Bologna

It was June 1978, my last year of primary school. It was announced that Bob Paisley and a member of the Liverpool team were going to open the school summer fair. I took along my programme from the 1978 European Cup Final thinking I was on to a dead cert autograph winner. Bob didn't show up but the LFC player did; it was none other than Sammy Lee. All and sundry were muttering "Sammy who?" No-one, including all parents, had ever heard of him. I didn't even bother to ask for an autograph. Ah well; at least I have the pleasure of sharing this anecdote.

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Are they showing the local broadcast or British Sky? Currently British Sky is only technically legal in the UK and Eire. You're not supposed to have it abroad just as your not supposed to have the Greek payTV company in the UK. Yes the premier league is much much cheaper to foreign broadcasters than UK ones. Doesn't premier league overseas TV income account for between one quarter and one third of the total? I don't know how this pans out though in terms of cheaper footy for the locals. I'm sure it's the same in at least the big 5 TV footy markets in the EU (England, France, Italy, Germany, Spain) i.e. the local broadcaster pays a premium to have the rights to the domestic football league and also shows foreign footy as well. Thus the lion share of subscriptions in every country goes towards covering the cost of domestic football rather than foreign football.

Are we sure that Sky sells the rights to other countries ? As I understand it the Premier League, or the media rights company acting for them, sells premier league games direct to TV operators in each indivuidual country. Sky are only involved in that they also own operations in other countires e.g. Sky Italia buy the rights to show the Premier League from the league itself not Sky. So the issue is not that Sky are charging one price in the UK and another in, say, Greece. But rather as customers in an EU-wide market we are entitled to shop around in any of the 27 EU countries to find the best deal provided by a variety of broadcasters. Also the issue is not quite as simple as the landlady makes out in that in Italy, for example, the same rules apply vis à vis the cost of a paytv subscription for a household and the cost of one for a pub i.e. it's much more expensive for a pub and is based on number of TV screens, square yardage of the premises etc. I bet you the Portsmouth landlady's subscription is a domestic household one and not a pub one, assuming of course the same distinction exits in Greece, something else which I'm prepared to bet on.

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After having applied pressure on referees for god-knows how long. Juve ? No, thanks.

This was most probably a factor. You think they'd get over it wouldn't you? I know loads of footie fans in Bologna who idolise the likes of Millwall, West Ham, etc. just because of their firms. Good job I came up short on the ticket front !!

That's why I was surprised they greeted us how they did in Naples. I thought there'd be some solidarity from the downtrodden Neapolitans to their downtrodden scouse counterparts. They see themselves as a separate entity from the rest of Italy just as many Liverpudlians see themselves as separate from the rest of the UK. Naples is one of the poorest cities in Italy just as Liverpool was in th UK in the 70s and 80s. As to an explanation well that's more difficult. Part of the reason is undoubtedly that the further south you go in Italy the more "Italian" the poeple become. By that I mean disrespect for the law, inability to follow simple instructions, rules and regulations. Just watch how the driving worsens as you move southwards down the peninsula. Then Naples for me is the empitome of Italianess. Following of rules is an optional. Therefore comparing Milan and Florence with Rome and Naples is a bit of a red herring. I'm surprised they kicked off in Liverpool because usually when Italian teams come to England the fans are s***-scared of the UK authorites because we actually enforce reasonably stiff penalties on offenders. I remember asking a Milan fan in Athens how come it didn't kick off between Juve and Milan in Manchester for the 2003 Champions League Final. His respnse was simple "you go to jail there if you get nicked". Indeed the "English model" is lauded in Italy as the way to tackle football hooliganism.

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Lo so, Matteo. Stick with numbers. Mathematics is not an opinion.

1996

Hey, a new manager. Good luck, Roy. Come on the red men.

The classic defence of Italians when caught with their finger in the pie. We're all guilty and so by implication we're all "innocent".

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Anyone for goulash?

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somewhat unsurprisingly.................Bologna

Who's going then? I am.

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