A superb write-up about the relationship between football and the society of a nation vis-a-vis Italian football
Italian Football, a Mirror of a Society in Crisis
In the 1980s and 1990s, Italy’s Serie A was the world’s leading football league. But as financial interests asset-strip once-great clubs and the terraces become home to harshening racist abuse, Italian football no longer looks like such a “beautiful game.”
The year 2019 marked the ninetieth anniversary of Italy’s leading football championship, Serie A. Both a blessing and a curse for millions of fans around Italy and the world, this league is the sacrament of a “sort of fanatical civic religion.” Italians long dedicated their Sundays to Serie A above all else, before matches started spreading to weekdays at the TV schedulers’ behest.
But Italian football hasn’t always been what it is now. A particular change came with the Viareggio Charter of 1926, a foundational text that heralded both professionalization and the creation of Serie A. This document was driven by two forces that would almost immediately come to shape football in Italy — industry and politics.
This was first visible in the opening up of the transfer market for players. The late-1920s turn from amateur to professional football (on the news agenda again today, thanks to the development of the women’s game) allowed the owners of the big Northern clubs to strengthen their lineups without simply paying players under the table.
In this same period, political figures imposed their control over a sport that was already capturing mass attention — not least the main inspirer of the Viareggio Charter, Leandro Arpinati, a football federation (FIGC) and Olympic Committee (CONI) president who was also Blackshirt chief in Bologna and the city’s mayor under fascism. Together with the turn to professionalism, the charter brought about a single national championship, in harmony with the newly consolidated fascist regime’s nationalist rhetoric.
At its height in the 1980s and 1990s, Serie A was the world’s foremost football league, playing a decisive role in shaping the modern game. It has, however, lagged behind its foreign competitors in recent years, in particular England’s Premier League. For all that, it remains a fascinating if distorted mirror of Italian society, with all its hopes, contradictions, and suffering.
John Foot, author of Calcio: A History of Italian Football, is one of the leading historians of Italian society and popular culture. For the University of Bristol lecturer, it is “almost impossible to comprehend Italy without understanding football — and vice versa.” On the weekend that the Supercoppa Italiana final was contested in a Saudi stadium, Foot spoke to Giacomo Gabbuti and Francesco Santimone about how money, nationalism, and migration have crafted the national sport — and how football has itself shaped society.
GG/FS
Let’s start from the beginning. It’s 110 years since the birth of the FIGC football federation. Its nationalist connotations were apparent even in its decision to call the game “calcio” — the only case worldwide where football authorities did not adopt a calque or translation of the English term (fútbol, fußball, etc.). This was a bid to create an “autarchic” pseudo-tradition in continuity with the calcio storico of sixteenth-century Florence. In 1909, the national team played its first game, and — amid a sharp dispute over the number of foreign players hired by clubs like Internazionale — it took to the field in an all-white kit, in homage to the all-Italian club Pro Vercelli. Today, the national team’s all-green Rinascimento kit has stirred controversy, in a break from the traditional sky-blue harking back to the Savoy monarchy abolished in 1946 (giving the team its name, the azzurri). Has the traditional embrace between nationalism and football been inverted — with the footballing world becoming aware of its role as a buffer to rising nationalist impulses?
Serie A is still a brilliant championship to watch. It still has that combination of sophisticated tactics, high-class defending, and crumbling but fascinating stadiums. Stereotypes linked to catenaccio [defensive play focused on “locking down” the opposition, associated with low-scoring matches] are ridiculous, and are only used by those who don’t watch Italian football.
But Italian football is quite difficult to watch. The TV rights have been badly handled. In this way, Serie A has been marginalized over time. Somebody else has to win. A championship where only Juventus ever triumph is not a healthy place, for anyone, not even for Juventus itself. Atalanta provide some hope, and Inter are competitive at last. But Milan and Napoli seem to be in long-run decline, and there is no sign of a return for Milan to the glories of the Berlusconi era.
As for Italy, the future doesn’t appear bright. It has a political system that simply doesn’t work anymore, and — waiting in the wings — a confident and intelligent right-wing movement. This movement is ready to take power, and to use that power to foment further anger and run a permanent election campaign against migrants and “do-gooders.”
Moreover, Italy hasn’t produced a truly world-class star since Andrea Pirlo retired. There are many good players coming through, but nobody of the class of that previous generation. The brain drain has taken its toll, even in the world of football. The future is unwritten, but further decline appears somewhat — sadly — inevitable.
Phrangki Buam scored 24 goals this year in local leagues. I hope some clubs are tracking him. Aizawl/Chennai City FC should take him in loan atleast as he is one of the exciting youngsters that we have.
Thanks for the info, @sparta, but this post should have been in the "Indian State Leagues and Tournaments Thread". This thread is for information about the football leagues of other countries.
It would be better if the Other leagues thread is renamed as Other leagues international or something as I couldn't locate the other thread and I thought it's the same.
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Italian Football, a Mirror of a Society in Crisis
In the 1980s and 1990s, Italy’s Serie A was the world’s leading football league. But as financial interests asset-strip once-great clubs and the terraces become home to harshening racist abuse, Italian football no longer looks like such a “beautiful game.”
The year 2019 marked the ninetieth anniversary of Italy’s leading football championship, Serie A. Both a blessing and a curse for millions of fans around Italy and the world, this league is the sacrament of a “sort of fanatical civic religion.” Italians long dedicated their Sundays to Serie A above all else, before matches started spreading to weekdays at the TV schedulers’ behest.
But Italian football hasn’t always been what it is now. A particular change came with the Viareggio Charter of 1926, a foundational text that heralded both professionalization and the creation of Serie A. This document was driven by two forces that would almost immediately come to shape football in Italy — industry and politics.
This was first visible in the opening up of the transfer market for players. The late-1920s turn from amateur to professional football (on the news agenda again today, thanks to the development of the women’s game) allowed the owners of the big Northern clubs to strengthen their lineups without simply paying players under the table.
In this same period, political figures imposed their control over a sport that was already capturing mass attention — not least the main inspirer of the Viareggio Charter, Leandro Arpinati, a football federation (FIGC) and Olympic Committee (CONI) president who was also Blackshirt chief in Bologna and the city’s mayor under fascism. Together with the turn to professionalism, the charter brought about a single national championship, in harmony with the newly consolidated fascist regime’s nationalist rhetoric.
At its height in the 1980s and 1990s, Serie A was the world’s foremost football league, playing a decisive role in shaping the modern game. It has, however, lagged behind its foreign competitors in recent years, in particular England’s Premier League. For all that, it remains a fascinating if distorted mirror of Italian society, with all its hopes, contradictions, and suffering.
John Foot, author of Calcio: A History of Italian Football, is one of the leading historians of Italian society and popular culture. For the University of Bristol lecturer, it is “almost impossible to comprehend Italy without understanding football — and vice versa.” On the weekend that the Supercoppa Italiana final was contested in a Saudi stadium, Foot spoke to Giacomo Gabbuti and Francesco Santimone about how money, nationalism, and migration have crafted the national sport — and how football has itself shaped society.
Let’s start from the beginning. It’s 110 years since the birth of the FIGC football federation. Its nationalist connotations were apparent even in its decision to call the game “calcio” — the only case worldwide where football authorities did not adopt a calque or translation of the English term (fútbol, fußball, etc.). This was a bid to create an “autarchic” pseudo-tradition in continuity with the calcio storico of sixteenth-century Florence. In 1909, the national team played its first game, and — amid a sharp dispute over the number of foreign players hired by clubs like Internazionale — it took to the field in an all-white kit, in homage to the all-Italian club Pro Vercelli. Today, the national team’s all-green Rinascimento kit has stirred controversy, in a break from the traditional sky-blue harking back to the Savoy monarchy abolished in 1946 (giving the team its name, the azzurri). Has the traditional embrace between nationalism and football been inverted — with the footballing world becoming aware of its role as a buffer to rising nationalist impulses?
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Serie A is still a brilliant championship to watch. It still has that combination of sophisticated tactics, high-class defending, and crumbling but fascinating stadiums. Stereotypes linked to catenaccio [defensive play focused on “locking down” the opposition, associated with low-scoring matches] are ridiculous, and are only used by those who don’t watch Italian football.
But Italian football is quite difficult to watch. The TV rights have been badly handled. In this way, Serie A has been marginalized over time. Somebody else has to win. A championship where only Juventus ever triumph is not a healthy place, for anyone, not even for Juventus itself. Atalanta provide some hope, and Inter are competitive at last. But Milan and Napoli seem to be in long-run decline, and there is no sign of a return for Milan to the glories of the Berlusconi era.
As for Italy, the future doesn’t appear bright. It has a political system that simply doesn’t work anymore, and — waiting in the wings — a confident and intelligent right-wing movement. This movement is ready to take power, and to use that power to foment further anger and run a permanent election campaign against migrants and “do-gooders.”
Moreover, Italy hasn’t produced a truly world-class star since Andrea Pirlo retired. There are many good players coming through, but nobody of the class of that previous generation. The brain drain has taken its toll, even in the world of football. The future is unwritten, but further decline appears somewhat — sadly — inevitable.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/12/italian-football-serie-a-john-foot-calcio-soccer?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=7d7db156d7fffc400c373a55bddc2c9104b86f79-1577682896-0-AYvbsoP2iH2LlkGSWMrl7hS_m4K5ROJj0KaH4YdokJ7yQAyJcV_WOTy4uZHxB-8e3eqULIreJayoLf8NvvzLsWdtD5MFPBx4rQUhfrOVtedzV47q0BBmrQqo9ElVVgNj2Q1xxaHlN59NmJfegb1i1s1ximrDzL3JtkM88LZD_hRLYmwvdy3dCuYbD-xLCGRAIxQNJAmZZHryRzQnOuKAShQQfpYBZnqMehdTFj3wD1Nf7pAI8kEWgXcn6RcJHq3eE-lMrAgCb1PSjDZuRdjEAO0M_rIh_PJFHFoDC1aTcZ4g9kDouuoLXsAuZt6LB_S0OtK5kJYSOWCp59oCiZihqFoqNvsCXNP-j1NwfmwVzm2zdpIti9y97MYNVrSBJ1drz9YqHw8byLwd8leTaUaKGAg
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