A guide to Europe's football press

Joss

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For those of you who’ve been keeping tabs on the daily tittle-tattle, speculation and gossip which has been drip feeding football fans since the end of the season, you may have noticed the number of foreign sources to which news stories are attributed. Always eager to fill any gaps in the knowledge of readers, here's a brief introduction to each publication, their history and their club affiliations.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italian)

Established in Milan in 1896 by Carlo Valdelli to report on the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, La Gazzetta is arguably Italy’s most famous sporting newspaper. Published on its distinctive pink pages, it sells over 400,000 copies daily, more on Mondays when readers catch up on the weekend’s action, and focuses especially on football with some 24-28 pages out of 40 dedicated to football. Known for its speculation and sensational headlines it certainly leans in favour of local San Siro sides Internazionale and AC Milan. In 2006 the paper played a major role in unearthing the truth behind the Calciopoli scandal and played a major part in getting Juventus relegated from Serie A on match-fixing charges.

Ultime notizie sportive - La Gazzetta dello Sport

Corriere dello Sport/Stadio (Italian)

The Rome based broadsheet was founded in 1924 and began as a three day a week publication before turning daily in 1927. In its 85 year history the paper has established itself as one of the country’s most renowned daily sports newspapers. A focus on football, and in particular the travails and successes of Lazio and Roma, its readership is found mostly in the mid and southern regions of Italy.
http://www.corrieredellosport.it/
http://www.corrieredellosport.it/

Tuttosport (Italian)

The younger brother of the two aforementioned Italian publications, Tuttosport was born in Turin in 1945. Beginning as a bi-weekly newspaper, it expanded to daily status in 1951. A great favourite amongst the fans of regional sides Juventus and the once great Torino (both with their own online sections), the paper and its website are known for their love of salacious gossip and the world’s fairest sporting maidens.

Tuttosport

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Diario MARCA (Spanish)

First published in 1938 during the height of the Spanish Civil War, Marca ran with the title caption “Arm raised to the sportsmen of Spain.” Based originally in San Sebastien (but now with its headquarters in Madrid), its political leanings saw it as a vehement pro-nationalist force. Pushing news on a daily basis since 1942 it has accumulated an annual 2.3 million readership and makes no bones about its affiliations to the country’s most supported side Real Madrid. A powerful tool in the hands of the Bernabeu hierarchy, it has even been targeted by a vengeful Sir Alex Ferguson who accused the paper of being ‘a vehicle to unsettle players’ in relation to the alleged tapping up of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007…obviously it finally paid dividends. Despite being used as ****, the publisher’s paper/website/radio station also hand out the Primera Division’s most sought after awards including the top scorer Pichichi gong.

MARCA.com

Diario AS (Spanish)

Another Madrid based daily sports publication AS was founded in 1967 and shows fervent association with the capital’s big guns Real and Atletico Madrid. It competes directly with Marca but loses out to its older rival by about a third in the circulation stakes. Known for its ability to rouse anger in the Catalan regions with sensational headlines linking top regional players with switches to the Bernabeu and Vicente Calderon, the paper is read daily by 140,000 people.

AS.com: noticias deportivas en la red

Sport (Catalan/Spanish)

Not to be outdone by Real Madrid, Pep Guardiola’s side have the wholesome backing of Barcelona-based outfit Sport (no relative of our good selves). Founded in 1979, it belongs to Grupa Zeta, who also publish El Periodico de Catalunya and goes by the slogan ‘Sempre amb el Barca’ (always with Barca). Despite being written in Spanish, it aims solely to please its local readership with strong links with Espanyol and the aforementioned Nou Camp giants. La Liga football remains its focus, although the Catalan sporting prowess in motorsport, basketball, handball and tennis is also covered.

SPORT - Todas las noticias del Barça y del mundo del deporte

El Mundo Deportivo (Catalan/Spanish)

First released in 1906, the tabloid’s predominant focus is the performance on and off the field of Barcelona. Working alongside Sport it attempts to nullify the effects of the Madrid based duo AS and MARCA, allowing the local Catalans welcome relief from the onslaught of their neighbours in the capital. Known for breaking news of the arrivals of big-money signings to the Nou Camp.

Mundo Deportivo es tu diario deportivo On Line. Noticias de deporte, fútbol y del Barça

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France Football
(French)

Arguably the most famous football publication in Europe, the bi-weekly magazine was first published in 1946 and has since become a market-leader in France. Containing football news from across the globe it is treasured for its glossy photo-reportage, accurate statistics and extensive, in depth coverage of the beautiful game. The Ballon d’Or, usually known as the European Footballer of the Year award, is the most noteworthy prize distributed by the magazine and has been done so every year since Stanley Matthews received the inaugural trophy in 1956. The magazine also elects the French Player of the Year.

France Football : toute l'actualité du football

L’Equipe (French)

Distributed nationwide in France, L’Equipe is the successor to L’Auto which began its life with a focus on motorsport and motor racing. Now encompassing reports on every conceivable sporting practice, the history of L’Auto is entwined with Le Tour de France which its founding members created in 1903 as a marketing tool to boost sales of the paper. The popularity of football has seen the paper shift its focus in the last decades. The magazine is also responsible for the awarding of its Champion of Champions prize which has been voted on since 1980; previous winners including footballers Zinedine Zidane, Romario, Maradona and Paolo Rossi, tennis player Roger Federer, NBA star Michael Jordan and Formula 1 giants Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

Sport : toute l'actualité sportive sur l?EQUIPE (Match en direct, Football, Rugby, Tennis, Nba, F1)

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kicker Sportmagazin (German)

Germany’s leading sports magazine was founded in 1920 by footballing pioneer Walther Bensemann as part of his attempts to spread the beauty and knowledge of the world’s favourite game. Bensemann, who founded several football clubs before helping to found the German Football Association (DFB), was also responsible for Germany’s first international fixtures which happened to be against England. The magazine is published twice a week on a Monday and Thursday and a hugely popular yearbook called the kicker Almanach is also a staple for all fans of German football. The most prolific scorer in the Bundesliga is also rewarded with the kicker Torjägerkanone (kicker Scorer Cannon) award.

Sportnachrichten - kicker online

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Full credit to the brilliant Andrew Allen (also of Arseblog News):

A guide to Europe's football press  - Features - When We Were Heroes - Morsels of sport served for your delectation in video, blog and feature form.
 
Interesting read. No mention of L'Equipe's Sun-like nationalism when it comes to the Tour though.
 
Huh, I didn't realise that Spanish papers were so purposely biased. Good read. :)
 
Huh, I didn't realise that Spanish papers were so purposely biased. Good read. :)

AS went as far as photoshopping an opposition player out of a photograph in order to prove a point that Dani Alves was offside, and therefore Barcelona's winning goal against X team (I can't remember who) was offside. They're all completely biased.
 
AS went as far as photoshopping an opposition player out of a photograph in order to prove a point that Dani Alves was offside, and therefore Barcelona's winning goal against X team (I can't remember who) was offside. They're all completely biased.

XD Oh dear.
 
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