Italy and Yugoslavia on the Football Pitch 1925-1939

Abstract

This paper examines three football matches played between the national teams of Italy and Yugoslavia during the 1920s and 1930s. It mostly explores articles published in the daily press in Italy and Yugoslavia concerning these matches and analyses the behaviour of players on the pitch, spectators in the stands and football associations’ officials, i.e. those who organized the matches and the activities that accompanied them. The matches played in Italy (Padua in 1925 and Genoa in 1938) and Yugoslavia (Belgrade in 1939) can be interpreted as three distinct times and places through which images of the “other” were created. Despite the often-strained relations shared between the Italian and Yugoslav states and occasional in-game tensions, all three games served a purpose. Among other things, they promoted a positive image of both countries.