Fun, glamour and chaos: how Gazzetta Football Italia won our hearts

The iconic show which brought Serie A to millions of screens in the UK and Ireland every Saturday celebrates its 30th anniversary. 

WHEN IN ROME: Football Italia presenter, James Richardson.

"Welcome to Serie A – the greatest league in the world.” With those words the late Kenneth Wolstenholme kicked off a new era as Serie A became an institution in living rooms up and down the United Kingdom.

A few weeks earlier coverage of the newly-created, and much-hyped, Premier League had launched on Sky and was supposed to take centre stage. But back then, Serie A dominated every other division and Channel 4 had captured coverage of it for next to nothing. It was the only live football that was free to air in the UK and viewers loved it.