Channel 4’s Football Italia programme gave many an English schoolboy a glimpse into the foreign and elegant world of Serie A in the early to mid 1990’s.
Pies, like many of our brethren, instantly fell head-over-heels in love with these debonair new teams, their fancy nicknames, Jimbo Richardson, his pink newspapers and ornate breakfast pastries, the sound of Peter Brackley’s voice and, of course, the beautiful, beautiful kits on display.
It took a lot of strenuous agonising and some vicious cuts (sorry, fans of Parma’s 1995/97 home strip – you’re about to be disappointed) but we managed to cobble together our Top 10…
10. Sampdoria, home, 1990/91
Far superior to the hideous ‘lace-up neck’ model that followed it…
9. Lazio, home, 1993/95
The archetypal Lazio shirt. Like gazing at a clear blue sky…
8. Torino, home, 1993/94
Appropriately retro Lotto kit, gorgeously rendered in Granata maroon and with the name of a handgun splashed across the front. What’s not to like?
7. Genoa, home, 1991/92
A drop-dead gorgeous half-and-halfer from Errea, once proudly owned by yours truly…
6. Roma, home, 1992/94
Measured, almost 1980’s-esque minimalism from Adidas, but manufactured in what looks suspiciously like velvet…
5. Inter Milan, home, 1995/96
In this scribe’s humble opinion, the Nerazzurri stripes never looked better…
4. AC Milan, home, 1993/94
Stone cold classic. The last Milan kit before the chintzy Opel logo replaced Motta on the front…
3. Italy, home, 1995
The Azzurri have boasted some exquisite kits over the years, but the 1995 shirt was the most molto bene-est of them all…
2. Fiorentina, home, 1993/94
Much, much more agreeable than the infamous swastika-festooned away version…
1. Juventus, home, 1995/97
Everything a Juventus shirt should be, and the array of badges still look as cool as a penguin’s chuff…
Care to agree/disagree Pies fans? Any other 1990’s Serie A beauts you want to put forward? Feel free to let us know all about it…
All these shirts are available to purchase (in extremely good nick) over at Classic Football Shirts.
Sorry for nabbing your photos, chaps!