Immigrate (spesso) di lusso: Le calciatrici straniere in Italia (1968-1986)

Abstract

The article analyses the changing fortunes of foreign women footballers who moved to Italy between 1968 and 1986, i.e. the period between the organisation of the first Italian women’s football championship by the Federazione Italiana Calcio Femminile and the co-optation of the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio Femminile (name adopted in 1975, after various vicissitudes) into the Federazione Italiana Gioco Calcio, after its recognition in an amateur framework, which was maintained until 2022, when Italian women’s football (A and B series) became professional. In the 1970s, the Italian championship was a much-desired destination for foreign (mainly European) women’s footballers because of its “de facto professionalism”, which guaranteed significant profit margins, even in a panorama marked by the economic crisis that severely affected women’s football system. The dynamics of this ‘immigration’ is traced in its quantitative and qualitative dimensions, using a variety of sources (archival, oral) and, in particular, sports press, which devoted considerable attention to women’s football.