With Ashley Cole and Micah Richards seeking new horizons in
Italy,
it revives memories of the relationship Italian fans have had with some
of their English compatriots who have trodden the same path over the
last few decades.
The English have never been seen as good
travellers, and have tended to stick to the comforts of home, rather
than search the globe for pastures new. While there have been calls for
more players to seek teams abroad to widen their experience, Looking
back at England FIFA World Cup™ squads of the past, their lack of
globetrotters becomes alarmingly clear.
Only twice – in 1986 and
2006 – have they featured two players plying their trade beyond the
British Isles – with only seven in total across 13 appearances at the
tournament. The most 'foreign-looking' Three Lions squad was in 1990,
when a quartet hailing from Rangers helped make up five players from
outside England. But with Ibrox Stadium just 90 miles drive from the
border, Glasgow can hardly be called stepping into the unknown.
However, of all the places that the English have ventured to,
Italy
is arguably the one they have found the most joy – or at least left a
memorable legacy, and the likes of Cole and Richards find themselves
among some cult heroes when you consider those who have travelled there
before them.
A lion at Lazio
While Roma and Fiorentina are testing the waters with English
talent for the first time, it is unlikely Cole will bring the same sort
of unpredictability to
i Giallorossi as Paul Gascoigne
delivered for neighbours Lazio during his three-year spell there at the
start of the 1990s. When he returned two years ago for a UEFA Europa
League match between the Italians and his former club, Tottenham
Hotspur, he was greeted with the banner: “Lionhearted, headstrong, pure
talent, real man. Still our hero.”
The
affection of Lazio people for him has never ceased. He is one of the
all-time favourites and still in the hearts of many fans because of his
determination, character and the great games he played.
Claudio Lotito, Lazio president on Paul Gascoigne.
Injuries,
language difficulties and adapting to foreign life meant Gascoigne's
time in Rome was not always a happy one, though he was always a fan's
favourite. His outlandish character warmed him to them and was destined
to be cherished when his first goal for the club came as a stoppage-time
equaliser in the Rome derby – celebrated with arms outstretched as he
ran towards the Ultras in the
Curva Nord.
“Paul
represents an important part of the history of our club and it was an
obligation on our part to invite him to the stadium,” president Claudio
Lotito said on his return. "The affection of Lazio people for him has
never ceased. He is one of the all-time favourites and still in the
hearts of many fans because of his determination, character and the
great games he played.”
Samp success stories
The list of Englishman to have returned from
Italy
with silverware is surprisingly short, with the two coming partly
thanks to Sampdoria. Trevor Francis – remembered as England's first £1m
player – secured success with the Genoese club in 1985, helping them to
their first major trophy with the Coppa Italia surrounded by the likes
of Roberto Mancini and Ginaluca Vialli up front.
“We had a good
side,” Francis recalled. “We were always playing to win trophies and
finish as high as we could both domestically and in the UEFA Cup and the
European Cup Winners' Cup. They were fantastic times and I played with
some very good players.”
The other name to have helped
i Blucerchiati
to the same crown almost a decade later was David Platt. Having caught
the eye with his late goal against Belgium on Italian soil at the 1990
World Cup, he secured a British-record move to Bari for £5.5m the next
year – who previously had the services of Paul Rideout from 1985-88.
Having impressed suitably in his debut season a move to Juventus
followed, where he watched from the sidelines as they lifted the UEFA
Cup.
His transfer to Sampdoria came a month later, after plenty of
pestering by Mancini – and having passed up an informal invitation to
join
i Bianconeri. "I've always suspected I wasn't on
Sampdoria's list that summer, because their president wanted to sign
Marco Osio from Parma but he ran the transfer list past Robbie
[Mancini], who had much of the say. I soon made the move." With it
brought the Coppa Italia title, and he even made an ill-fated return as
manager in December 1998, but after six weeks without a win, he
resigned.
His blond hair and light skin made him stand out and he became a very popular figure.
Simon Goodyear, biographer of Gerry Hitchens.
Departing before greatness knocks
While no Englishman has lifted the
Scudetto, both Jimmy Greaves
and Gerry Hitchens missed out in successive years in Milan only because
of mid-season transfers. Greaves, on the red half of the city, scored
nine goals in his first 12 games in 1961 but failed to settle, so he
returned home to join Tottenham Hotspur as
i Rossoneri triumphed a few months later.
Hitchens, however is an altogether different story when it comes to his relationship with
Italy.
Across eight years there – a record for an Englishman – he became a
celebrity. His Inter side – including the likes of Gigi Riva and Luis
Suarez – would finish behind their cross-town rivals in 1962, before he
departed for Torino in the middle of the following season. A similar
fate would follow at Cagliari, where he helped them to a then best-ever
finish of second, only to depart and see them lift the title the
following year.
“He was the first Englishman to make his name in
the country and the Press followed him everywhere he went,” according to
biographer Simon Goodyear. “His blond hair and light skin made him
stand out and he became a very popular figure. His name is near the top
of the list of the British exports, probably higher than [Denis] Law.
Maybe only John Charles stands above him.”
Another man in Milan to
have missed out on a title, in even more dramatic fashion no less, was
Paul Ince, though his team-mates would also walk away without a medal
too. Brought to the Guiseppe Meazza stadium by current England manager
Roy Hodgson, he helped them to the UEFA Cup final.
After rescuing
the tie in the second leg with a 1-0 win – setting up Ivan Zamorano for
the goal – penalties proved their undoing. Fans remember Ince fondly
after his two years there, a feeling the man from Essex reciprocates:
“When I look back [leaving Manchester United] is the best thing I did
because I went to Inter Milan and had a great time.”
Rivals AC
Milan have seen its fair share of English imports since Greaves, with
the likes of Mark Hateley, Ray Wilkins and David Beckham all making
their mark as some of the other more notable names to don the famous
colours. There have also been a fair few who have arrived and left
around
Italy
without much more than a raised eyebrow - Des Walker and Lee Sharpe at
Sampdoria, Luther Blissett with Milan, Paul Parker's spell for Pisa and
Jay Bothroyd at Perugia,
While the bar of success may not be the
highest for Cole and Richards to exceed, they certainly have a challenge
to forge a spot in the memories of Italian fans beyond some of their
countrymen.
FIFA.COM
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