Football Italia and Serie A's golden age

Written by Matteo Ciaramella

“Campionato… Di calcio… Italiano”

“GOOOOOLAZOOOOO”

Unless you are a British football fan old enough to remember the 1990s, these words may be confusing to you – some random Italian ramble, right? Well, not exactly. What you have just read was once part of the theme song to one of the highest ever rated morning programmes in the UK: Football Italia on Channel 4.

Football Italia was a show that revolved around Italian football, more specifically Serie A. They incorporated live coverage and match highlights in the mix, as well as gags and funny moments. At its peak, Football Italia attracted over 3 million viewers, providing an entire generation of British football fans with great memories and wonderful entertainment.

But why is this show so iconic and significant? Other than the content displayed, what significance did it hold and how did it come to be?

Our story starts in June of 1985, in the aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster. Following the 39 deaths and 600 injuries of that infamous European Cup final, UEFA imposed a ban on all English clubs, preventing them from participating in future continental competitions. As the years went by, it became clear to the entire football community that this ban led English football down a darker road, as the level of the top flight declined year after year. The ban was lifted in 1990, but by then, the damage had already been done. A five year absence from UEFA competitions allowed another league to take the reins and thrive – I am of course talking about our beloved Serie A. That 1985 European Cup final was in fact, for one reason or another, the beginning of Serie A’s Golden Age. Juventus’ triumph that year put Italian clubs on Europe’s map for the first time since 1969, and the future was bright. Growing league, new superstars, and dominating teams coming up – such as AC Milan and Napoli – made Italian Calcio the most feared weapon in the world of sports during the late 1980s. Two European Cups, one European Super Cup, and an Intercontinental Cup for the Rossoneri, as well as a UEFA Cup on Napoli’s part. Maradona, Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard – these teams were stacked and could obliterate anyone. Italian football grew in popularity and foreign fans could not get enough of it, so, in 1988, Welsh broadcaster S4C picked up some games, with British Satellite Broadcasting following suit two years later.

But this was just the beginning.

After being readmitted into European competitions for the 1990-1991 season, English clubs unfortunately made little to no noise, as Liverpool were banned for an additional year for the responsibility that they held in the Heysel tragedy (and thus, despite being the 1989-1990 English champions, they were not allowed to compete in the European Cup the following season). Aston Villa only made it to the second round of the UEFA Cup, falling to eventual champions Inter Milan. The Cup Winners’ Cup, however, saw Manchester United lift the trophy, but as it turns out, that was not enough to save the English First Division. On July 17th, 1991, the clubs in the top flight signed ‘The Founders Agreement’, thus setting up the basic principles of the FA Premier League. What were these principles, you ask? In simple, rudimentary terms, the new league’s objective was to make more money. More specifically, they wanted to negotiate broadcasting rights as a sole entity and not be tied down to the rules of the ‘English Football League’, according to which TV money had to be spread out among all tiers of professional football. So, true to their mission, Premier League officials ultimately landed a £304 million deal with SkySports, bringing something never seen before in England: pay-per-view broadcasting.

So here we are: 1992 UK. The economy is in the middle of a recession, the level of football is a former shadow of itself, and games now cost money to watch on TV. The attention inevitably shifts to Italy, as the English general public is still drunk on those Italia 90 World Cup nights (during which the Three Lions finished 4th), and most importantly, beloved star Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne moves from Tottenham to Lazio. With Serie A teams breaking record transfer fees left and right, playing beautiful football, and dominating in Europe, Channel 4 saw a golden, or rather, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and acquired the rights to all Serie A games.

The first Serie A broadcast by Football Italia was Sampdoria-Lazio on September 6th, 1992, with the intention of drawing British eyes to Gascoigne. And although ‘Gazza’ was out with an injury, the broadcast attracted 3 million viewers, and thus, the tale of Football Italia and Serie A’s golden age began.

Throughout the 1990s, Serie A teams saw a true golden age: six Ballon d’Ors, 13 European trophies, and 25 finalists. Nothing was given in the league, and 6, if not 7 teams were considered title favorites every season. This invincible peak went hand in hand with Football Italia’s prime, as the programme became the highest rated in Channel 4’s history at the time.

Football Italia was actually composed of two programmes: Football Italia on Sunday afternoons, broadcasting a select game, and Gazzetta Football Italia on Saturday mornings, with highlights of the previous week’s matches and additional content on Italian culture. It is this last aspect, the insight into Italians’ everyday lives and their relationship with football that made Football Italia different from other programmes. Host James Richardson walking around Italian cities, eating some authentic gelato and reading that day’s Gazzetta was the highlight of the show. His interviews with legends such as Roberto Baggio captured football greatness, while gags with English players David Platt and Paul Gascoigne provided UK viewers with some good British ‘banter’, adding a much-appreciated comedic side.

To get a better idea of this programme and why it was so popular, I watched an episode on YouTube. Now, I am not sure if there are others like me out there, but due to my Generation Z upbringing, it is rare for me not to crave the touch of my phone, the feeling of scrolling on the glass screen, and the sight of Instagram stories, posts, and TikTok videos. During ‘boring’ or ‘dead’ parts of certain movies, programmes, or even football games, I often take out my phone and go on social media to satisfy this insatiable need of dopamine and serotonin. All of this is to say that my attention span is quite short, and yet with Football Italia my eyes just could not move away from the screen. 10 minutes of listening to James Richardson’s smooth speech and light jokes, combined with fun highlights commented by Gary Bloom were enough for me to understand why Football Italia is so fondly remembered by the British football community.

During the early 2000s, Football Italia lost quite some traction for one reason or the other. Despite Italian clubs still performing in those years, the Premier League and Spanish LaLiga were starting to catch up and challenge the once undisputed ‘best football league in the world’. Ratings and viewership declined, and in 2002, Channel 4 gave up their broadcasting rights to Eurosport. This was the end of an era, but realistically, the end of the programme. Football Italia bounced around British television for a few years, until the 2006 Calciopoli scandal almost fully tarnished Serie A’s image and sent the programme to a point of no return. After the 2007-2008 season, Football Italia was abandoned and it never made a comeback.

Nowadays, programmes such as Football Italia have lost their charm. The things that made them unique – broadcasting a foreign league and exposing unknown, exciting cultures – are now a lot easier to obtain. The ever-increasing globalization and interconnectedness that drives the current state of the world has supplied us with access to nearly everything we want, so the value that Football Italia held during its best years is now virtually non-existent. Despite that, one can reminisce or look back on simpler times, when watching foreign football was a gift and something to be extremely grateful for.

As the Daily Record put it: “If you grew up in the 90s Channel 4’s Calcio coverage was your life”

References

https://thesporting.blog/blog/remembering-football-italia-and-the-serie-a-of-the-90s

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/serie-a-90s-when-baggio-batistuta-and-italian-football-ruled-world

https://web.archive.org/web/20120319151538/http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/?page_id=1259.html

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/aug/12/sport.obsmagspecial8

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/dec/20/sport.europeanfootball

https://web.archive.org/web/20140203105007/https://www.wsc.co.uk/wsc-daily/1014-May-2011/7239-james-richardson-on-gazzetta-football-italia

https://culturedvultures.com/serie-90s-calcio-boom/

http://www.90sfootball.com/blog/serie-a-in-the-90s.html

https://thesporting.blog/blog/remembering-football-italia-and-the-serie-a-of-the-90s

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/you-grew-up-italia-90s-9447742