In a new monthly column for the Gentleman Ultra, Federico Farcomeni is on the ground with all the latest news from the Italian football ultra scene. You can follow Federico’s weekly updates from the Curva on his Calcio Express substack.
Lazio “e”mbarrassed!
Lazio ultras were at it again as they displayed a sensational tifo inspired to a derby from the 1993-94 season when they depicted two arms holding up an English-style scarf accompanied by the phrase “C’mon Guys!” This time, for the game against Napoli, the entire Curva Nord displayed an “intermittent” tifo as cardboards were raised up and down in accordance with the moment chants were shouted out loud. At the front of the Curva, the Ultras reproduced the British style flags also normally seen in the 1990s Curva Nord, another clear nod to the British influence, rooted in the club’s 1990s culture. Nofootballcolors wrote on Instagram: “Curva Nord delivered a striking visual statement. The key detail? Real scarves, raised both at the top and at the bottom of the stand. The result felt like a single living fresco vibrant, dense, collective.” Outside the Olimpico, Lazio ultras also paid tribute to Brigitte Bardot.
As usual then, on the night between Thursday 8 and Friday 9, they celebrated Lazio’s 126th birthday on the banks of the River Tiber, where Lazio was originally formed in 1900, as they lit up flares and fireworks.
It seemed the Brigitte Bardot banner was misspelt in French though (au revoire instead of au revoir). Their Roma counterparts immediately grabbed the chance to mock them as they showed the “E” in Curva Sud during their game against Sassuolo, then displayed a banner stating “we’ve found this in Ponte Milvio / whoever has lost it, please contact Palazzo Farnese (that’s where the French Embassy is). A flag from CUCS (Commando Ultrà Curva Sud) was also waved during the same game, as an emblem of the group which would have turned 49 on 9 January (1977).
Lazio ultras showed off another tifo away from home, this time in Verona. As 2,200 attended the game in the away end, the ultras displayed big white and sky blue flags depicting Rome’s 22 “Rioni” (the main districts of old town) – 16 of them were hung on the main fence, whilst the remaining six were waved at the top of the section – and then lifted banners bearing names of different areas of the city. The main banner read “All of Rome is here for you.” As Lazio’s 126th birthday had just been celebrated, this was another way to carry on celebrations into the new year.
Ticket prices cause Milan protest
Despite protests over ticket sales, Milan ultras in attendance for the game in Sardinia, chanted “the banner left as the ship set sail…Furiosi are no more!”
This was a reference to 1992 when Milan ultras stole the Furiosi banner and then hung it upside down on the ship as they departed back to the mainland.
Gasperini welcomed back to Bergamo
Roma ultras attended the away game in Bergamo as 1500 of them populated the away section at the New Balance Arena (tickets for their Lecce game instead were limited to 350 and sale was only allowed to residents outside of the Lazio region). “Good” vibes at the train station and then a flare was thrown onto the pitch during the game as the Nerazzurri eventually came out on top against their former manager Gasperini. Local ultras welcomed him with a big banner saying: “A decade of glory carved into our history. Setting us apart was a blow to our hearts, finding ourselves again is a great emotion. Welcome back Gasp, a permanent symbol of Bergamo.”
Lecce whistle double standards
924 Lecce fans attended the game at AC Milan. As reported by our friend Guly, they split their Ultrà Lecce banner into four parts in order to sneak it into the San Siro, then whistled and hurled their abuse at Lega Serie A during the minute silence held to commemorate the passing of Fiorentina president Rocco Commisso. It wasn’t against the purple club at all but rather at the lack of respect shown when Lecce physio Graziano Fiorita (aged 47, 20 years at the club) passed away last April – after postponing the game, Lega Serie A then urged the team to face Atalanta just three days after the scheduled date. The intention would have been to wait for funerals and Fiorita’s bereavement at least before playing the game. Back then, Lecce chose to play with a full white kit with no logos and a writing on their chest which read “no values no colours”, as a sign of protest and their ultras did not show up. Only a banner with the word “Graziano” and a black bow were showed in the visiting supporters section.
Ranking the Curvas…
An interesting stat emerged in January, reporting an average attendance for each Serie A club after the first 20 matchdays. Here’s the Top 10:
#1 Juventus (avg 2663)
#2 Lazio (2171)
#3 Inter (1969)
#4 Napoli (1963)
#5 Roma (1946)
#6 Milan (1411)
#7 Fiorentina (1367)
#8 Como (1304)
#9 Genoa (1230)
#10 Lecce (1193)
In December, the ban on away games for both Pisa and Hellas Verona ultras had been lifted, which meant both fanbases could finally return to follow their teams away from home. Still, for the game at Milan, only 38 away fans were in attendance as local authorities had banned ticket sales to residents in the province of Verona (the same restrictive measure was applied for their away game in Naples on Wednesday) – their next real away game occasion then was Monday 19 January at Cremonese. Pisa ultras were finally back instead, as they attended the game at Genoa: 871 of them could finally follow the team in this long-awaited return to the top flight and were then back at the San Siro (4,361) after a 35-year wait with almost the same outcome: 6-3 in 1990, 6-2 in 2026.
Napoli and Red Star alliance
In midweek in the Champions League, Napoli away game in Copenhagen passed without incident but some Delije crossed the bridge from Malmö where Red Star was scheduled to play their Europa League fixture on Thursday, in order to revive their allegiance with the Azzurri.
Mamma Mia
On Thursday 29 January, 1,970 Roma ultras travelled to Athens as they renewed their close friendship with Panathinaikos Gate 13 on the eve of the game. On matchday, the home end unfurled a banner in Italian saying “beyond brotherhood, history unites us.” In the away end, Roma ultras held up a banner in Greek with the same message. Both lit up colourful smoke bombs, then sang the same song against their respective rivals (“vaffanculo Lazio, Olympiacos”).
Civil war in Bergamo?
Forever Atalanta celebrated their 20th anniversary in the Curva Sud at the New Balance Arena v Parma (689), whereas their Curva Nord colleagues displayed some superb banners which translated: “30 away games banned in three seasons: our patience is running out, we’re fed up! Enough absurd bans due to your incompetence.”
De Falchi Remembered
As it often happens when Milan (3,435) visits, Roma’s Curva Sud displayed a tifo remembering Antonio De Falchi. The writing read “imperitura memoria” which translates as “everlasting memory.” The main central flag depicted De Falchi on board of the train of his last ever trip on 4 June 1989 when he died of a heart attack in Milan at the age of 18.
Viking return
Juventus v Napoli (2,099) meant the return of a historical banner for Viking – the banner Milano flanked by the tricolour lightnings was a throwback to another banner of the 1990s. In fact, this banner was finally let into the Allianz Stadium after a 9-year absence.
Curvas lose patience
After losing 6-0 in Como, Torino ultras (574) protested as they tried to talk to their players. “We are not buying food or can’t pay bills because we follow you” was one of the sentences heard during the confrontation as Torino striker Duvan Zapata got angry and left. The ultra groups of the Curva Maratona then released a statement as they announced they were going to leave the curva empty for their home game against Lecce.
The same was true for Lazio ultras who announced days in advance that they wouldn’t be attending the game against Genoa (Liguria residents have also been banned from the fixture). As Daniele De Rossi returns as public enemy at the Olimpico, the focus of the attention remained firm on president Lotito. Eventually, only 1,894 went through the turnstiles. This said, Ultras Lazio still gathered at their usual venue on Ponte Milvio outside the Olimpico to live the game together.
In Verona v Udinese (699), a flag stole our attention (Luton & Verona) and a banner too (Austin, we’ve a problem) – a reference to the latest American takeover of the club (Presidio Investors are based in Texas).
Padova end the planet
In Serie B, Padova ultras (703) sang a song about discarding plastic in the environment against Greta Thunberg’s advise (“but I’ll use it out of spite and I’ll destroy this planet, this may be because Greta Thunberg doesn’t want it either”), then supported their team in the snow in Bozen.
Livorno honour Protti
Livorno ultras and fans gathered to salute Igor Protti as their former striker was awarded with the Livornina d’Oro, the utmost city’s honour. Already in 2006, Protti had been given the honorary citizenship by the town’s mayor.
Salernitana greeted
As 350 Salernitana ultras made their way to Siracusa, they were welcomed at Villa San Giovanni (where ferries depart for Sicily) by their Reggio Calabria brothers as they presented them with croissants, flares and chants. After the match, as the Granata lost 3-1, the team was rejected by the disappointed away supporters in attendance. Meanwhile in Salerno, a big scarves’ museum was on show…
Despite sitting just 7 miles apart, Andria and Barletta aren’t rivals and actually renewed their twinning last month. The home ultras displayed double-face scarves and the main banner read: “with this scarf stretched out, beyond each contest, Andria and Barletta no surrender!” The same banner was also hung in the away end as 2,000 white and red fans were in attendance in the stalemate of the Stadio degli Ulivi (around 8,000 total attendance).
Party in Foggia
As Foggia finally got rid of the previous ownership, fans took to the streets and celebrated with fireworks. Plenty of reasons to celebrate as Giuseppe De Vito and especially Gennaro Casillo have now taken over at the club. Casillo is the son of Pasquale who catapulted Foggia to the best years of their history in the 1990s as Zemanland opened its doors to fans far and wide. Enthusiasm is now back and, after staying away until then, fans have “packed the Zac” (Pino Zaccheria stadium) for the game against Giugliano with amazing support and dozens of flares lit all around the pitch perimeter.
Derby dell’Abruzzo goes off
Teramo hosted Giulianova in the 159th derby dell’Abruzzo (certainly one of the fieriest ones) in front of 6604 spectators, the highest ever recorded for this fixture, yet surpassing the previous attendance record from the 1984/85 season. There were skirmishes as away ultras reached the Bonolis stadium before an intense contest inside the ground. During the match, Curva Est ultras threw crackers on the pitch which stunned away goalkeeper Diego Negro.
Turn outs in Serie A
Como and Bologna met outside the Sinigaglia and started fighting with flagpoles. Como seemed to be taken by surprise and were a bit outnumbered there but, as it emerged on papers in the aftermath, it’s likely that the Bologna buses’ driver possibly got the wrong directions and this sparked the brawl. Regardless of this, 74 Forever Ultras and 15 Bochum ultras were banned, two were arrested and went to court on Monday morning. Also, Bologna fans were prevented from travelling to Verona in midweek and tickets were refunded.
Fiorentina and Roma ultras clashed on the A1. Fiorentina were heading to Bologna for their Derby dell’Appennino, whilst Roma were travelling to Turin. Several audios started circulating on online chats, some even claiming that big Roma flags showing Antonio De Falchi and Roma founder Italo Foschi, and even the Curva Sud banner had been stolen during the fight. As kick-off in Turin loomed, none of that proved to be true. At the start of the week though, a picture circulated online showing a big Roma flag hung upside down, a scarf and some other clothing items. Fourty-eight hours later, the Ministry of the Interior then decided to ban both Fiorentina and Roma fans from attending their teams’ away games for the rest of the season.
The same fate awaited Lazio and Napoli ultras. As they returned from Lecce, Lazio ultras (who had displayed a banner protesting at the limited capacity of the away section at Via del Mare) waited for their Napoli counterparts in the middle of the night on the A1 close to Frosinone. A massive brawl ensued as 80 of them were stopped and searched at the toll of Monteporzio Catone. In total, 380 were identified and Digos pressed charges against 54 Lazio ultras. Consequently, both Napoli and Lazio fans won’t be able to follow their respective teams until the end of the season (but Roma v Lazio will still be ON).
European struggles
Local authorities had been alerted as 1,000 ticketless Stuttgart fans travelled to Rome for their Europa League encounter. The Germans showed up in numbers on the eve of the game as police and carabinieri closely followed them around the city centre streets. On the day of the game, a few Roma ultras with helmets and bats showed up outside a pub and hit them hard – two Germans were wounded in the attack. Inside the Olimpico, Cesena ultras were in attendance along their friends from Stuttgart. Roma ultras displayed a tifo with the main banner reading “I boldly travel around Europe, holding your colours up high.”
It was difficult to know what to expect from Bologna v Celtic but a leaflet circulated online on the eve of the game as the leading ultra group responded to a picture circulating online showing a half and half scarf with the motto “yesterday Partisans, today anti-Zionists”, asking Bologna fans and ultras to keep their political allegiances outside of Stadio Dall’Ara. Then, on matchday a fight broke out between Bar Dalla (a famous meeting point for the red and blue ultras) and the Coop superstore as belts were used in the brawl and 41 Scots, 1 Irish and 5 Italians were all identified. All were reported to the Judicial Authorities for the crimes of brawling and throwing dangerous materials at sporting events. A Scottish citizen was arrested for aggravated resisting a public official. Regarding the conduct described, Police Chief Gaetano Bonaccorso issued four mandatory banishment orders and 41 mandatory expulsion orders. Inside the stadium, some Motherwell fans were in attendance in the home end, as they displayed their team’s flags. The Curva Costa displayed a tifo with the main banner reading: “whatever happens, we’ll be there for you.”