Over the years Serie A has seen its fair share of individuals playing well on into their thirties and still enjoying huge levels of success on the field, defying the logic that older players tend to take a back seat in terms of contributing on the pitch and that they are best used sparingly.
Throughout the 2000’s AC Milan regularly fielded teams packed with thirty somethings as a number of world class players reached the end of their careers, and they kept performing at the highest level.
It is well known that goalkeepers can have long shelf lives, well past the age of thirty and in Serie A it is no different with Gianluigi Buffon (age 36) continually receiving plaudits while Morgan De Sanctis (37) is enjoying one of his best seasons in recent years.
Milan relied on their defensive stalwarts in Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta who both played after passing their 41st birthdays while Inter’s Javier Zanetti is still playing past 40; but this season has seen the veteran forwards take the spotlight and become the latest in in a line of ‘Golden Oldies’.
This season has seen a resurgence of the veterans in the goal scoring charts in Serie A with the likes of Hellas Verona’s Luca Toni (36), Antonio Di Natale (36) of Udinese, Francesco Totti (37) and Miroslav Klose (35) of Roma and Lazio respectively all having highly productive seasons. These four players have a combined age of 144 and have scored a remarkable 42 Serie A goals between them this season.
In the cases of Toni and Di Natale it is clear it took them both some time to reach their best form. Toni was a late bloomer and a journeyman before he established himself in Serie A at the age of 25 whereas Di Natale has enjoyed his best goal-scoring feats after turning 31 and has become an Udinese legend with over 100 league goals in the autumn of his career.
When compared with the English Premier League, Spanish Primera Divison and the German Bundesliga the number of old goalscorers in the top 25 in each league provide interesting reading. In Germany, just four players are 30 or over and Wolfsburg’s Ivica Olic is the oldest at 34. In both the Premier League and in Spain there are seven aged 30 or over, of which the oldest are 33 years old.
In Serie A it is another story altogether as once again there are seven aged thirty or over, however the fact that four of the top six goalscorers demonstrates the place that older strikers have in Italy. Adding in both Totti and Klose, who despite having scored fewer goals than others already mentioned in this article, they are central pieces in their respective side’s successes this season, the question has to be asked why is this only really prevalent in Italy?
None of the other leagues have so many sides reliant on goals from the over 30s.
A simple answer can be found in the finances of the Italian game. While the other big three European leagues have been raking in the money and splashing the cash on huge record breaking transfers Serie A has fallen on hard times.
Italian clubs have not attracted the same levels of investment as the likes of Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain who, overnight, became heavyweight contenders in their respective leagues and in the Champions League. This has meant Italian sides have been forced to use their limited resources more carefully and show faith in older players, who in all probability would not be having as much success abroad.
A second reason could lie within the style of play in Italy. Serie A has always been viewed as a less physically demanding league that is played at a much lower tempo than the likes of the Premier League; two traits that can extend the career of any player. This is why the arrivals of players like Nemanja Vidic, who at 32, is seen as the 
replacement for Walter Samuel at Inter.
In the physical and pacy Premier League, Vidic’s performances had been dropping and it appeared that his career was on the wane but he is just the kind of player that can boost Serie A as big money signings are rare in the Italian game at present.
There is however the negative side effect in that the younger players just don’t get the game time as the oldies continue to shine. The right balance needs to be struck and most Serie A sides appear to be on the right path blending the more experienced heads with the stars of tomorrow but the ‘Golden Oldies’ will always continue to showcase their abilities in Serie A, garnering the respect of fans all across the country.
