Calcio: A History of Italian Football

Started as I was going to Bologna and Florence to watch games and it was a fantastic guide. I feel I have a greater appreciation of the Italian game and culture. I’m glad Serie A is having a rise in popularity

A must read for fans of Italian football and Italian culture. What surprised me most about the book was how it captured the impact football has on the Italian way of life, including its deep-rooted relationships with politics, business and culture. The book covers all aspects of Italian football. The very beginnings, the tactics, the star players and renowned managers, referees, club ownership, media coverage, scandals, national team performances - it is all really very thorough. The only disappointment for me however, was its coverage of Serie A during the 1990s and 00s. I, like many football fans of a certain age, fell in love with Italian football thanks to Channel 4's Football Italia TV show. For me the golden age of Italian football was in the 1990s and I would have loved to have read more about this decade. Whilst the 90s is covered, it is written about in lesser detail when compared to other decades.

Good read.

This is a thorough, fascinating and highly readable historical account of football in Italy, written by John Foot, a historian, writer and football fan. He's clearly spent much time in Italy and the book benefits from that, as he shows intimate knowledge of the language, habits and culture, yet at the same time, he brings the objective perspective of an outsider. The book isn't a chronological history, rather it has many themed chapters that deal with important events, players, owners, etc, that have had an influence on the game in Italy. This is an excellent approach that really allows for clear insights into issues such as the role of foreigners, attitudes to referees and the law, and corruption and political influence, as well profiling some of the great players in each position and explaining Italian attitudes to tactics and coaching. Foot's style is easy to read, and mixes much light humour with a genuine sense of passion for his subject, while there is also much poignancy as he recounts many of the disasters that have affected Italian football. Particularly interesting were the chapters on city rivalries (Milan/Inter, Juventus/Torino, Roma/Lazio etc) and the insights into the way in which foreign superstars such as Diego Maradona and John Charles influenced Italian football and its fans.A highly recommended read.

I really enjoyed this book. It is quite an epic read. I first discovered Italian football around the time of the great Sacchi team of Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Baresi, Maldini, etc. Serie A used to be the best league around. Although it is now lagging behind England, Spain and Germany I still have great affection for calcio.

Taught me a vast amount about Italian football.

Having grown up through the days of Rivera, Mazzola, Sivori, Charles when Italian football was the most important thing in everyone's life, this book gave me a very good background of the way the modern game has developed in Italy. Controversial in parts with its description of certain characters (Nereo Rocco for one), but accurately puts its finger on the reasons for calcio's decline over the years: betting scandals, corruption, doubts about results, endless court cases, violence in the grounds. And throughout all this the national side managed to win 2 World Cups since 1982!The more recent times, with Maradona, Van Basten, Gullit, Baggio, Paolo Rossi, Baresi, Maldini and hundreds of world class players appearing in Serie A are well worth pondering over; back in the 1980-1990 all the best players in the world competed in what was then the best league in the world. A far cry from today's half-full arenas.I can't recommend this book highly enough.

An absolute must for anyone who wants to know more about the beautiful game in Italy. Cultural, Political and Geographical narratives a-plenty, with protagonists explained, eulogized and denounced. Local and nation idiosyncrasies laid out for the reader to explain how 'calcio' like anything in Italian culture evokes passion, fervor and an appreciation as the game as art like so many things in Italian culture. Well structured, enjoyed with a short-coffee ala James Richardson' in Piazza del Duomo. Highly recommended.