Italia 90 - My first well remembered World Cup.

Martyboy70

Martyboy70

Well-Known Member
Saw a tweet that today was the anniversary of the start of Italia 90 and was thinking about how it was the first World Cup I can vividly remember. That this was during the time when Scotland made it to tourneys probably helped.

I was born in 77 and can remember odd bits of Mexico 86 - I remember 9 year old me found a striker called Rats scoring past a keeper called Bats amusing at the time - but Italia 90 is the first one where I can solidly remember loads about the tournament and a lot of the games. The fact the games were on at a decent time probably helped as I think a lot of the games in Mexico were on when I'd been packed off to bed.

So, as we have no tournaments to look forward to this summer, what was the first World Cup you can really remember or first started really paying attention?

Oh and Ciao was a great wee mascot.
Ciao-WorldCup.jpg
 
Born in 78 and remember Mexico with the shadows on the pitch

Italia 90 was my first introduction to a bit of naughtiness…. Lets say some german car mirrors went missing (the idiot i was)
 
Martyboy70 said:
Saw a tweet that today was the anniversary of the start of Italia 90 and was thinking about how it was the first World Cup I can vividly remember. That this was during the time when Scotland made it to tourneys probably helped.

I was born in 77 and can remember odd bits of Mexico 86 - I remember 9 year old me found a striker called Rats scoring past a keeper called Bats amusing at the time - but Italia 90 is the first one where I can solidly remember loads about the tournament and a lot of the games. The fact the games were on at a decent time probably helped as I think a lot of the games in Mexico were on when I'd been packed off to bed.

So, as we have no tournaments to look forward to this summer, what was the first World Cup you can really remember or first started really paying attention?

Oh and Ciao was a great wee mascot.
Ciao-WorldCup.jpg
Click to expand...
Mexico 86 for me

Maradona f***ing England over lol
 
Vague memories of 78, I was 11 in 82 and remember that one, 3 0 up v New Zealand, they brought it back to 3 2 and it finished 5 2 to Scotland who finished 3rd and out on GD, I think those 2 goals made a difference!!
 
mark hateley said:
The wee balls.

Esso coins.

Gazza.

Last touremnet with the passback rule.

Rodger Millar.

Costa fuuuking Rica.

Jim drop the ball Leighton for Brazil tap in.

Rab C Nesbit.

Aye was good times.
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Was reading that thinking "Rab C.???" and then remembered they did a special one for the World Cup. I was a bit young to understand it all but it's funny how things like that were a part of my memory of Italia 90, along with all the collectible stuff like the coins and the little Coca-Cola balls.
 
Mexico 86 for me , and itv World Cup theme , also growing up with Scotland and England being there then half the England defence became our defence
 
Martyboy70 said:
Saw a tweet that today was the anniversary of the start of Italia 90 and was thinking about how it was the first World Cup I can vividly remember. That this was during the time when Scotland made it to tourneys probably helped.

I was born in 77 and can remember odd bits of Mexico 86 - I remember 9 year old me found a striker called Rats scoring past a keeper called Bats amusing at the time - but Italia 90 is the first one where I can solidly remember loads about the tournament and a lot of the games. The fact the games were on at a decent time probably helped as I think a lot of the games in Mexico were on when I'd been packed off to bed.

So, as we have no tournaments to look forward to this summer, what was the first World Cup you can really remember or first started really paying attention?

Oh and Ciao was a great wee mascot.
Ciao-WorldCup.jpg
Click to expand...

Born same year as yourself and took an interest in football during 85/86 season. First game I watched was the Wales vs Scotland qualifer. I think the nature of the game - Scotland chasing an equaliser then hanging on at the end just drew me in.

The world cup itself that summer just sealed the deal. All those live games, the colours. Maradona in his absolute prime. Still my favourite world cup.

I watched every minute I could of Italy 1990 but truth be told looking back it wasnt that great. A lot of the games - particularly in the knock out stages - were a borefest.

Argentina - and Maradona - were a pale, uglier version of the team from 4 years previously.

It had its moments of course but not a great tournament imo.
 
66 World Cup for me. Pele getting kicked to bits.
Nth Korea knocking Italy out.
The Italians getting a less than friendly welcome home after said knocking out.
Portugal 3-0 down to the Koreans before Eusebio decided to beat them 5-3 on his own.
 
Martyboy70 said:
Saw a tweet that today was the anniversary of the start of Italia 90 and was thinking about how it was the first World Cup I can vividly remember. That this was during the time when Scotland made it to tourneys probably helped.

I was born in 77 and can remember odd bits of Mexico 86 - I remember 9 year old me found a striker called Rats scoring past a keeper called Bats amusing at the time - but Italia 90 is the first one where I can solidly remember loads about the tournament and a lot of the games. The fact the games were on at a decent time probably helped as I think a lot of the games in Mexico were on when I'd been packed off to bed.

So, as we have no tournaments to look forward to this summer, what was the first World Cup you can really remember or first started really paying attention?

Oh and Ciao was a great wee mascot.
Ciao-WorldCup.jpg
Click to expand...
Italia 90 was mine too. In 1986, I was aware something was going on called the World Cup but had no real idea what it was all about. I knew there was a Madonna and a Maradona, had no idea what either looked like so I thought they were the same person.

1990 I was 8 years old and just starting to get into football right before the World Cup started. I think playground football had started for the first time at my school, or at least I had started joining in for the first time, I don't remember much football in the playground before that. I had always been nominally a Rangers fan and knew the names of a few players, but had no idea really what the league and cups were all about. I suppose I must have been getting into it more through the 89-90 season, though my awareness was still pretty dim at the time, but a few memories that stick out include:

- Mo Johnston signing - I got that it was "controversial", that we were a bit split on whether it was a good thing (one of my very earliest football memories was hating the sight of Mo Johnston in green and white hoops with a passion, so even 8 year old me was wrestling with conflicted feelings about this), and my mum disapproved because of how much he was earning. But also aware that they were raging and that was a good thing.
- I was aware of the very quick shift from "not sure about Mo" to "fucking love Mo" once he scored a certain goal
- vague memory of the news about Scotland qualifying and McCoist's great goal v Norway
- depressed at the scum putting us out of the Scottish Cup. In my life to this point, I especially associated the Scottish Cup with them winning and us losing to them
- first times I remember listening to football news on the radio - Liverpool v Palace semi-final
- don't really remember knowing much about the league but remember seeing the scenes from Ibrox on the last day of the season or whenever we were presented with the league trophy. Think they showed it on Grandstand (would they have shown this?) live at the end of the game, but it might have been Sportscene on the Saturday night.
- Scum losing Scottish Cup to Aberdeen on penalties. Loved it.
- the Scotland v Argentina game in the buildup to the World Cup, and us being the "best team in the world."
- my dad took me to a couple of the pre-World Cup friendlies at Hampden v. East Germany and I think Poland. Andy Goram in goals. Remember on the radio after one of those hearing a report from the England friendly (v Czechoslovakia?) and they were absolutely raving about this boy Gascoigne's performance

Anyway, that was that, the next thing that happened it was a Friday afternoon and suddenly there's football on the TV. Argentina v Cameroon, I remember Emlyn Hughes slating Maradona at half-time. Stunned as Cameroon won, then pretty soon we were on to rushing home from school to watch the end of Costa Rica v Scotland - and we were sure to win that, right? The rest is history, but I was hooked and came out of that tournament 100% obsessed with football. The best World Cup is always the one that happens when you're about 6-10 years old, but I think Italia 90 was special in a way that at least some of the World Cups since just can't match.
 
Told this story before, but my mates dad was a taxi driver during Italia 90, and one of the local petrol station done a thing where you got a football coin for every £20 spent on fuel or something along those lines. As a result my mate had the full set…

Until the fair came and he discovered that the Street Fighter II machine read the coins as 50p pieces and put the lot in that machine over the course of a few nights.

He’s legitimately raging at himself now for it, daft bugger!
 
evo14 said:
Told this story before, but my mates dad was a taxi driver during Italia 90, and one of the local petrol station done a thing where you got a football coin for every £20 spent on fuel or something along those lines. As a result my mate had the full set…

Until the fair came and he discovered that the Street Fighter II machine read the coins as 50p pieces and put the lot in that machine over the course of a few nights.

He’s legitimately raging at himself now for it, daft bugger!
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Wonder what a full set goes for now.
 
USA 94 for me. Would've been 10 going on 11. Absolutely obsessed with it. Completed the sticker book, knew every single player in every squad, watched every single game.
 
Born in 1980 but Euro 88 is the first major tournament I remember. I was 7 at the time.

Italy 1990 will always be remembered in The Netherlands as the tournament they should have won, but the infighting (no surprise) ruined it for the most part (plus they played shite)
 
DutchFR_1908 said:
Born in 1980 but Euro 88 is the first major tournament I remember. I was 7 at the time.

Italy 1990 will always be remembered in The Netherlands as the tournament they should have won, but the infighting (no surprise) ruined it for the most part (plus they played shite)
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Always remember the Netherlands vs West Germany match. Talk about bad tempered.

At half time the revolting spitting incident getting replayed in slow motion. :eek:
 
Was only 3 at the time so can't remember anything about it. It's a very romanticised tournament I think from watching documentaries and some of the games. The thing for me was the kits. Scotland had a cracking home strip and the away is ruined because of the Costa Rica shambles, otherwise a great strip as well. Germany, England, Colombia and Italy all had lovely kits.

First tournament I properly remember getting into was Euro 96 but first World Cup was 1998. You can see the last bits of the old school fading away and everything being more modern. Seeing Scotland play in the opening game was magic as well, got to leave school early to get home and see it.
 
The World Cup in 1990 was the only one Ive attended. I was 25 and went with a squad of mates, we stayed in a resort called Alassio and got the train to Genoa and Turin for the Scotland games. The atmosphere was great with big contingents of Scots, Swedes (some outstanding Swedish fanny ;)) and Germans as well as the locals.
 
I’m too young for Italia 90, but I’m absolutely fascinated by it.

The era, Souness’s Rangers, Italy being the pinnacle of football, the kits, hooliganism, the stadiums, the mini footballs. Can’t get enough of it.
 
McCoist’sTinHat said:
I’m too young for Italia 90, but I’m absolutely fascinated by it.

The era, Souness’s Rangers, Italy being the pinnacle of football, the kits, hooliganism, the stadiums, the mini footballs. Can’t get enough of it.
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That just reminded me, we went for a day trip from Italy to Monaco during the WC and while sitting having a beer at Monaco quayside Graeme Souness jogged past us, promptng us to speculate we were signing Mark Hateley. This was obviously pre Follow Follow days so we couldnt come on and say "just seen Souness jogging in Monaco, might be nothing" :D
 
90 was the first one I remember. Loved the Orbis sticker book for it. As well as the normal stickers it had sections teaching you about the history of the world cup and diagrams recreating famous moments from previous world cups. Thought it was the best thing ever when I was wee.
 
Italia '90 was the one and only World Cup I attended and I can honestly say it was the beginning of me falling out of love with the National team (couldn't stand Roxburgh's selections or tactics). My passion went and it never came back.

Enjoyed everything else around the trip though and Rimini was a decent base.

A large Ciao still sits on display in our spare room and still has all the original official tags on.
 
My first World Cup was 1970 (vague memories of '66) and I consider it the best but there was something memorable about Italia 90 and that iconic Italy team was one of the best not to win the Cup. I loved that tournament.

I cannot begin to understand the descriptions of it as a 'borefest.'
 
Spain ‘82, I was 8 years old.

Watching Scotland stuff New Zealand in the first game, then taking the lead against Brasil and thinking “easy !!” B-D

It was the first tournament I can remember being introduced to the “glorious failure “ that is synonymous with Scotlands national team.
 
Davidsmith1 said:
74 for me, Scotland only unbeaten team in World Cup , Zaire not understanding football rules , total football.
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Same here. Very young but remember Rory Superscot, the Scotland record Easy, Easy.

Live football was a rarity back then and it seemed to go on for ever. In reality there were only 16 teams and 38 games.
 
Gazb1962 said:
Brazil 1970 were the best ever team without a shadow of doubt.
Played a style of football that was ahead of its time.
Team was amazing and full of stars with Pele top of the list.
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Born in 61 and this is the first one I remember
Brazil were like some aliens had arrived and played football like I'd never seen before
The pitches were different from the muck heaps even top teams played on for most of the season but the passing, the nonchalant dribbling, sudden changes of pace, bending balls round the wall at free kicks (remember Malcom Allinson giving a tutorial on how to do this and thinking why don't your teams do this？) . It was all so exciting. Peru were like a mini Brazil (which is why I couldn't understand why people thought it would be easy against them in 78). England had a great side
The Germans were very good as well. The Italians and Uraguayns kicked everybody.
We'd never had live football much before and it was just a fantastic month.
It's never been better
 
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