Football Illustrated Almanac

Cover of the first edition, 1939
Author	Various journalists
Original title	Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio
Country	Italy
Language	Italian
Discipline	Association football
Publisher	Panini Group (1971–present)
Published	1939–present
Media type	Print
Website	Panini Italy

The Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio (English: Football Illustrated Almanac) is an annual publication concerning football in Italy, from the first division (Serie A) to lower leagues that compose the league system in the country.^[1]

The Almanacco revisites the football activities within the year, including statistics, results, and curiosities. Currently edited by Panini, the annual has been published since 1939.

History

The first Italian football almanacs were launched in 1913 and 1938, under different names.^[2] In 1939 the book took its current form,^[2] under the name Enciclopedia Illustrata del Calcio Italiano.^[3] The reported statistics and information of the 1937–38 season (in Italy and worldwide, for example third World Cup) have, in addition, colour spots.^[2]

Publishing has always been annual, except during World War II,^[2] but the 1947 edition covered those seasons, as well as other seasons.^[2] Panini started publishing in 1971.^[2]

Content

The Almanacco combines numbers, photos and information about previous and current seasons. The usual chapters are as follows:

• Intro and focus^[4]
• Personal information about players, coaches and referees^{[note 1]}
• Index of professional clubs^{[note 2]}
• Summary of previous year^{[note 3]}
• Plan for current year^{[note 4]}
• Resumes of domestic derbies^{[note 5]}
• Championship history^{[note 6]}
• Worldwide football^{[note 7]}

Some editions also contains specials about tournaments (FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro, Confederations Cup), biographies of players and clubs (e.g. on the anniversary of foundation, or when they go bankrupt). The book is published in autumn, and it is updated to November.

Format changes

Until 2002, the Almanacco, which was printed in black and white covered history of Italian championships (before and after 1929 split - known as "girone unico" - with results, tables and champion squads) and the list of Italian national games (from 1910).^[5] The principal format changes are listed below:

• In 2003 photos get colour, players of Series A and B have appearances and goals in their league recorded (for their team and overall), and the * that previously noted the home team is erased. A special first appearance, related to 2002 World Cup (with statistics of 32 participating national teams) is included.
• In 2004 the section about the UEFA Champions League was expanded, with a list of finals (played until that season) and some photos. Serie A pages, after a day-by-day account, have an album added.^{[note 8]}
• The 2005 edition is the longest ever printed, with 944 pages. This was due to a 2003 scandal (in which Catania was mainly involved) that led to 2003–04 Serie B being played with 24 teams: Panini chose to report prior information (see the top of the section) in addition to 2003–04 season information and a special based on UEFA Euro 2004. In order to make chapters easier to find, every chapter has a different colour.^[6]
• The 2006 edition removed old statistics, and established a new pattern for Serie A photos: each day of Serie A is printed in 2 pages, with illustrations. National team games are also covered, using a table format rather than text one.

Later editions also have brought news, such as lists of record-holders for Serie A clubs and focus.^[4][7]

Non-canonical editions

Catania's 2003 scandal meant for the next season, Serie B was expanded from 20 to 24 teams. The Almanacco printed in late 2004 (with 2005 on its cover) was, as result, longer than previous editions. Panini therefore decided, starting with the following edition, to produce a shorter book. Statistics replied until that moment were cut, to being published in a special publication (Almanacco: La Storia 1898-2004) not counted as canonical. It was published in September 2005, months before the regular publication.^[8]