Football Italia on Channel Four. 21 Years on

Growing up in the early nineties shortly after the advent of the Premier League, when Sky TV was a luxury for just the wealthy, Channel Four, tapping into the nations conscience after a memorable world cup for England in Italy just two years previously, came to the rescue with their now iconic coverage of Serie A, which at the time was the most exciting and glamorous league in the world.

During this period with Sky gobbling up all Premier League rights, the only other football on terrestrial TV was the lower leagues been played out on ITV after losing top flight football. It was a spectacular opening to the coverage of Calcio, one beyond even the wildest dreams of the chief execs at television production company Chrysalis. A thrilling 3-3 draw between Sampdoria and Lazio was played out in front of over three million viewers and that was just the start. A week later, Pescara were defeated by Europe's most feared, AC Milan in an enthralling nine goal bonanza, at the same time as Derby County were entertaining Bristol City over on ITV, granted there was seven goals that day at the Baseball Ground but Marco Gabbaldini was always going to be a tough sell when MarcoVan Basten was merely a click away.

The highlights show on a Saturday morning featuring presenter James Richardson, as always sat outside some little upmarket coffee house in the local Piazza, ushered in a new era of football presenting, proving that they could be both witty and intelligent without adhering to a tired cliché or type (back then, Sky's Keys and Gray were just a younger version of Saint & Greavsie but with more hair), and of course there was the legendary guest spots featuring stars such as Gianluca Vialli pretending to be anyone but himself, Attilo Lombardo performing a surreal version of the dance, the Lambada, Mr Nice, David Platt sending himself up dressed as the Terminator and of course let's not forget Gazza's various madcap antics. (If this all sounds quite frankly bizarre and you failed to witness them first time around, I urge you to look them up on YouTube, you won't be disappointed!).

Ultimately it was the main event on a Sunday afternoon that will forever hold the fondest memories for myself and a generation of armchair football fans. Sitting down in front of the TV set, the moment the now classic goal celebration call, Golazzo! first burst threw the speakers, you were instantly transported to another altogether much more romantic place where the football was played out in a crescendo of noise and colour in a haze of smoke as the fans and ultras competed with each other in a competition all of its own, to see who could provide the most vocal and passionate support to their respective teams.

And then there was the names, from the teams such as European giants, Juventus and AC Milan to the quite magical Internazionale and Fiorentina, playing out matches in epic arenas such as the San Siro and Stadio Del Alpi, all featuring players who were the best in the world at what they do yet were also unattainably cool, players such as, Baggio, Baresi, Batistuta, Gullit, Maldini and Signori to name just a handful.

The show was sadly dropped from out screens in the early 2000's after various networks tried to pick up on it and replicate the success but to no avail. It's fair to say Calcio has had a dip in it's fortunes in the intervening years too, with the riches of the Premier League now attracting the worlds finest players, the lure of La Liga and Bundersliga and the new riches on offer in France and Russia, Serie A has somewhat been left behind, not helped by the various match fixing, racism and violence scandals that have rocked it in recent years.

It may not reach the heights it scaled over twenty years ago but the beautiful game in Italy is still an intoxicating affair which provides one of the most absorbing operas in world football. And for Channel Four and the cult of Gazzetta, I salute you, I know I will never look back on a football show with quite as much affection as I had for yours.