When Italy last hosted a major tournament there was every reason to feel that it was the undisputed centre of the footballing universe. The best players – Diego Maradona of Napoli, Marco van Basten of Milan, Lothar Matthäus of Internazionale, Roberto Baggio of Fiorentina – illuminated Serie A. They were paid better than players anywhere else. Their lives appeared more glamorous than anyone else’s. A dozen stadiums were remodelled and renovated to host Italia 90 and the facilities were regarded at the time as top notch.

Fast forward two decades to the summer of 2010. Just before the World Cup in South Africa, the votes came in to determine who would get the chance to host the 2016 European Championship. There were three main candidates: France, Turkey and Italy. In that time frame between 1990 and 2010, the status of the Italian game had slipped to the point where they dearly needed the keys to the Euros to give themselves a chance of upgrading an infrastructure that in 20 years had become incredibly dated.

For the bid, the FIGC (Italian Football Federation) came up with a grand plan for a second stadium revolution. It was obvious what kind of domino effect it was hoping for. A more modern environment should go hand in hand with improved attendances, fan behaviour, commercial revenues, status of the league and so on. The renovations included reconfiguring stands to guarantee perfect sightlines, the removal or minimisation of athletics tracks, setting up welcoming spaces and VIP areas, improving toilet and catering facilities. Twelve potential host cities were selected: Bari, Cagliari, Cesena, Florence, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Parma, Rome, Turin, Udine and Verona.

Yet the bid for 2016 came to nothing. Italy were eliminated from the first round of voting and France beat Turkey by one vote to be awarded the tournament. Having also been overlooked to host Euro 2012 in favour of Poland and Ukraine, the Italians were left ruing another lost opportunity to kickstart the domestic renaissance they craved.

Now it is down to them to force the issue. Italian football is having to find another way to pull itself up. Juventus have provided the inspiration with their sparkling example of a club-owned super stadium, which was opened in 2011 on the site of the old Stadio delle Alpi. It is intimate, atmospheric, comfortable, polished and loved.

Others are aiming to follow Juve’s lead by reviving their homes. Udinese have been very proactive in redesigning the Friuli imaginatively. Heated seats, Wi-Fi and restaurants will make for a rather different experience. “At the end of the renewal works, Udine will count on a modern stadium that will become the 12th man on the pitch,” promises the official literature. They are building a facility which they hope will be multifunctional and used on non-football days, for events like concerts, and with a museum and swimming pools in the surrounding area. “If we hadn’t done this, we would have lost a great part of our support over the next 5-10 years,” estimated Udinese’s owner, Giampaolo Pozzo.

There is a groundswell of ambition to pull things together in Italy. They are not exactly unaware of how Serie A’s infrastructure has been lagging behind other major European leagues. Having said that, it is not straightforward for all the talk to be transformed into action.

Notoriously complicated bureaucracy takes some hurdling. Last spring, Napoli’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, showed his taste for melodrama when he threatened to move his club abroad if the city council continued making the mission to upgrade Stadio San Paolo so thorny. “If I do leave Napoli, then you can play in the third division and keep your mayor,” he said. “I’m going to meet with the mayor to decide whether I should leave Naples and start over in England … and leave you with the youth team.”

It was telling to hear Serie A’s two prominent foreign owners discussing the future for their clubs at the Leaders conference at Stamford Bridge this week.

The foreign ownership model that has been so prominent in the Premier League might turn out to be Serie A’s salvation. James Pallotta, the Boston-born president of Roma, is driving plans to build a new home for the giallorossi based on the Colosseum. Pallotta believes a futuristic stadium will give his team “a competitive advantage”. The design incorporates the provision for luxury boxes, but also a 14,000 capacity section to replace the Curva Sud experience for the hardcore fans. It is an ambitious but also credible project.

Erik Thohir, the Indonesian president of Inter, has also expressed his desire for the club to have their own stadium, something that can be used more than 200 days of the year. Because of the shared use of San Siro, redevelopment has for a long time been a delicate subject. Who would take responsibility – Inter or Milan? If Inter were to build their own stadium, leaving the rossoneri as San Siro’s sole tenants, modernisation looks achievable.

It was only a year ago that Antonio Conte, who is now in charge of the national team, was almost contemptuous about how far away Italian football was from the top of the elite. When Juventus – outpowering all around them in Italy – were swatted aside by Bayern Munich in the Champions League, he had harsh words for what he perceived to be a long road ahead.

“I can’t see an Italian team winning the Champions League in the coming years,” he said. “Italian football has come to a standstill and that should be a concern for everyone. I think everyone has to pull together to try and change things. When I say everyone, I mean the clubs, the supporters, the media and all the institutions.”

There is still considerable work to be done. But the will and determination shown by Italy’s foreign owners is helping to shake up Serie A. By the time the 2016 European Championship begins, they may not have a dozen new stadiums, but at least a number of upgrades will be under way.