Mark Chapman to leave Channel 5
Football Italia Presenter Mark Chapman to Leave Channel 5
At its peak, Football Italia garnered more than three million viewers. It cost Channel 4 a fraction of what a Premier League match would today, and planted the seed for Serie A among young fans.
Colin Murray presented it at the start but eventually left to take up presenting duties for BBC Radio 1 and BDO darts. Mark Chapman deputised for him occasionally before taking over.
Mark Chapman
The BBC’s Mark Chapman is one of the presenters who has refused to work for the corporation this week in solidarity with Gary Lineker. Chapman is a regular on Match of the Day and Radio 5 Live’s sports programme on Saturday. He is also a popular voice over artist and has narrated documentaries on Ricky Hatton and Wayne Rooney.
Channel Five’s Football Italia was a weekly show broadcasting Italian football matches – mostly Serie A, although they did occasionally show other league games. The first game shown was Sampdoria v Lazio on 6 September 1992 and featured Paul Gascoigne’s transfer to the Italian club.
John Barnes hosted the show for most of its run and deputised whenever he was unavailable, but when he moved to a roving reporter role Channel 5 brought in radio 1 DJ Colin Murray. Murray has presented the show ever since, and it is his presenting style that has made the programme such a success.
Laura Esposto
For a season Channel 5 gained rights to show live Serie A games on Sunday afternoons, alongside the highlights show Football Italiano. It was presented by Radio 1 DJ Mark Chapman and Italian sportscaster Laura Esposto. This version of the show ended in 2008, after which the rights were transferred to BT Sport.
The first match shown was a World Cup qualifier against Poland in Chorzow, and it brought in a huge number of viewers. This was the start of a long run of qualifying matches, which included games away to Poland, Luxembourg and Bulgaria.
Find out more about Laura Esposto, including contact details, on Radaris. The site also allows you to search by name even if you don’t know their last name. You can also see whether they have any criminal records. Using this information, you can make informed decisions about whether to hire someone for your company. This will ensure you’re hiring the best person for the job.
Jim Rosenthal
In 1992, Channel 4’s live Serie A games and the Football Italia magazine show launched a generation of fans captivated by calcio. Soccerphile writer Andy Greeves was one of them.
A young Englishman sits at a cafe table in an historic Italian piazza with an espresso and a selection of pastries or ice cream untouched, gesticulating at a pink Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper while educating British viewers about the beautiful game in Italy.
From 1997 to 2012, Channel 5 had rights to show live UEFA Europa League matches. They also broadcast a weekly highlights show called Football Italiano, which featured Mark Chapman and Laura Esposto.
Dave Woods commentated on the majority of the UEFA matches and was joined by Steve Bower as co-commentator. Various other reporters including Alan Curbishley, Chris Iwelumo, Clinton Morrison and Michael Gray also feature on their coverage.