From the late 1970s through to the early 2000s, the Italian Serie A was undisputedly known as the Campionato Più Bello Del Mondo, Italian for the most beautiful league in the world. In recent seasons however, big money pumped into the English and Spanish leagues, as well as numerous scandals involving Italian football has seen this reputation tarnished.
But just how accurate is this negative reputation of Serie A?
In my opinion people are simply blinded by a lack of quality international coverage of the Italian game compared to the razzle dazzle of the EPL and La Liga.
Glory Days
From the day in 1980 when Italian calcio reopened its doors to foreigners, it instantly became the showcase of the world’s greatest players, and soon the quality of the league was light years ahead of its English and Spanish counterparts. Big names joined the great clubs of Juventus, Milan and Inter but smaller sides like Ascoli, Udinese and Avellino also managed to sign major foreign names.
Michel Platini, Falcao, Zbignew Boniek and Zico were just four of the world’s greats to move to Serie A in the early 80s as the competition’s prestige rose markedly. They were followed over the next 15 years by Zinedine Zidane, Marco Van Basten, Careca, Gabriel Batistuta, Pavel Nedved and the greatest of all time Diego Maradona. Keep in mind of course that aside from the foreign imports were the great Italians including Roberto Baggio, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Paolo Rossi, and Gaetano Scirea to name just a few.
This tradition continued on until the early part of the new millennium when foreign investors and lucrative TV rights deals helped the English clubs to become the most publicized, most heavily marketed, and above all most wealthy, thus allowing them to buy the world’s best talent.
The Great Provinciali Punching Above Their Weight
One major criticism of Italian football are the low crowd numbers compared to the English and Spanish leagues. Over the last two or three seasons, attendances have certainly been affected by violence, boycotts against unpopular figures (such as Lazio president Claudio Lotito) and a controversial new ticketing system.
However, the major reason for the low figures in Italy is due to the fact that the top flight has always featured clubs from extremely small towns. Currently, Tuscan club Empoli has one of the lowest average crowds in both Serie A and B, despite the fact that it finished seventh last season. The town of Empoli has a population of just 45,000.
A more impressive example is that of Ascoli Calcio, who have enjoyed extended spells in Serie A since the mid-70s. Despite a population of approximately 50,000, Ascoli have managed to pull crowds of up to 35,000 people. This equates to a staggering 70% of the town’s population attending the Del Duca to support their provinciali against some of the heavyweights of European football.
Currently, small town club AlbinoLeffe, from the province of Bergamo, north of Milan, is pushing for promotion to Serie A. AlbinoLeffe draws its support from the small towns of Albino and Leffe which constitutes a total population of approximately 20,000 people. Playing its home matches in the nearby city of Bergamo, should Leffe reach their goal of playing in A, they will probably draw crowds of around 5,000.
Many English and Spanish fans will take pleasure in laughing at these attendances but to Italian fans, watching small provincial clubs playing at the highest level is part of the romance of calcio.
Strength & Depth In The Italian League
Some have attributed the Italian clubs lack of success in the UEFA Cup to be a sign of its lack of depth. A common belief is that beyond Milan, Juventus and Inter, mid-table Italian clubs are simply not at the level of mid-range English and Spanish sides. When you consider that Italian clubs have not taken the UEFA Cup seriously for the best part of a decade, there is no real justification to that judgement.
In fact, the depth of Serie A was underlined recently when a high-flying Roma side was completely outplayed and outclassed by a struggling Siena who went on to record an impressive 3-0 win. Another example is Empoli, second to last, travelling to San Siro to face undefeated Inter, and unlucky not to beat the giants after missing a penalty. Cagliari too, rock-bottom and seemingly set for Serie B football next year, managed to beat Napoli and draw with Juventus to keep their survival hopes alive.
Could a fan of the English Premier League realistically expect a relegation threatened club such as Derby to have a hope of taking even a point at the Emirates or Old Trafford? The answer is no, and when you consider that there are five or six sides in Serie B that are just as good, the Italian game really does have plenty of depth.
In England it is the big four of Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool who are already guaranteed the Champions League places at the start of each season, while the rest of the teams in the league play another 16-team championship between themselves.
The Chievo Verona Story
It is the beginning of the 2006-07 season and the third qualifying round of the Champions League is about to take place. At the Stadio Bentegodi, Chievo Verona, one of the smallest teams to reach Serie A, who over recent years have experienced a fairytale and a meteoric rise up the ranks of calico, are preparing to play Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia. For such a club, who come from Chievo, a town outside Verona with a population of just over 3,000, to be playing in such a competition is a highly impressive feat. They failed to reach the group stages but their appearance was extraordinary all the same.
In what other major league would such a small club ever earn the right to represent their nation in the Champions League?
To make the Chievo story even more interesting, they were relegated at the end of that season, their fate sealed on the final day of the campaign in a scenario whereby up to six sides could mathematically have gone down. the Mussi Volanti finished 18th and were headed to Serie B, just nine months after they had drawn 2-2 with Levski.
To true fans of the Italian game, not those who are blinded by the media hype and aggressive marketing of EPL and La Liga, but those who truly appreciate not only Milan and Juve but also Chievo, Siena and Atalanta, the Italian Serie A always has been, and certainly still is Campionato Più Bello Del Mondo.
