OOC: BWAHAHAHAH! Had not realised until now that good old Winston Churchill is the inventor of the airplane.
Story time!
Torneo Imperial de Balompié Español
The entrance of balompié in the Empire of Spain was through some migrants and workers that had left England to try their luck in the Spanish mines and factories, during the 1870s. Although many people in England think that the game originated in their mines, in fact balompié first appeared among Spanish meat workers while they were on a strike. They spent their free time playing the game, and when asked about it, the workers taught the game to others. This would slowly expand to all of the Empire, following the internal migration routes.
The first teams appeared in the year 1879. Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, La Habana and San Juan had at least two organized teams by the end of the year, and Jaipur, Tehotihuacan and Manila had one. By the year 1885, teams in nearby cities were already playing against each other, and these games would attract a lot of people, who watched amazed how the players kicked the ball one way and the other, and cheered when goals were scored.
By 1895, the development of the railway network and of faster ships allowed teams to travel greater distances in order to play against other teams in the same regions. The first match between a Peninsular and another team was a match between the Habaneros and the Madrid CB, which was won by Madrid CB 1-3.
Five years later, in the advent of the first Olympic Games, held in Athens, representatives of the main teams of all of the Empire met, and agreed about the possibility that maybe they could hold a tournament that encompassed the whole Empire. They turned to the Ministry of Public Instruction, which was the one more related to the world of culture, and asked of them to authorize and help organize a tournament. Seeing in this idea a great one that could help keep people's spirits up, the Ministry started to organize a tournament that encompassed the whole empire. Given the extension of the Empire of Spain, it would be necessary to divide it in regions, so that most teams could just play against each other in their different regions, and then the best teams of each region would play in a shorter tournament that would determine the winner of the tournament.
The tournament, or
Torneo Imperial de Balompié Español (TIBE), had as a prize a cup made of gold-plated aluminum that was engraved with the name of the winning team and the year it had been achieved, and the winning team could also engrave the names of the players if they so desired.
The first tournament would be held in the whole nation in the year 1901, with great success and attendance, thus convincing more teams to join the tournament and play for the glory of victory and of earning the
Copa del Emperador, as the trophy was named soon...
The 8 Regions, each of which provides 4 teams for the finals, are:
- África Norte: formed by Spanish North Africa, Islas Canarias and Cabo Verde. Representatives in the first TIBE: Piratas de Orán, Santacruceros de Tenerife, Nómadas de Trípoli, Estrecheros de Tánger.
- África Sur: formed by Spanish South Africa, Madagascar, Guinea and the South Atlantic Islands. Representatives in the first TIBE: Oradores de Luanda, Cafeteros de Bata, Merinos de Tananarivo, Anglos de Malvinas.
- Caribe: formed by the Caribbean Islands. Representatives in the first TIBE: Habaneros de La Habana, Navegantes de San Juan, Veleteros de Bermuda, Salvadores de Samana.
- España: formed by Peninsular Spain, the Balearic Islands, Malta and Sicily. Representatives in the first TIBE: Caballeros de Madrid, Fogoneros de Bilbao, Águilas de Palermo, Leones de La Valeta
- Suez: formed by Egypt and the Holy Land. Representatives in the first TIBE: Libreros de El Cairo, Peregrinos de Jerusalén, Comerciantes de Beirut, Barqueros de Suez.
- India: formed by Spanish India. Representatives to the first TIBE: Príncipes de Jaipur, Batalladores de Mumbai, Vascos de Goa, Sacros de Kochi.
- Pacífico Este: formed by Nueva León and Eastern Pacific Islands. Representatives to the first TIBE: Aztecas de Tenochtitlán, Leales de Culiacán, Nativos de Nuevo Tenerife, Imperiales de Reynosa.
- Pacífico Oeste: formed by Philippines, Spanish China and Western Pacific Islands. Representatives to the first TIBE: Jungleros de Manila, Juncos de Fuzou, Marcopolos de Hangzhou, Independiente de Agaña.
There are also talks of the possibility of forming a national football team for potential international matches.