Often in football a player’s entire career trajectory can
change with one swing of a boot. It’s June 26th on a balmy night in
Bologna. England are squaring off against Belgium for a place in the quarter
final of Italia ’90, it’s the 119th minute of a fairly even game
when England are awarded a free kick some thirty-five yards from goal. What
happened next would go down as one of the most dramatic goals in England’s
recent history.
The then Aston Villa midfielder David Platt rids himself of
his marker in the box for split second as Paul Gascoigne’s ball descends
towards him. Platt swivels and connects beautifully with a right-footed volley
which arrows across Michel Preud’homme and into his right hand corner. Platt peels
away in celebration, euphoria overtaking him and sinking to his knees - a rare
manner of celebrating a goal by his own admission – and is soon mobbed by teammates.
The goal was life changing for Platt, in the immediate
aftermath of the strike and for the long-term effects. He had been a substitute
in every game of the World Cup prior to the goal, following the Belgium game he
subsequently became an automatic starter against Cameroon, West Germany and
Italy. Scoring a further two goals in the quarter final and the third place
playoff.
The England squad returned home as heroes for their
unexpected run to the last four, restoring pride to the national game after a
decade of darkness. It could be argued that with the exception of Gascoigne,
nobody’s value rose higher after the tournament than Platt’s. He had been named
PFA Player of the Year in the season leading into Italia ’90 as he rattled in
nineteen goals in the league from midfield, yet his performances in Italy
garnered international recognition and speculation was mounting that he
wouldn’t be playing in the Midlands for much longer.
As it turned out, he would remain for one more year, but not
before equaling his nineteen goal haul for the second consecutive season as
Villa finished in a disappointing 17th position.
In an interview in 2010, recalling that moment against
Belgium, Platt has no qualms in believing the goal sealed his move to Italy,
saying ‘’ If I hadn't scored that goal, I might still have
ended up playing in Italy, but, realistically, I'm sure it was the catalyst.
Italian clubs were looking for international names and, before that goal, I was
only really known as a club player with Aston Villa.’’
With his reputation at an all time high and with the World
Cup still fresh in the memory, it was not a surprise to learn that he was
moving to Italy, his choice of team however was quite a surprise to everyone –
A.S Bari.
When one tends to think of the glamour clubs in the Italian
game, Bari are certainly not amongst them, I Galletti had been something of a
yo-yo club during the late ‘80s and their latest promotion to Serie A had come
as recently as 1989.
However their owner, Vincenzo Matarrese, son of construction
magnate Salvatore, held lofty ambitions for his club and the signing of Platt,
alongside Robert Jarni and Zvonimir Boban (on loan) was viewed as a signal of
intent.
Why did nobody other than Bari step forward with a bid?
Platt says that ‘’Genoa had a couple of sniffs, Juventus and Sampdoria were
interested, but there was a fear of English players from the big clubs in Italy
because they had their fingers burnt in the past’’
He was initially going to turn down the Bari offer, hoping
to wait for a bigger side, however he knew that if he played for one season in
Italy and performed admirably then the teams from the North would be more
inclined to buy him. Platt eventually signed on the dotted line, shrewdly
inserting a clause into the contract that stated if another Italian team arrived
with a bid, he would be free to go.
Bari’s £5.5 million signing of Platt was a further example
of just how strong Serie A was in the 1990s; it seemed every team in the
division had one world-class star in its ranks (Atalanta with Caniggia, Cagliari
had Francescoli and Skuhravý playing at Genoa). The league was abundant with world-class players –
foreign and homegrown, and it was the aspiration of every player to test their
mettle in Italy. It was perhaps the finest league in the history of the sport.
Platt was mobbed at the airport upon arrival by ecstatic
Bari fans, as is Italian tradition when a big name arrives, in the
claustrophobic-goldfish bowl-hysteria filled environment of Calcio, where
hyperbole and a desire to placate obsessive fans are never far away, especially
in the ‘90s. Platt very nearly scored an own goal before even kicking a ball
for his new club.
In his first press conference, he declared that he wanted to
become the ‘Maradona of Bari’. Of course to the Bari faithful this was music to
their ears, maybe in Platt’s mind the statement was made purely to appease his
new fans. However declaring that he was attempting to try and replicate what El
Diego achieved in Naples was nothing short of impossible, and just added
further pressure to perform.
He was given the captain’s armband and the no.10 shirt, possibly
the most iconic number in the Italian game as the 1991/92 Serie A season
commenced on September 1st. Bari opened up the campaign at home to
Torino and Platt scored on his league debut, a penalty in the 26th
minute as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Bari wouldn’t win their first game of the season until
January 1992, having only amassed five points as they sat in 17th
place. Getano Salvemini, who had
been at the helm when Bari got promoted in 1989, received his marching orders
after only five games and in came former Juventus and Roma striker Zbigniew
Boniek in an attempt to reverse their fortunes.
They were finally victorious when they beat fellow
strugglers Cagliari 1 – 0 at home. Two games later Platt undoubtedly gave his
best performance for the Southerners in a 2-1 home win against Roma in which he
scored twice, the second coming four minutes from time. However Boniek nor Platt nor even Maradona
himself could’ve stopped the slide towards relegation and Bari only won a
further four games as they finished the season in 15th position,
seven points adrift of Genoa. They were the last team to be relegated.
On an individual level, Platt shined in his maiden season on
the peninsula. He would end the season with eleven goals from 29 games, an astounding
tally given that Bari only scored 26 goals in the entire season and he was a
midfielder playing for a struggling side in a league were goals came at a
premium.
His assertion that a year in Serie A would make him more
appealing to the more grandiose clubs in Italy turned out to be correct. Five
months prior to Bari’s relegation he received a call from Roberto Mancini, the
Sampdoria skipper and talisman who would ultimately play a huge role in his
life but at this point the pair weren’t exactly on a first name basis.
‘’We'd played Sampdoria a
few times and I'd faced Robbie," Platt recollects. "But I didn't know
him and he'd tracked my number from somewhere. He said: 'I know you've got a
good relationship with your president, I'm sure you could push through a move
to us.’’
With Bari’s relegation confirmed, combined with the clause
in his contract and his performances throughout the season, it was never likely
that Platt was going to stay in Puglia. This time around Juventus did show
concrete interest and offered £6.5 million for his services. Platt weighed up
his options between Juventus and Sampdoria, ultimately determining that the
lure of La Vecchia Signora was too great an opportunity to pass up.
Juventus had finished as runners up in 1991/92 and embarked
on a massive spending spree over the summer in the attempt to overthrow the
mighty Milan of Gullit, Rijkaard and Van Basten. Platt was among a host of
signings that included Gianluca Vialli, Andreas Moeller, Dino Baggio and
Fabrizio Ravanelli.
Platt struggled to make an impact in Turin, the competition
for places was fierce and despite Trapattoni being a fan, he often failed to
even make the squad. He repeated his Bari feat and scored on his league debut
against Genoa but got injured in a home game against Udinese in November ’92
and wouldn’t return until February 1993 against Atalanta.
He would end the season a UEFA Cup winner, picking up his
first piece of silverware as Roberto Baggio’s genius inspired Juve to decimate
Borussia Dortmund 6-1 on aggregate. Following the general theme of his season,
Platt didn’t make the squad for the two-legged final and rarely featured
throughout the tournament.
Throughout the season, as it became clear that the move
wasn’t working out, he was continually getting phone calls from a by now familiar
voice. Mancini, in what would surely in this era be viewed as ‘tapping up’, was
persistent in trying to bring him to Sampdoria. When the Blucerchiati played
against Juventus in the Stadio Delle Alpi in May (a game he scored in) Platt
would recall that ‘’Robbie was playing, so I was marking him and hovering
around, hoping he would say something’’.
In July 1993, the move to Sampdoria finally happened, with
much-loved owner Paolo Mantovani paying £5.2 million for him. In three
successive summers Platt had wracked up an accumulative £17.2 million in
transfer fees.
Mantovani might have stumped up the money for him but he is
unequivocal about who made the deal materialise, ‘’ I've always suspected I
wasn't on Sampdoria's list that summer, because their president wanted to sign
Marco Osio from Parma but he ran the transfer list past Robbie (Mancini), who
had much of the say. I soon made the move." He recalls.
For the next two seasons, under the
tutelage of future England manager and Swedish lothario Sven Goran Eriksson,
Platt excelled at the heart of the Sampdoria midfield. His marauding runs from
midfield complimented the guile of Gullit - who was brought in on loan from
Milan - and the combative nature of Vladimir Jugovic and all-action style of Attilio
Lombardo. All led of course by the irresistible Mancini.
Platt once more continued his
propensity for scoring on his debut, this time a header away to Napoli in a 2-1
win. He would net a further eight goals in the league (including an equaliser
in the Derby della Lanterna) and two in the Coppa Italia, including a crucial
penalty in the round of 16 against Roma.
The death of Mantovani, the
orchestrator of the club’s resurgence, months after signing Platt left a dark
cloud over the club. However they battled on to enjoy a fine season playing in swashbuckling
fashion, scoring more goals than anyone in the division. They eventually
finished third in the league and won the Coppa Italia. They haven’t won
anything since.
By June 1995, following a season that
saw Sampdoria fail to emulate the success of the previous campaign despite
losing in two classic encounters against Arsenal in the semi final of the Cup
Winners’ Cup. Platt decided the time was right to move back to England.
He confessed to having envisioned
winning trophies in England yet conceded he was torn between staying in Genoa,
where he was settled, and with a proposal from Arsenal on the table, believing
that at the age of 29 this was his last chance to join another big club. In his
own words ‘’I couldn’t have my cake and eat it’’.
He completed his £4.75 million transfer
to The Gunners a month later, thus ending his four-year odyssey in Italian
football. Platt departed Serie A in the same summer as Gascoigne, his fellow
break-out star of Italia ’90, yet their experiences couldn’t have been more
contrasting. The latter showed only mere glimpses of his unbelievable talent,
blighted by a combination of injury, lack of self-discipline and a failure to
embrace the culture.
Meanwhile the former became a success because in his own
words he ‘’wanted to become an Italian, speak like an Italian, to live and eat
like an Italian’’. Platt stated he became fluent in the language within his
first year of moving to Italy. Gascoigne could never speak more than a few
sentences. Platt became a more technically accomplished and tactically astute
footballer in Italy. Gazza unfortunately regressed.
Nearly two decades on since his departure, Platt is the last
English success story in Italy. Paul Ince could make a claim to be considered,
however his stint at Inter lacked the longevity compared to the man from
Lancashire.
Platt would return to Italy sooner than he expected in a
short and controversial stint as manager of a now struggling Sampdoria in the
1998/99 season, but was sacked after six games, due to not having the relevant
coaching qualifications.
Despite this, Platt is still revered in Genoa and Bari for
his performances on the field and for becoming as he stated, ‘one of them’.
With Ashley Cole and Micah Richards currently failing to sparkle in Serie A,
you get the impression it will be a long time before an Englishman rivals David
Andrew Platt’s success in Calcio.
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