The Gentleman Ultra

In this episode Frank sits down for a chat with Luca Marchiori, British Italian food writer, and host of the Luca's Italy podcast to talk the two things that arguably matter the most to Italians, food and football. Luca gives us all something to chew on, pardon the pun, the next time we're in Italy serving up something outside of the ordinary TGU podcast as both he and Frank delve into the history...

In this episode Frank sits down for a chat with Daniel Williamson, the author of When Two Worlds Collide, which charts the Intercontinental Cup's colourful history, from its trailblazing inception to its demise, with the legendary players, iconic stadiums and controversial moments in between all covered. Frank and Dan discuss the Intercontinental Cup in all its glory, and particularly shine a ligh...

In this episode Frank sits down for a chat with Patrick Kendrick, Freelance commentator for Serie A world feed and IMG; Conference Interpreter and Presenter for AC Milan, and reporter for UEFA and BT Sport. We talk about Patrick's early life in football and football commentary, the art of interpreting, the life of a commentator, the power of silence, the work and research involved in modern d...

In this episode Frank sits down with Diego Fornero, social media manager, journalist for Toro News and creator of The Invincibili Podcast to discuss all things Torino. They discuss how and why he supports Torino, growing up in Turin as a Torino fan, the legacy of Superga and Gigi Meroni, the problems that surround the club and its history, legacy and brand, what makes Torino so special and the cre...

In this episode Frank talks to Stuart Horsfield, of These Football Times, the author of '1982 Brazil The Glorious Failure' and host of 'What's the Score' podcast. Frank and Stuart talk about the iconic Brazilian side of 1982 and his fantastic book available via Pitch Publishing. They discuss the legendary 1982 World Cup match between Brazil and Italy, the backstory to the great Brazil side, why th...

In this episode Frank talks to Tom Underhill, author of the book, 'The Working Hands of a Goddess: The Tactics, Culture and Community behind Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta B.C.' now available via Pitch Publishing and where all good books are sold.  Frank and Tom discuss how the book came to life and why Tom chose to delve deep into Atalanta.  The impact of Gian Perp Gasperini and what&n...

In this discussion Frank speaks with Frank Ponissi, General Manager of Melbourne Storm Rugby League club, one of Australia's most renowned sporting administrators and in this conversation we aim to apply Frank's front office principles and culture to Italian football. Frank's principles and cultural lessons are relevant to any sporting organisation and we apply them to Italian football in this all...

Frank talks with Santo Cilauro, an Australian comedian, television and feature film producer, screenwriter, actor, author and a co-founder of the legendary The D-Generation and The Late Show. Frank and Santo discuss his early days watching football in Melbourne, the Victorian Premier League and NSL, his Dad's love of Calcio and football, attending multiple World Cups as both a fan, including...

In this episode Frank chats to Tom Griffiths from @CalcioEngland and https://calcioengland.com/. Frank and Tom discuss; Italian teams preseason travels in England; Tom's passion and love of Italian football; Tom's unique work on his blog Calcio England and The Gentleman Ultra; Travelling around Italy for Calcio and the matchday experience; Going down a Calcio rabbit hole and shopping for...

Frank chats with author Stephen Brandt (@StephenCBrandt). In this conversation they discuss; The legendary Flamengo era of the early 80s'; 1981 Club World Cup between Flamengo and Liverpool; Zico's footballing career in Brazil, Italy and Japan; Zico's management career and his legacy; Zico's Serie A spell with Udinese; the Zico vs Maradona showdown and watching football in Italy, Brazil and Argent...

In this must listen conversation, Frank and Vince Grella discuss growing up in an Italian household, his early days in football and the now defunct National Soccer League (NSL), his move to Italy from former NSL club Carlton FC to Empoli, the expectations and pressure that come with playing in Italy's top flight, his spell at Ternana and the foundations it built for a 10 year career in Italy, his...

Frank is back with another episode, and in it he talks to author of The Fix: The Story of the first Champions League Season, James Dixon. In this episode, Frank and James discuss: the birth of the Champions League and the process behind the book; the 1993 CL Final between Marseille and AC Milan; Silvio Berlusconi and Bernard Tapei; the Marseille match-fixing controversy and the lead up to the...

In his latest episode, Frank talks to Dotun Adebayo of Football Ramble, Brazilian Shirt Name and BBC5 live World Football fame to discuss a range of topics, including: Dotun's early life and career in journalism and broadcasting, the rise of Paul Gascoigne and his move to Italy, AC Milan, George Weah and Italia 90', Racism in Italy and in the UK, the power of football to connect us all around...

Frank is back with another episode of TGU Down Under. This time Frank sits down with Fiorentina Femminile striker Karin Lundin. Frank and Karin discuss her move to Fiorentina from Sweden, her life in Florence on and off the field, the challenges and obstacles in moving to Italy, becoming a full time professional, the differences between playing in Sweden and Italy and her first season wi...

In his latest episode, Frank interviews John Foot, author of the seminal book 'Calcio: A History of Italian Football', one of the must-have books on the Italian game in the English language. Frank and John discussed the origins, history and the process behind his book 'Calcio', the referees influence on Italian football, controversy in Italian football, how writing the book changed his perspective...

In his latest episode, Frank sits down to talk to Vieri Capretta, who works for UEFA and Fiorentina. Frank and Vieri talk about: A normal working day for Vieri; Working with UEFA and Fiorentina as a 'swiss army knife' journalist in Italy; Serie A's reach into the English speaking world; Florence and it's unique relationship with Fiorentina; Life and football in Italy during the pandemic; Working a...

In a double whammy of Serie C goodness, Frank talks to Andy Wallace (@CCalcistica on Twitter) to discuss his passion for lower league football in Italy, travelling to Italy and his first matchday, Serie B, Lega PRO and everything that comes with it, his team Taranto F.C. 1927, Italian football on and off the field and finally someone to explain how the Lega PRO playoff system all works!

In his latest episode, Frank speaks to Athletic Carpi striker Lewis Walker, son of former Sampdoria defender Des, about his time in Serie C, growing up around football with a famous surname, his move to Italy and how that came about, life on and off the field in Italy, Athletic Carpi and their quest to return back to Serie C, and more.

TGU alumni Frank Risorto is back with another episode of Down Under. In this episode, Frank speaks to New Zealand broadcaster Riccardo Ball.  Riccardo opens up about: Growing up in NZ and Riccardo's Italian and Croatian heritage; the immigrant influence on NZ Football; the 1982 World Cup and its impact and legacy on NZ football; the 2010 World Cup and seeing New Zealand taking on the Azzurri;...

In the second episode of TGU Down Under, Frank talks to Virtus Entella defender Gabriel Cleur. Gabriel opens up about how he made his way to Italy, the challenge of moving abroad, both on and off the field, adapting to Italian football, playing football and living in Italy during the pandemic, the difference between Serie B and Serie C, living in Chiavari and Virtus Entella, his short stint as Ant...

The Gentleman Ultra is branching out! Gentleman Ultra alumni Frank Risorto is fronting a new podcast series, in which he talks to various people who love Italian football from all corners of the globe. The first episode sees Frank sit down with Sal Bono, who runs the CurvaMundialPod. Sal talks about his roots and family in the US and Italy, the inevitable Italy and 'what next', his AC Milan fandom...

Richard is joined by David Ferrini to discuss Bari's greatest team of the 1990s. The decade was a good one for the team from Puglia, with multiple seasons in Serie A and signing a certain David Platt in the summer of 1991 from Aston Villa.  The likes of Igor Protti, Gianluca Zambrotta, Kennet Andersson, Zvonimir Boban and of course, Antonio Cassano, all lined out for the southern Italian side...

On Roby Baggio's 55th birthday, Emmet Gates and David Ferrini break down an article Emmet wrote for the TGU website in celebration of his big day - his five greatest goals scored in UEFA competitions in the 1980s and '90s. Emmet and David dissect the goals and give the context around Baggio's career at the time, and what Baggio has done since his retirement in 2004. Tanti auguri to Il Divin Codino...

Following some technical difficulties, Emmet and Richard are joined by Serie A (and B) commentator David Ferrini to discuss Peak Parma. That is, when Parma ruled Europe (but not Serie A) in the mid-to-late 1990s and was home to an array of superstars like Gianfranco Zola, Faustino Asprilla, Dino Baggio, Hristo Stoichkov, Gigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram, Hernan Crespo, Juan Seba Veron a...

Richard and Emmet are back after a prolonged absence from the TGU pod. The crew discuss the new Fabio Quagliarella documentary on Mola TV, how the issues explored in the doc affected his career, and they dissect some of his most spectacular goals throughout his brilliant career for the likes of Sampdoria, Udinese, Napoli and Juventus. The documentary is free to watch via Mola TV.