The fitba-calcio complex: how Serie A revived its Scottish connection
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After a hiatus going back to the era of Jordan and Souness, Scottish players are in demand in Italy again – here’s why. There was a time when Scottish players were among a flood of luxury imports into Italian football. When Denis Law moved from Manchester City to Torino in 1961, he became the first player in Britain to be transferred for a £100,000 fee.
![[Liam Henderson celebrates scoring in a penalty shootout against Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia earlier this month]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/884af59884cc0c7beb3c86d3418059d9e595d764/0_73_3000_1801/master/3000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The glamour of the signing reflected the growing prestige of Serie A; on returning to Scotland for a friendly against Hibernian at Easter Road, the former home of his Torino teammate Joe Baker, Law was lauded in the match notes as the face of “one of the most attractive clubs in Europe”. Law and Baker had one turbulent season in Italy before departing to write their legends at Manchester United and Arsenal respectively, but left a big impression. When Baker died in 2003, the Turin-based newspaper La Stampa acclaimed the pair for “giving dreams to the Granata fans” and venerated Law as “a crazy, brilliant, inconsistent artist”.
![[Josh Doig (right) on the ball for Sassuolo]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e30bbdd7420bd953caa750a218bbcfd6332ef7f6/217_231_3875_2325/master/3875.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
In the 1980s, as Serie A established itself as the go-to destination for the world’s top players, Scots were among those invited to contest for a place in the pantheon. While the league burnished its global appeal with the arrivals of Zico, Sócrates, Diego Maradona, Michel Platini, Michael Laudrup and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, it had a distinct Anglophone streak: Trevor Francis, Ray Wilkins, Mark Hateley and Luther Blissett flew the flag for England, Liam Brady for Ireland, with Joe Jordan and Graeme Souness representing Scotland.
