I recently hooked up with a friend who gave me some photos from a trip to Italy in 2005. We were visiting a mutual friend in Rome, via his home town of Agnone, a small town in the hills of the Molise region (South of Rome). Looking back at the pics confirmed to me that I am a shameless football tourist. It’s quite sad, but whenever I go abroad I like to know who the local team are, and whenever possible, get to a game. And so, I thought I’d share a few memories of this particular visit, which I recall as a nice insight into football in Italy’s rural communities, contrast with the spectacle of Serie A. Alternatively, I’m old and don’t want to live in the present. Either way, I hope you enjoy my little presentation.
Inter Club Agnone
The above picture is taken outside the Inter Club in Agnone. Just so you understand the geography, Agnone is about 430 miles from Milan – one hell of a drive. But, you find Inter (and Juventus) supporters all over Italy, so supporters clubs* are not uncommon (Google ‘Inter Club’ followed by any decent sized Italian town or city and you’ll probably find one). The existence of Inter Club Agnone is the result of one man’s unhealthy obsession with the Nerazzuri – he’s the guy with the silver hair in the denim jacket (above photo), known as il capo - ‘The Boss’. I’ve met the boss twice and never found out much about him, but he’s very proud of his little club, and is always happy to open up for travelling strangers. The venue itself is a pretty simple affair – it has a TV to watch the games on, and the walls are covered with Inter memorabilia – including a photo of the boss with Massimo Moratti (the other boss).
Of course, not everyone in the town worships blue and black, and after one of their many spectacular chokes (gifting the title to Juventus) some of the other locals held a mock funeral procession, with a coffin representing Inter’s title aspirations.
When the Agnone Inter fans do make a trip to San Siro, they try to get a good spot for their banner behind the goal, so now I always look for it on TV, and have kind of adopted Inter as my team (I also like Roma – sue me). As someone pointed out to me recently, on the face of it Inter are not a particularly lovable club, but supporters clubs like this one are so far removed from the wealth and swagger of Milan, it’s hard to equate the two. The picture below was taken on a different visit, in the summer – The Boss is sitting on the bench having a smoke.
*Londoners interested in experiencing a similar vibe should check out Inter Club London on Clerkenwell Road.
Olympia Agnone
Now, with all the focus on Inter, you’d be forgiven for thinking Agnone had no side of its own, but they do – the magnificently titled Olympia Agnone. When we visited, Agnone were playing away at their local rivals – I forget their name, but it was about 20 minutes drive round some precarious mountain bends. The venue for the game was the most serene setting I have ever experienced at a football match – observe:
A small group of us – Agnone ultras – stood together, smoking lots of cigarettes, obviously, and making derogatory remarks about the officials. I don’t speak much Italian, but you pick up the curses pretty quick.
I remember little about the game, but Agnone won 1-0, and the winning goal was celebrated with the kind enthusiasm I used to enjoy watching on Football Italia. The goal scorer jumped up on clung on to the fence in front of us, shaking it violently, while the travelling fans bundled and roared with delight on the other side. It was a proper Italian goal celebration, played out in front of about 50 spectators. Fucking brilliant.
We celebrated the result with a big feed, lots of wine, and night out a disco pub in the middle of nowhere. The ended with a drive home along pitch black mountain roads at ludicrous speeds. I am not too proud to say I was scared shitless, and to this day I am grateful to have made it back alive.
Roma v Milan, Stadio Olimpico
After Agnone we returned to Rome for the real thing – a top of the table clash under lights at Olimpico. I was properly buzzing for this and it didn’t disappoint – without question the most electric atmosphere I have ever experienced. Sadly, I only have a couple of pics to share as the photos didn’t come out well.
If you haven’t been to a big stadium in Italy and you’re thinking about making a trip, one thing to note: in Italy your seat number is meaningless. I spent several minutes trying to find the seat on my ticket before my friend pointed out that it really didn’t matter.
I hadn’t noticed the constant stream of people climbing over the perspex walls separating our section from the Curva Sud with no one trying to stop them. The curva is basically a massive terrace that someone has foolishly covered with seats (which everyone ignores) and it kicks out a hell of a noise, especially when the Ultras start letting off weapons grade firecrackers. One of them was so loud that for a split second I honestly thought someone had detonated a bomb inside the stadium. The brilliant thing about this is that I got searched three times on the way into the stadium. Me, the confused foreigner who wanted to sit in his allocated seat number – yeah, I’m likely to be packing some serious pyro gear.
When the teams came out for the start the travelling Milan fans joined in with their own pyro show:
As their bright red flares began to fade, the Milan fans hurled them at the nearest Roma section, from whence they were promptly returned with force. From a distance this resembled an extremely dangerous game of frisbee. The aftermath of this sound and light show left such a haze of the stadium that it was impossible to see the far end of the pitch for a good five or ten minutes. We just had to wait to see where the ball would arrive from:
It looks pretty gloomy, right? That’s partly the cheapo camera we were using, but the Stadio Olimpico is not a plush arena. It’s an enormous bowl with vast curva at each end, and we were sat adjacent to Roma’s infamous Curva Sud. What it lacks in plush facilities it makes up for in sheer epicness (new word). The other things I remember are all the teenagers who loitered in the stairwells getting stoned, and the unpleasant espresso liqueur that my friend bought for us.
As for the match itself, it was pretty good – not a classic, but it was obvious we were watching two very good teams. Milan won 2-0, I think Crespo and Kaka scored, and Totti got sent off at the end for booting someone. Clarence Seedorf was immense.
The negative? Sadly, there was a brief moment of racist chanting directed at Cafu. It was delivered to the tune of ‘if you’re happy and you know it clap your hands’, and I initially thought it was a harmless song, until my friend pointed out the obvious monkey chant at the end. There’s no getting around it, monkey chanting in Italy has been a problem for a long time. I hate it. I don’t want to skirt around it, but I’ve written about racism in football here, and about Rome ultras here, so read those if you’re interested.
[lights on] And, that concludes my slide show, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, I’m off to Germany next month for a Bundesliga double header so expect more of the same to follow.
