Are you going on holiday to Italy? Do you want to experience a football match in Italy? Our guide to football in Italy gives you the facts and information you’ll want to know.
Without doubt, Football is the sport about which Italian people are most passionate. Football is the number one sport in Italy both in terms of the number of people who follow Italian football inside and outside Italy, and the sheer amounts of money that are invested in top level football in Italy.
Football teams in Italy
Some of the best football teams in Europe are Italian teams. Italian football teams have won a total of about 20 top level European football competitions including the European Cup and the UEFA Cup. Every major city in Italy has at least one football team and sometimes two. For example, the main football team in the Italian city of Turin is Juventus, while Milan has two top class football teams: AC Milan and Inter Milan. Today, football in Italy is big business and these football clubs are multi million Euro business enterprises. Transfer fees for players at top Italian football clubs can reach into the tens of millions, while football players in Italy are treated as well, if not better than movie stars.
Italian national football team
The Italian national team is the current holder of the World Cup making it the best football team in the world at the moment. Traditionally, Italy has always had one of the best teams in the world, and at every world Cup the Italian national football team usually progresses into the further stages of the competition. To date, The Italian national team has won the World Cup a total of four times.
Italian football leagues
There are four divisions or leagues of professional football in Italy. Serie A is the top football division in Italy where all the big name football clubs play. Serie A in Italy is dominated by football clubs from the north of Italy which reflects the wealthier status this part of Italy more than it shows less regard for football on the part of Italians from the south.
Italian football fans
Italian football fans take their passion seriously. It is only comparatively recently that Italy has become a unified state and before that is was composed of several different independent city states. Regional loyalties in Italy thus run strong and they manifest themselves clearly through the support of local football teams. Sometimes this local pride and energy is misplaced and results in ugly scenes of violence between fans inside and around the stadium.
Football season in Italy
Football season in Italy begins usually in the last week of August and continues until June. The majority of league games in Italy are played on Saturday with some occasional mid week fixtures.
Tickets to watch football in Italy
The price of tickets to watch a football match in Italy varies greatly depending on the football teams you wish to see play. Of course demand is highest to watch the big teams play, so when there is a game between two of Italy’s top teams the tickets sell out fast. The cheapest ticket to watch a football match in Italy’s Serie A will cost around 10 Euros although for that money you shouldn’t expect a particularly good seat. On the other end of the scale, for about 60 Euros you can expect an excellent seat in a good position at a football match between two good Serie A football teams.
