The Gentleman Ultra

Chris Willis and Richard Hall discuss the season so far and all the controversies surrounding the VAR and referees' calls in Italy.

Chris Willis from Calcio Blog tells all about his latest trip to Palermo where he enjoyed a premium experience, visiting the Renzo Barbera behind the scenes and having some of the best food of his life.Relive his experience here!

We talk to Chievo's official commentator Matteo Fezzi about what happened to the "guys from the dam" and the dream of the "flying donkeys" in Serie A as we remember when Chievo Verona took everyone by surprise and were top at the end of 2001. Hosted and edited by Federico Farcomeni.

Chris Willis from Calcio Blog tells all about his latest trip to Genoa where he stood amongst the Gradinata Nord's ultras in a topsy-turvy encounter against Hellas Verona both on and off the pitch. Relive his experience here!

In this conversation, Rich and Chris discuss the future of collaboration between The Calcio Blog and The Gentleman Ultra! Find out what's in store!

From 1928 when Juventus beat Fiorentina 11-0 to today's clashes. How has this rivalry evolved throughout the years? We talked to Giancarlo Rinaldi and his memories from famous matches involving la Viola and the Bianconeri from the 1981-82 controversial season finale to Giuseppe Rossi's hat-trick, through the 1990 Uefa Cup Final, the painful Roberto Baggio's move to Turin and even Mohamed Salah's brace, Alessandro Del Piero and Andrea Pirlo's artworks.Hosted and produced by Federico Farcomeni.

We talk everything Jamie Vardy after his debut in Verona with our local gentleman Richard Hough, before commenting on Lloyd Kelly's making waves at Juventus + the usual Scott McTominay madness (in the Champions League too). Bonus track: new season's struggles for Massimo Donati's Sampdoria in Serie B. Your host for the day: Federico Farcomeni.

Richard Hough takes us through his book about that extraordinary season which saw Hellas Verona conquer the league title for the first time in their history. Mind you, the Gialloblu had been on the losing side of two cup finals before embarking on this historical season under the stewardship of Osvaldo Bagnoli, inspired by the talents of Preben Elkjaer Larsen (and his shoeless goal against Juventus) and the former German pentathlete Hans-Peter Briegel. Platini, Maradona, Rummenigge, Zico, Laudrup, Souness, Hateley and Wilkins were among the international stars drawn to the peninsula that season, making Serie A the most competitive and prestigious league in the world.

In May 1991, Sampdoria have been crowned Champions of Italy for the first time in their history and, when the transfer season starts, the Big striped clubs are trying to be creative to be back on top.Juventus (without Europe for the first time since 1962-63) recall Trapattoni from Inter and the fans respond with enthusiasm (30,000 season tickets, a club record) - Antonio Conte joins in the winter transfer window. Inter live a turbulent season on and off the pitch (out against Boavista in the Uefa Cup, only 28 goals scored in the league, fans vent their anger at the club). Arrigo Sacchi leaves Milan to lead Italy who in turn can't qualify for Euro '92. In comes Fabio Capello to lead the likes of Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit to an undefeated season for the Rossoneri (as Carlo Ancelotti hangs his boots). Napoli, led by Claudio Ranieri and Gianfranco Zola, start their new life after Diego Maradona. Lazio have to wait for Paul Gasoigne. In other transfers, Oliver Bierhoff joins Ascoli, David Platt goes to Bari and Dragan Stojkovic signs for Hellas Verona. All while Zdenek Zeman's Foggia entertain, Sampdoria and Torino reach two European finals against Barcelona and Ajax, and Genoa win at Anfield. 

The concept of "twinning" (gemellaggio) is not really understood on the Anglosphere, but even in Italy things are probably starting to change just by the sake of looking at the history of a famous friendship between Inter and Lazio, the blue sides of the cities of Milan and Rome. From the 1980s onwards, as Lazio started to fight for a place in the sun, things have turned occasionally nasty - the Uefa Cup final in Paris in 1998, a referee then scored (!) against Lazio in 1999 before the skyblues handled Juventus the title in 2002. Everybody felt united in 2010 when Lazio had to make way for their friends who went on to win the Treble the very same season at the expenses of Roma. But things then backfired in 2018 when Vecino sent Inter back to the Champions League and ex Lazio manager Simone Inzaghi returned in 2024 to inflict more pain on his former club as the Champions of Italy hit an unanswered six goals at the Olimpico in the latest episode of what has literally become a love-hate relationship.

Richard Hall talks us through some of the great forgotten goals from the 2000s: Dino Baggio, Hidetoshi Nakata, Eriberto, Francesco Flachi, Mark Bresciano, Gianfranco Zola, Cristiano Lucarelli, Christian Riganò, Giuseppe Mascara and Juan Manuel Vargas. Words by Richard Hall, Giancarlo Rinaldi, Henry Bell, Andy Wallace, Frank Risotto, Mark Gordon. Edited by Federico FarcomeniThe Gentleman Ultra is part of the Guardian Sports Network

In this episode, Richard Hall talks us through the best XI from the 1980s in Serie A. From Dino Zoff to Marco Van Basten via Diego Maradona and Michael Laudrup. Coach: Arrigo Sacchi. Words by Richard Hall, Jorge Ramon and Martin Dunlop. Edited by Federico Farcomeni