How Totocalcio and Football Pools shaped sports in Italy and the UK
MILAN, ITALY - NOVEMBER 16: General view inside the stadium prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Italy and Norway at San Siro Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
English footballers like David Platt in Serie A weren’t the only thing Italian and English football had in common back then.
For decades, fans across both countries shared a familiar ritual: predicting weekend results in Serie A, the Football League, and beyond.
There was no internet back then, so supporters could predict game outcomes with a simple piece of paper and a pen!
In Italy, it was called Totocalcio, but everyone knew it as Schedina, while in Britain, the tradition was Football Pools.
The two systems developed differently but shared a similar characteristic: participation-generated revenue supported wider sporting initiatives and infrastructure.
Totocalcio in Italy began after the Second World War when, in 1946, a group of journalists launched a football prediction competition based on a coupon featuring a selection of matches. The company, based in Milan, was called Sisal.
It quickly became popular, prompting the Italian government to place it under the control of the National Olympic Committee, CONI, and officially name it ‘Totocalcio.’
The coupon initially featured 12 matches, but it rose to 13 in 1951, making the expression ‘Ho fatto 13!’ an iconic way to describe a big stoke of luck.
The resources raised by Totocalcio helped develop multiple sports in the country and supported preparations for major international events hosted in the post-war decades.
When new forms of entertainment emerged from the late 1990s, Totocalcio gradually declined, yet its historical contribution to Italian sports remains an important part of the country’s heritage.
Football Pools in Britain developed even earlier, with companies such as Littlewoods, Vernons, and Zetters quickly becoming popular in the 20th century and attracting millions of regular participants.
Pools became a cultural phenomenon especially before football games were televised across the UK. As in Italy, the income helped fund various projects and initiatives linked to football.
Even if football prediction coupons no longer hold the same place in everyday life, their impact on sporting history remains significant. Modern gaming products operate in a very different environment. Resources such as the UK online casino Fortune Games website provide guides to a range of games and draws, reflecting how technology has changed and how people access entertainment today.
The internet has transformed how fans follow football and predict match results. Still, Totocalcio and the Football Pools remain fond memories for older generations, evoking nostalgia for a pastime that now belongs largely to another era.
Football pools, lotteries and casino games are for over-18s only. Fortune Games is a UK online casino and is not part of The National Lottery. For free, confidential advice, contact the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.
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