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Roma have played against plenty of Premier League teams in pre-season friendlies over the years – as well as some Football League and Scottish sides – but with many being part of package tours in overseas markets, only a few have taken place actually on the British Isles. In both 2024 and 2025, Roma spent some time in England towards the end of their pre-season preparations, using St. George’s Park as a base. During each visit, they played two friendlies apiece against English teams. Another three friendlies in the UK followed in 2026, taking the total number of pre-season friendlies Roma have ever played in England or Scotland into double figures. Here, Giallorossi Yorkshire recaps them all, as well as one for Roma Women. You can also scroll to the end for a full list of Roma friendlies against English, Scottish or Welsh teams played in other parts of the world. 4th May 1970 – Leyton Orient 1-3 Roma Attendance: 7619 Roma XI: De Min, Liguori, Bet, Salvori, Spinosi, Santarini, La Rosa, Cappellini, Landini, Capello, Franzot Goals: La Rosa (19), Cappellini (43), La Rosa (55), Dyson (pen 89) Throughout the 60s, Roma had come to the UK for games in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, European Cup Winners’ Cup and Anglo-Italian League Cup (the latter of which would be classed as a friendly by some, but the less said about losing 4-0 to Swindon Town at the County Ground, the better). Their first visit for a bespoke friendly was in 1970, when they were the esteemed guests for a Leyton Orient side who were celebrating promotion from the Third Division. Roma were already in the UK for the Anglo-Italian Cup and had played Middlesbrough a few days earlier. In between their next fixture in that competition, against West Brom, was a trip to Greater London. A Roma side featuring familiar names such as Fabio Capello and Sergio Santarini saw through a 3-1 win. Midfielder Giacomo La Rosa scored a brace either side of a goal by attacker Renato Cappellini. Interestingly, the hosts were captained by a player with the surname Mancini, but he wasn’t Italian. Unsurprisingly, the two sides have never met since. 31st July 1997 – Celtic 1-0 Roma Attendance: 43895 Roma XI: Konsel, Cafu, Aldair, Servidei, Candela, Di Biagio (Helguera 69), Scapolo (Tommasi 46), Di Francesco, Balbo, Delvecchio (Totti 46), Sergio (Gautieri 69) Goals: Thom or Aldair (OG 31) Roma’s first ever game on the British Isles was in Scotland against Hibernian in 1961, on their journey to winning the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. However, they would not return to Scotland for almost another four decades. In the summer of 1997, one of the pre-season friendlies for new coach Zdenek Zeman was in Glasgow against Celtic. Recent signings like Cafu, Paulo Sergio, Eusebio Di Francesco and Michael Konsel were on display, though none of them were debutants. Meanwhile, Enrico Annoni – who had just left Roma for Celtic – lined up for the visitors. One account of the game in The Scotsman claimed Roma “sometimes seemed to be on holiday” and Zeman’s side, who just three days earlier had been playing in Austria, slipped to a 1-0 defeat. Accounts differ as to whether the goal was scored by Celtic’s Andreas Thom or if it was an own goal by Aldair. 4th August 2007 – West Ham 2-1 Roma Attendance: 26425 Roma XI: Curci, Panucci, Mexès, Kuffour (Cassetti 46; Rosi 60), Tonetto, De Rossi (Barusso 77), Aquilani (Vučinić 70), Esposito (Brighi 55), Giuly (Piț 83), Taddei (Álvarez 77), Totti (Nonda 77) Goals: Giuly (13), McCartney (64), Ashton (68) Continuing the theme of Roma contesting friendlies against British teams they’ve never played competitively, August 2007 saw a trip to London to face West Ham at Upton Park. Kick-off was delayed due to crowd congestion upon entry. When things got underway, Roma took the lead through recent signing Ludovic Giuly. However, West Ham turned the game around in the second half, during which both teams made multiple personnel changes. Indeed, only four members of Luciano Spalletti’s starting lineup completed the full 90 minutes. 10th August 2008 – Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 Roma Attendance: 35841 Roma XI: Artur, Cassetti, Mexès (Loria 62), Juan (Andreolli 75), Riise (Panucci 46), Perrotta, Brighi (Esposito 50), De Rossi, Aquilani, Montella (Okaka 46), Vučinić (Alvarez 75) Goals: Bentley (3), Bent (5), Bentley (45), Lennon (50), Bent (54) In the summer of 2008, both Roma and Tottenham were emerging from a season in which they had each won a domestic trophy. For both clubs though, it would be the start of a long drought of silverware. Coincidentally, their paths crossed that year as Roma visited White Hart Lane. It turned out to be a rather disastrous display by Spalletti’s side, who were sunk by braces by David Bentley and Darren Bent, plus a goal by Leeds-born winger Aaron Lennon. Furthermore, Alberto Aquilani was sent off late for two bookable offences, even though it was a friendly. 3rd September 2023 – Chelsea Women 3-2 Roma Women Roma XI: Ceasar (Korpela 46), Bartoli (Aigbogun 46), Linari, Minami (Valdezate 83), Di Guglielmo, Feiersinger (Greggi 46), Kumagai, Giugliano (Kramžar 66), Glionna (Viens 46), Giacinti (Latorre 66), Haavi (Serturini 77) Goals: Haavi (7), Reiten (25), Giacinti (30), James (37), Beever-Jones (90+3) After winning their first Scudetto in 2022-23, Roma Women tested themselves against one of Europe’s best when visiting Kingsmeadow to face Emma Hayes’ Chelsea in September 2023. Admittedly, Chelsea’s season was scheduled to start a couple of weeks after Roma’s, so the two sides were at different stages of their preparation, but the high quality of the opposition made this a major benchmark for the Giallorosse’s progress. In a thoroughly encouraging sign they could sustain their success, Roma twice took the lead, but eventually lost to a stoppage-time goal. As it was, a tough draw in the Champions League group stage meant Roma’s experience against the English elite couldn’t be carried into the season, but Alessandro Spugna’s side had proven their level and went on to retain their Scudetto (just as Chelsea backed up their WSL trophy) and add the Coppa Italia to make it a double. 6th August 2024 – Roma 4-0 Barnsley Attendance: Behind closed doors Roma XI (first half): Ryan, Sangaré, Kumbulla, Ndicka, Angeliño, Darboe, Le Fée, Costa, Pellegrini, Zalewski, Abraham Roma XI (second half): Ryan, Çelik, Smalling, Mancini, Dahl, Cristante, Pisilli, Soulé, Bove, El Shaarawy, Dybala Goals: Le Fée (2), Pisilli (65), Dybala (68), Soulé (83) As part of Roma’s pre-season preparations in 2024, their first summer with De Rossi as head coach, they embarked on a training camp at St. George’s Park in England, one of the FA’s main bases. In a match that was hastily arranged after a scheduled friendly there against Coventry City was cancelled, Roma faced off with Barnsley in Burton (and sadly not in South Yorkshire). It was the Giallorossi’s first game against a Yorkshire team since playing Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup in 2006. Barnsley did not field their full first team, though, in view of the start of the League One season just a few days after. Roma took the lead practically straight from kick off, boasting almost 100% of the possession by the time Enzo Le Fée stabbed the ball over the line to put them in front. But Barnsley managed to keep the scoreline at 1-0 for the rest of the first half. De Rossi switched his entire outfield lineup for the second half and the intensity rose, with further goals coming in the form of a Niccolò Pisilli header and chips by Paulo Dybala and Matías Soulé. 10th August 2024 – Everton 1-1 Roma Attendance: 31324 Roma XI: Svilar, Çelik, Mancini (Smalling 80), Ndicka, Angeliño, Le Fée (Baldanzi 63), Cristante, Pellegrini (Bove 75), Soulé (Dybala 75), Zalewski (El Shaarawy 46), Dovbyk (Abraham 82) Goals: Pellegrini (39) Calvert-Lewin (61) With Roma’s owners, the Friedkin Group, having explored a takeover of Everton during 2024, a friendly match was arranged between the two clubs for each’s final fixture of that summer’s pre-season schedule. Even after the Friedkins claimed to have pulled out of the takeover, the game went ahead. With Everton preparing for their final season at Goodison Park, Roma were visiting a historic venue. Unlike the Barnsley game a few days earlier, this match was open to fans and more than 30,000 attended. Around 500 of those were Roma supporters, who at most points in the evening were louder than their hosts. De Rossi selected a lineup closer to the one he would be planning for Roma’s season opener the following weekend, and it was captain Lorenzo Pellegrini who put the visitors ahead in the first half after being picked out by Soulé and finishing past England number one Jordan Pickford. Everton equalised in the second half via Sheffield-born striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. 6th August 2025 – Aston Villa 4-0 Roma Attendance: 11000 Roma XI: Svilar, Çelik (Ghilardi 68), Mancini, Hermoso, Wesley (Rensch 69), Koné (Cristante 71), El Aynaoui, Angeliño (Reale 78), Baldanzi (Soulé 57), El Shaarawy (Cherubini 57), Dovbyk Goals: Buendia (15), Ramsey (17), Watkins (40), Malen (85)  For a second summer in a row, Roma embarked on a pre-season training camp at St. George’s Park, this time with Gian Piero Gasperini as head coach – De Rossi not having seen past September in the hotseat. Once again, two friendlies were organised for the trip to England, and thankfully neither were behind closed doors on this occasion. First of all, Roma travelled to Walsall’s Bescot Stadium to face Aston Villa. The Premier League side started quickly and took the lead within a quarter of an hour, before making it 3-0 by half time and adding a fourth just five minutes before the end of the match. The scorer of that last goal was Donyell Malen, who would join Roma a few months later. In front of around 450 Roma supporters, Gasperini gave a debut to new signing Daniele Ghilardi as a substitute. 9th August 2025 – Everton 0-1 Roma Attendance: 50837 Roma XI: Svilar, Ghilardi, Mancini, Hermoso (Çelik 84), Wesley (Rensch 80), Cristante, Koné, Angeliño (El Shaarawy 89), Soulé (Cherubini 84), El Aynaoui (Pisilli 89), Dovbyk (Ferguson 80) Goals: Soulé (70) By the time Roma reunited with Everton a year after taking part in the last friendly at Goodison Park, the Friedkins were officially the owners of both clubs. Roma were chosen as Everton’s opponents for their final test event at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium, with the friendly being followed by a legends match between the two clubs. The performance was improved from a few days earlier, with Roma winning 1-0 thanks to a goal by Soulé. For what it’s worth, the legends match, comprised of two 25-minute halves, went in Everton’s favour by a scoreline of 2-0. 1st August 2026 – Cardiff City 4-1 Roma Attendance: 10705 Roma XI: Svilar, Mancini (Ghilardi 46), Ndicka, Hermoso (Ziółkowski 71), Wesley (Lulli 72), Bah (Mannini 29), Cristante (Panico 87), Rensch (Reale 82), Soulé (Cherubini 81), Dybala (Vaz 71), Castro (Malen 66) Goals: Ashford (3, 39), Salech (30), Dybala (58), Tanner (63) After basing themselves at St. George’s Park for two consecutive summers, Roma made a slight switch in 2026, still coming to the UK but setting up camp in Wales. They took part in three friendlies during their time, the first of which was against a Cardiff City side fresh from promotion to the Championship from League One. Surprisingly, Roma found themselves three goals down by half time. Paulo Dybala pulled one back in the second half, but Cardiff restored their three-goal lead and preserved it by the end of the game. 4th August 2026 – Newport County 1-4 Roma Attendance: 7500 Roma XI: Svilar (Gollini 76), Mancini (Nardin 83), Ndicka (Ziółkowski 75), Koulierakis (Ghilardi 69), Rensch (Lulli 70), El Aynaoui (Panico 82), Cristante (Cherubini 83), Hermoso (Mannini 83), Wesley (Reale 75), Dybala (Soulé 70), Castro (Vaz 70) Goals: Hermoso (37), Castro (54), Koulierakis (59), Soulé (81), Cameron (85) A few days later, Roma were on the right side of a 4-1 scoreline as they overcame Newport County of League Two. But it was harder work than they might have thought; only a goal by Mario Hermoso, playing in a more advanced role than usual, separated the sides at half time. Summer signings Santiago Castro (from the penalty spot) and Konstantinos Koulierakis scored their first unofficial goals for the club to extend the lead in the second half, before Soulé made it four after coming on for Dybala, who was starting to get embroiled in some heated exchanges after not taking kindly to a professional foul by an opponent. Newport pulled a goal back towards the end, when Roma had an entirely different lineup out than the one they’d started with. 8th August 2026 – Brighton 3-0 Roma Attendance: Not reported Roma XI: Svilar, Mancini (Ziółkowski 84), Ndicka (Ghilardi 51), Hermoso (Koulierakis 51), Wesley (Lulli 78), Cristante (Panico 78), El Aynaoui (Mannini 46), Rensch (Reale 78), Soulé (Cherubini 66), Dybala (Castro 66), Malen (Vaz 84) Goals: Rutter (29), Ayari (40, 49) Roma’s 2026 trip to the UK ended with a visit to the Amex Stadium on England’s south coast to take on Brighton for the first time since their meetings in the 2023-24 Europa League. Whereas Roma had made light work of Brighton when it mattered, this was another unconvincing performance which ended in a 3-0 defeat. In a game refereed by Wakefield-born Bobby Madley, former Leeds United forward Georginio Rutter opened the scoring for the Seagulls, before a brace by Yasin Ayari. Roma had no reply. YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Every competitive game Roma have ever played in the UK Roma friendlies against British teams held in other locations: 4th June 1953 – Roma 4-2 Charlton (Rome) 24th May 1960 – Roma 3-2 Chelsea (Rome) 1st June 1963 – Roma 2-3 Manchester United (Rome) 5th June 1963 – Roma 2-1 Leeds United (Rome) 10th May 1964 – Roma 4-1 Cardiff City (Rome) 30th April 1969 – Roma 2-0 Charlton (Rome) 23rd May 1979 – Roma 2-2 Manchester City (Rome) 26th May 1980 – Manchester City 3-2 Roma (USA) 15th November 1981 – Roma 4-1 Brighton (Rome) 11th August 1984 – Roma 2-1 Manchester United (Spain) 1st August 2001 – Roma 1-0 Arsenal (Austria) 1st August 2002 – Roma 1-2 Arsenal (Austria) 26th July 2003 – Roma 2-1 Fulham (Austria) 20th July 2004 – Roma 1-4 Rangers (Austria) 22nd July 2004 – Roma 2-0 Stoke City (Austria) 29th July 2004 – Roma 0-3 Chelsea (USA) 31st July 2004 – Celtic 0-1 Roma (USA) 3rd August 2004 – Roma 1-2 Liverpool (USA) 16th July 2009 – Roma 2-2 Blackburn Rovers (5-4 to Roma on penalties) (Italy) 25th July 2012 – Roma 2-1 Liverpool (USA) 10th August 2013 – Roma 1-2 Chelsea (USA) 23rd July 2014 – Liverpool 0-1 Roma (USA) 26th July 2014 – Manchester United 3-2 Roma (USA) 21st July 2015 – Roma 2-2 Manchester City (7-6 to Man City on penalties) (Australia) 1st August 2016 – Liverpool 1-2 Roma (USA) 25th July 2017 – Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Roma (USA) 25th July 2018 – Roma 1-4 Tottenham Hotspur (USA) 13th July 2022 – Roma 2-0 Sunderland (Portugal) 30th July 2022 – Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Roma (Israel) This article was originally published on 19th June, 2024, and has been updated since.