For a generation of football fans in the 1990s, Channel Four's coverage of Italian football was their ticket to an exotic and stylish form of the game so different from unsophisticated English football.With their Saturday morning highlights programme Gazzetta Football Italia and live coverage of Serie A matches on a Sunday, Channel Four would regularly pull in three million viewers at its peak.Their decision to broadcast Italian matches was inspired by Paul Gascoigne's transfer from Tottenham to Lazio in 1992, plus an enduring English interest in all things Italian from the 1990 World Cup. Paul Gascoigne celebrates his famous goal for Lazio against Roma in the derby in 1992With the advent of Sky television, who took the live broadcast rights to the Premier League in 1992, football fans were starved of terrestrial football coverage and Football Italia helped fill the void.While Gazza was undoubtedly the star attraction - and was an early presenter of Channel Four's highlights before James Richardson took over - other English players played in the country throughout the 1990s.We take a look at how they got on. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Golazzo! Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard reveal their love... Gianluigi Buffon trains with Italy team as he looks to pay... Napoli 1-0 Genoa: Raul Albiol reignites Serie A title hopes... Juventus chief Giuseppe Marotta admits Emre Can is the... Share this article Share   Paul Gascoigne Lazio 1992-95Gascoigne was the main catalyst for English interest in the Italian game. Just two years after his tears on the pitch during England's World Cup semi-final defeat to West Germany, Lazio paid £5.5million to bring Gazza in from Spurs.An extrovert personality off the field and genius on it, Gascoigne was very much a one-off character and his transfer meant that suddenly millions of English fans were following Lazio's results very closely.Indeed, Channel Four's decision to bid for Italian football coverage came after Gascoigne, working with TV production company Chrysalis on a documentary, remarked it would be a shame viewers back home couldn't watch him in Serie A. Lazio paid £5.5m to sign England star Gascoigne from Tottenham in 1992Channel Four's plan was for Gascoigne to present the Saturday highlights programme - Gazzetta is a play on his nickname - but when he failed to turn up for filming, he was replaced by Richardson, a producer who'd never previously worked in front of the camera.Nonetheless, many Gazzetta features involved Gascoigne, typically walking around an Italian city with hilarious results.On the field, his three seasons with Lazio were dogged by injury setbacks and inconsistent form - he played only 47 matches and scored just six goals.Gazza struggled to settle in Italy, feeling alone and isolated, and failed to master the language to help his integration. He famously greeted the Lazio president Sergio Cragnotti by saying 'your daughter has big tits.' Gazza made an impression b