brought to Italy during the 1880s. Edoardo Bosio, a merchant worker in the British textile industry, had visited England and experienced the game. He returned to Turin in 1887 and was motivated to help spread football in his homeland. He founded the first football club in Italy - Torino Football and Cricket Club - that year, while Nobili Torino ("Turin Nobles") soon followed. The second club bore the name of noble because it contained the Duke of the Abruzzi and Alfonso Ferrero di Ventimiglia (who would later become a president of Italian Football Federation (FIGC)). The two merged in 1891 to form Internazionale Football Club Torino, Genoa Cricket and Football Club, formed as a cricket club to represent England abroad, was founded by Englishmen in 1893. Three years later in 1896 a man named James Richardson Spensley arrived in Genoa and introduced the football section of the club, becoming its first manager. By 1898 the rival federation FIGC had been formed, with its center originally in Turin and the first president as Mario Vicary. The FIGC created the Italian Football Championship with the four founder clubs being; Genoa, FBC Torinese, Ginnastica Torino and Internazionale Torino. Its first competition was held at Velodromo Umberto I in Turin on 8 May 1898, and was won by Genoa. While it was common for clubs to compete in both FIGC and FNGI competitions early on, the titles won in the FIGC championship are the only ones officially recognised by the modern day league. In the following years, the tournament (called Prima Categoria) was structured into regional groups with the winners of each group participating in a playoff with the eventual winners being declared champions. Until 1904 the tournament was dominated by Genoa, who won 6 titles in 7 years. Between 1905 and 1908 a Final Group among regional champions was contested to award the title and the Spensley Cup. Juventus won his first title and Spensley Cup in 1905, but the two following championships were won by Milan. The Italianisation and the "split" of the Championship In November 1907, the FIF organised two championships in the same season: Italian Championship, the main tournament where only Italian players were allowed to play; the winners would be proclaimed Campioni d'Italia (Italian Champions) and would be awarded the Coppa Buni Federal Championship, a secondary tournament where foreign players (if they lived in Italy) were also allowed to