
| 2023 | Bolnisiliga, 2nd of 22 | ||
| |||
The Alumni Athletic Club of Archangels, commonly referred to simply as Alumni, is a football association club of Salikhia. It was founded on March 1, 1919 in the city of Mtavarangelozi, after the union of Rubum Athletic and Virtus Proclus. It plays its matches at the modest Nikola Berikashvilis Stadioni, with a capacity of 23,200 spectators.
History
The Duel of the Alumni
A Rizealander general, named Zachariah Wolff, was hired to lead the first regular Salikhian Legions and train them in the use of modern armaments in 1882. He embarked on the adventure with a group of assistants and a couple of soldiers, and was granted an old fortification rebuilt with funds from the State of Salikhia, which was named in Zachariah's honor as 'Fort Wolff'. In that area functioned the legendary Rubum Institutus, with Solarian (Latin) and Sotirianist (Catholic, contrary to the orthodox faith of the state) connections. Over time, the colony expanded, which caused the student body of the Rubum to grow, and its influence allowed the adoption of Estmerish (English) as the official language within the institution, along with Solarian (Latin).
These immigrants would introduce soccer to the city of Mtavarangelozi, which was quickly seen as a novelty by the locals, who were interested in practicing it. In the last decade of the 19th century, it became common for Rubum's rizealander students to practice soccer on its large campus; this caught the attention of the rectorate, which, seeing the rapid advance of the sport in the city, decided to order the creation of an official club, initially called Rubum Athletic Club. An immediate attempt was made to gain membership in the newly formed 'Amateur Archangeline Championship of Football Association' (curiously abbreviated as Archamp in official documents, and later by the common people), which would only be granted in the 1901 edition.
Rubum Athletic would reap great performances in its first years within the Archamp, such as a runner-up in its first participation, and three championships, in 1902, 1903 and 1904; After that, their dominance would be interrupted by Virtus Proclus, the club of the Polytechnic University of Mtavarangelozi, which would win the 1906 championship, automatically becoming Rubum's first rival, a confrontation that would be popularly known as the 'Alumni Duel', since as time went by, the best players were being received from the universities they represented, so that more and more, Rubum and Proclus were evidently made up of more alumni than actual students.
The Rubum were identified by their red clothing, while the Proclus wore white. Rubum were nicknamed 'The Rizos' for their notable Rizealander ancestry, and Proclus were known as 'Proclus Piger' (Lazy Proclus), a derogatory nickname given by Rubum fans for their opponents' tendency to score big in the first half, only to falter and be pegged back in the second half.