Juve and Notts County, Liverpool and Barca, Arsenal and Sparta Prague: foreign clubs influenced by England
Mighty Juventus have invited Notts County to open their new stadium in Turin, which may sound bizarre if you don't happen to have an in-depth knowledge of the Italian club's history. The Nottingham side, via an Englishman named John Savage, provided Juve with a set of their black and white striped shirts back in 1903, establishing a link that is being celebrated with the inauguration of their brand new home.
Juventus aren't the only major foreign football club to have an English hand in their development, however, as talkSPORT reveals…
ATHLETIC BILBAO AND Sunderland/Southampton
Athletic Bilbao's English origin is evident in the club's use of the English word 'Athletic', rather than the Spanish 'Atletico'. Their first official kit was a blue and white number inspired by Blackburn Rovers, but they switched to red and white stripes after a club member bought 50 new shirts on a trip to England. There are claims from both Sunderland and Southampton (like Bilbao, both ports, with heavy links to the Spanish city) that their local team provided Athletic's historic shirts. Whatever the truth there, England's influence is undeniable on one of Spain's most historic clubs.
GENOA CFC: THE SERIE A SIDE WHO PLAYED CRICKET
Nine times Italian champions, Serie A side Genoa are still known by their full title of Genoa Cricket and Football Club. Initially founded as an athletic and cricket club in 1893 for English expats in the Italian port city, Londonder James Richardson Spensley (no relation to the Italian football bloke off the telly) was responsible for creating what is now Italy's oldest existing football club in 1897.
CORINTHIANS: INSPIRED BY ENGLISH AMATEURS TO BECOME WORLD CHAMPIONS
Legendary amateur side Corinthian were founded in London in the 1880s and, despite refusing to turn professional or take penalties awarded to them (they refused to believed an opponent would cheat), provided most of the England team for the next decade, as well as beating the FA Cup winners on several occasions. Increasingly isolated by the growth of professional football, however, Corinthian took to touring the world to promote the game. It was on a tour of Brazil in 1910 that they impressed a group of Brazilians so much – comprehensively winning every game they played – that the locals formed their own club and named them Corinthians. Fast forward 90 years and the Brazilian Corinthians won the first FIFA Club World Cup.
SPARTA PRAGUE AND ARSENAL
Arsenal celebrated their final season at Highbury by reverting to a 'redcurrant' kit, in homage to their original colours. While the Gunners donned this burgundy shirt for one year only before switching back to their red and white kit, the Czech Republic's most successful club Sparta Prague are still playing in the colours, after being inspired by Arsenal way back in 1906. It was then that Sparta's club president, Dr Petric, visited London and decided to change his club's kit – with a sack full of trophies in the old Czechoslovakia days and another 11 titles since the Czech Republic's independence in the early '90s, it's still serving them well.
BARCELONA'S DEBT TO MERSEYSIDE
The maroon and blue stripes of Barcelona are now familiar throughout the world as a symbol of Catalonia and one of the world's most famous clubs, but the choice of colours actually came from Merseyside. Englishman Arthur Witty, who played for Barca in its early days, was inspired by his old school colours from the Merchant Taylor's School in Crosby. Even more reason for Liverpool fans to delight in Barcelona's Champions League final wins over Man United.
AC MILAN: MADE IN NOTTINGHAM
Similar to Genoa, Milan were originally founded by Englishmen (Nottingham's Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin) as the Milan Cricket and Football Club. To this day the club's English heritage is evident in the Anglicised name 'Milan', which has remained despite the city being called 'Milano' in Italian.