Retro Classic: Football Italia Intro Sees Paul Gascoigne And James Richardson Combine To Create Comedy Gold, 1995 (Video)

Chris Wright

7th, September 2017

4 Comments

Paul Gascoigne explains his curious headwear to Lazio coach Zdenek Zeman, 1995

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the day that Gazzetta Football Italia aired on Channel 4 for the very first time.

We’ve spoken of our undying love for Football Italia before here on Pies, helping as it did to introduce a wide-eyed young fan to a world of football beyond watching Wolves grind out dull, mud-specked draws with Leicester City on Central Match Live every sodding weekend.

Part of the appeal was of course James Richardson, a man so effortlessly good at his job that it is still positively sickening to this day.

In his role as host and calcio shaman, Richardson’s jocular, informed presence gave Football Italia a welcoming aura, without ever resorting to the tedious guffawing b*nter that continues to pervade all walks of British football coverage.

Still, the programme wasn’t without its fair share of comedic gold, as this slickly performed opening gambit with a freshly-shorn Paul Gascoigne (then of Lazio) duly proves…

For those not fluent in Geordie, allow us to furnish you with a transcription:

Gazza: “I’m sick to death of you. Honestly, you come here, you’re crawling, you’re a creep, you’re snivelling, you pester me, I’ve got no peace with you and I know the story with you and the goat! Now go on, out!”

AC Jimbo: “And what did you say, Paul?”

Gazza: “Yes, Mr Zeman (Lazio coach), but will you let me play on Sunday?”

See what they did there? Magical stuff. Almost on par with Jimbo’s classic pun-laden double act with Elvis Costello up in the gantry at Fiorentina’s Stadio Artemio Franchi.

And, of course, it would be utterly remiss of us to mention Football Italia without mentioning *that* opening sequence…

GOALACCIO, indeed.

Posted in Featured, Newsnow, Retro, Serie A, Videos

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4 Comments

  1. Liam says:

    What an era. Des Lynam on MOTD. Grandstand. Trans World Sport. Euro ’96. Champions League on ITV

  2. James Taylor says:

    Gascoigne looks like he should be holding a small cymbol and chanting at an airport.

  3. Geraldo says:

    From the moment we heard that “feem toon” C4 had us hooked. Just as a matter of interest the name of the track is “I’m Stronger Now” by Definitive Two; I was DJ’ing back then (and still do a bit now) and was sent a 12″ promo copy by Deconstruction Records which was one of my biggest floorfillers for weeks.

  4. Geraldo says:

    As soon as we heard that “feem toon” (and saw Attilio Lombardo’s bald head) C4 had us hooked.

    Just out of interest, the name of the track is “I’m Stronger Now” and was recorded by Definitive Two; I was DJ’ing quite a lot back then (and still do a bit now!) and was sent a 12″ vinyl promo by Deconstruction Records which became one of my biggest floorfillers for weeks.

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