Football Italia

Football Italia was a television programme in the United Kingdom showing Italian football that ran from 1992 to 2002 on Channel 4, and continued until 2008 on other channels. It was known as Football Italiano in its final season. The show centred around live coverage of Serie A, the top division in the Italian football league system. James Richardson presented the show for a large part of its existence. The first live match shown was a 3-3 draw between Sampdoria and Lazio on 6 September 1992, attracting three million UK viewers. Gazzetta Football Italia, a highlights show, became the highest-rated Saturday morning program in Channel 4's history at the time, with around 800,000 viewers a week in its first season, 1992–93. At its peak in the 1990s, Football Italia attracted over 3 million viewers, and remains the most watched programme in the UK about a non-British domestic football league. Presenter James Richardson was popular for his humour and his ability to avoid many of the cliches of football presenting. After being shown on Five in the 2007-08 season, Football Italiano was cancelled by the channel and did not continue elsewhere on television.