ABSTRACT
Never before, have the historical relationships between sport and war provoked more attention among historians. 1 There are undoubtedly several explanations for this convergence of interest, among them the search for national identities in a time of generalised crisis and the deep gap in the historiography which offers scholars promising new questions on which to ponder and the cult of celebrations attached to anniversaries as 2014 approaches. The Great War, indeed, took place in a very particular context and developed through specific characteristics, which continue to fascinate historians.
