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There’s a moment during BT Films’ “Golazzo: The Football Italia Story” that sums the documentary up and Channel 4’s iconic Football Italia show.
More and more documentaries are landing from Netflix and Amazon and this can be added to the list of greats. It is a really enjoyable romp through the pomp of Italian football’s heyday. It is a one-off show, unlike Netflix’s series Sunderland ‘Til I Die, but how much more could be said that Golazzo doesn’t cover?
Golazzo & The Heyday Of Italian Football
Football fans will fondly remember Attilio Lombardo (affectionately known as “the Bald Eagle”), in a surreal and hilarious scene, he is part of a sketch with James Richardson in which both begin to dance.
Consider this in the modern context of football, would a top-class footballer do this, in this day and age? Most definitely not.
The documentary charts how Channel 4 started Football Italia and has interviews with key producers, former players like Paul Ince, and is fronted once more by the excellent James Richardson.
It delivers a heap of nostalgia in just under an hour and rattles along a nice pace too. One area of improvement would have been to discuss further how the show ended (given the rise in football being broadcast wall-to-wall, and the quality of the Premier League surpassing Serie A).
However, this is a minor point.
What Golazzo Tells Us About Football Today
What’s so interested in the world it brings us back to. The documentary discusses how it planned to have Paul Gascoigne as the presenter (!) of the show on Channel 4 back in 1992. Remember, he was a full-time footballer, how could a club even allow this? It is crazy to hear these type of stories in this glossy, PR-led football age we now live in.
Overall, definitely go off and see it when you’ve a chance, it is a really excellent blast from the past.
