Two Left Feet

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How to build a professional football club Simon Bourne

We all know the stories of AFC Wimbledon and their ambitious counterparts, but just how do you build a professional football club? Well, look no further than just over the Atlantic Ocean as new MLS side, Montreal Impact tell exactly how to do it.

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ou’re born. Almost in conjunction with your mother’s labour, you’re tagged by your father with a football club that shall stay part of you throughout your life, and your subsequent children’s lives – right? In many cases, before you’ve even mastered the art of the potty, you’re already a fully fledged season ticket holder and having your say in the boozer before kick-off.

There are of course alternatives. Your devotion to a football team has been decided by success. You have chosen to support the Chelseas or the Uniteds because of their rich history; a history that goes back over a century. Your club has steep memories of success, dilemma, disasters, promotions, relegations and legends.

For one second, imagine a United without the Munich air disaster, or a Preston without Sir Tom Finney. No Dixie Dean or Cliff Basten. Imagine no Maine Road, no Kop. Where would your heart belong if there was no club at all for you to support?

Perhaps you’d join a plethora of fans down The Ball Centre ice rink watching the 100 year old Montreal Canadiens competing for the Stanley Cup.

In 2002, AFC Wimbledon was formed on the back of the anti-MK Dons saga. The club took their mass fan-base and formed a brand new club which attracted huge media attention and ultimately, as the years passed by, their warranted place back in the football league. Similarly, following the collapse of Halifax Town FC came FC Halifax Town in 2008. Once more, the basis of the club was formed on the back of those thousands of fans who ultimately no longer had a club to support. You may not be familiar with North America soccer, but Montreal Impact suffered similar ill fate in 2002 when their club was on the brink of expulsion.

Impact were rescued by local businessman, Joey Saputo, and the club maintained stability playing their soccer in the North American Soccer League, one league down from the ‘big time’ MLS division. In a city where ice hockey is described as “religion”, Impact faced a rivalry for support that was over before a child could even choose his or her team. Children are born in the province of Quebec simply without even knowing that there is a soccer team in existence.

“There are three teams in Montreal; The Montreal Canadiens (ice hockey), The Alouettes (Canadian football) and The Impact,” said executive vice-president, Richard Legendre. “We had to compete with these teams and try to introduce them to soccer.”

Despite relative success in their domestic league, as well as a CONCACAF Champions

Simon Bourne

League quarter-final against Mexico’s Santos Laguna that attracted more than 65,000 fans in 2008, it was proving difficult to overhaul the prowess that ice hockey offered. Legendre added: “There is huge potential. The games against Santos Laguna and [a friendly against] AC Milan showed us that there was interest in soccer.

“In Montreal, soccer can be the number one sport in the summer. There are 200,000 kids registered within the soccer federation in Quebec and if we can introduce them to Montreal Impact, it can be a generation phenomenon.

“We currently have around 200 diehard fans – we call them ‘The Ultras’. The challenge we face is going from 200 Ultras, to 1000s. The other types of fans we have are families, typically made up of mum, dad and two children. By making The Impact accessible to these families, we have the potential to embed the club into the community, raising the club’s fan-base.”

The Beckham abyss is filling with companies looking to buy into the England international’s commercial appeal that coincides with the MLS. Marketing campaigns, advertising and television all want a slither of the MLS pie. With every dollar invested brings new opportunities to expand, and in 2010, Impact started work on what was to be the start of a revolution as the MLS announced that the club would become their 19th franchise. Work began on reinventing the Impact as a major team alongside the likes of ice hockey, building towards the club’s MLS debut in 2012.

“We found that many of the Montreal communities do have a liking for soccer.

Many of the people follow international and European sides. We were a local club and to make Montreal Impact an attractive option, we needed to be in the top division

of USA soccer. It’s fine to follow the likes of Manchester United, AC Milan, Barcelona and Fiorentina, but we want them to know that they can also support their local team playing in ‘the big league.’

“We almost immediately doubled our staff, particularly in the marketing and sales departments. We are a non-profitable organisation and of course going into the MLS meant that we would need to be a private company, with long-term goals of making profit to sustain our status. Both financial and human resources needed to be controlled carefully to make sure we were well balanced.

“We have been in 2012 mode since September last year getting everything in place before our MLS debut in March next year. Work will begin in September on our stadium turning it into a 20,000 capacity with half a roof all the way around, giving it that European feel for the true soccer fan.

It’s really important to offer our fans a true soccer product, and the stadium is part of this philosophy.”

In a world when communication methods evolve almost weekly, Legendre believes that to sustain maximum output, they need to follow examples of other MLS clubs such as rivals Toronto. “There is no right thing to do,” he said. “It’s a bit of everything. Social media is huge and we have 20,000 followers on Facebook alone. We have a PR strategy in place but there is no one thing that will make the brand work – it’s a combination of multiple plans. We have to present every method possible. We need everybody to know that we are a team from North America and we are going to be playing in the top division.

“Montreal has a lot of small/medium companies and we need their help. We get lots of help, but we need more as we

How to build a professional football club

try to get the importance of our rise out to people.”

Having just witnessed the likes of Manchester United, Everton and Barcelona enduring pre-season tours of America, Impact will be hoping that next summer they can capitalise on the visits of such European giants as part of their marketing strategies. Having played AC Milan in summer 2010, the profitability of such fixtures proved to Legendre and the club that it was a perfect tonic of entertainment and progression in terms of their brand.

“We took a massive risk,” said Legendre on the Milan fixture. “We didn’t know if it would work; we didn’t know if people would be interested. But, we priced tickets at $30-35 and we sold 37,000 tickets for the game; the risk worked.

“People realised that we were not just a local team, but we could compete with international calibre football sides such as AC Milan. So, as we go into the MLS, we would love to arrange these kinds of fixtures again next summer and that will help increase the club’s profile not only across the world, but most importantly, here in Montreal. These fixtures send out the right message.”

Seeing the likes of David Beckham join LA Galaxy and Thierry Henry’s emergence with New York Red Bulls has proven that another positive method of attracting fans into a club is with that signature signing.

The Canadian said: “It’s important to get the right people into the club, and sure enough, that can have a good impact. In Joey Saputo and Nick de Santis (interim head coach) we have a great team looking for the right technical people to come into the club, starting with the coach. We need to get the right man who can attract these people to the club, but more importantly, has experience in the MLS.

“We’ve got trials going on and Nick is looking at players who can play in the club.

Currently, we’re sitting at the wrong end of the NASL (North American Soccer League) so we need assess the playing staff and get it right on the pitch before we move into the MLS. Moving into the top division isn’t going to make much sense unless we get that side of things right. We want the new coach to build his team.

“MLS experience is so vital in our technical staff. Often in Europe, the calibre of the MLS is underestimated and after we recently played Red Bull New York, Thierry Henry himself told us in a conference call that he was surprised by how strong the league is.

It’s very misjudged in Europe; we have a very good style here.

“We already have Matt Jordan (director of soccer operations) and he has a wealth of MLS experience during his playing career so by getting the right people, we will hopefully attract the right players to the club.”

Making the club accessible is embedded within the club’s ethos and engaging the community is vital to the club’s progress.

While the price of football in Europe hikes to levels that are gradually excluding the working class football fans from attending their team’s games, Saputo and Legendre are keen to avoid such complications. Legendre said: “Joey Saputo is doing this for the Montreal community. He’s a very wealthy local man, and he wants to give back to the community. The Impact is his way.

“Last season we sold 4500 season tickets, but we want increase this to 15,000 for next season. Of course, we hope that those 4500 will renew, but we aren’t underestimating our task. It costs around $250 (approximately £155) for a season ticket, which will get you into 18 top division games.

Simon Bourne

“We are the most accessible team in Montreal, eclipsing the likes of The Canadiens, and it is our aim to keep this philosophy. Our main trademark is being accessible, right from pricing, the players, the management and the stadium. We want to be available to everybody and we want to keep that community spirit around the club.”

Going from what Legendre described as a “local club” to a major global brand isn’t taken lightly. Many challenges lay ahead for the Impact. “Our good friends over in Toronto are the pinnacle of success off the field. Any MLS representative will tell you about Toronto’s example, and the way they’ve gone about their transition. They’ve had the signature players, the marketing and the PR plans, and they’ve got it all right. We can learn a lot from them,” added Legendre.

“The problem with Toronto is that they have never made the play-offs in five years.

Soccer is a much more profitable business when you’re winning, and we really want to get off to a good start on the pitch, offering a soccer package. We will be the number one team sport in Montreal in the summer when ice hockey is in its close season so we want to entertain our fans.

“The other major challenge we face is selling the league. A recent survey we

conducted suggested that 90% of local people had heard of Montreal Impact, while 90% of people knew very little about the MLS. It sounds contradictory, but the main lesson from that is that people just don’t understand that Montreal are hitting the big time by going into the MLS. If we can get that message across, that we are a major club, then we will achieve our objectives set out at the very beginning.”

“It is a marathon, not a sprint, and the hockey culture is a massive thing to overhaul, but hopefully people will soon realise that what is coming is a phenomenal opportunity for Montreal – soccer is the most international and loved sport across the world.”

So… you’re born. It’s 2012 and your father takes you home. He wants to show off his new profound treasure to his family, his ‘generation phenomenon’. He opens the door, bursts in with excitement to heckle up the stairs at his daughter to come down.

She duly obliges. He hands over the new born, donned in blue and white, sits back in his armchair and reaches for the remote control to quickly fast forward through the Canadiens’ highlights before hitting play on the first whistle of Impact’s big derby day against Toronto… possible?

Good luck! 

Ipswich v Inter Milan Jon Vale

A night where a mediocre East Anglian David slayed an Italian Goliath.

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he mentality of mediocrity is a very difficult cloud to lift once it settles.

It is an affliction that resonates in every corner of modern life, from the frustrated working-class lad struggling to break free of the Job Centre, through to the overworked housewife stagnating behind the endless chores of motherhood.

Groups can be affected, too. Underachieving schools, small businesses and even football clubs can be decimated by a chronic lack of ambition, endlessly going through the motions and fighting valiantly to do nothing more than stay alive.

It is a disease that has torn through Ipswich Town like wildfire in recent times. A club that is steeped in rich heritage and tradition, this former giant of European football has descended into relative nothingness, enjoying an abstract existence rarely punctuated by any event of consequence or brilliance that can lift the gloom that now engulfs Portman Road.

Yet, ten years ago, such pessimism had been banished from the biggest football club in Suffolk. The 2000/01 season had been a meteoric one for the plucky Tractor Boys, who had ignored conventional wisdom and taken the Premier League by storm on a shoestring budget.

Fresh off a thrilling 4-2 victory over Barnsley in the Division One Play-Off final, George Burley kept faith with that same squad and reaped seemingly incomprehensible rewards, becoming the Premier League’s away-day masters and finishing a handsome fifth place in the toughest league in the world.

In today’s game, a fifth placed finish represents a good season for even the country’s biggest and richest clubs. Such giddy heights would be unthinkable for the Championship play-off winners of 2011, where 17th place is seen as a bounty of treasure rather than narrowly avoiding relegation.

But, little old Ipswich, blessed with occasional attacking flair and a wholly workmanlike approach, defied logic and went onto finish five points ahead of the mighty Chelsea and only four points shy of the coveted Champions League places such things are simply unimaginable in the current climate of the Premier League.

The Tractor Boys reward for this feat of excellence was a Manager of the Year award for George Burley, the respect of the nation as ‘everyone’s second-favourite club’ and an assault on Europe for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Ipswich had earned the right to be mixing it in the UEFA Cup with some of Europe’s sporting giants - illustrious names such as Hertha Berlin, Sporting Lisbon and Ajax were all in the hat, yet there were two

Jon Vale

names that really stood out even among such esteemed continental company.

These names were Inter and AC Milan. True titans of world football, a visit to either of these iconic clubs remained the dream tie for all those teams for whom European football was deemed a luxury rather than a necessity, even if such a trip would probably end up in a thorough thrashing for your respective side.

For Ipswich, though, who were very much one of the smaller clubs in the competition despite their Premier League status, their initial forays into UEFA Cup territory were far less glamorous than the San Siro and Andriy Shevchenko.

Torpedo Moscow were the first hurdle in the way of Town’s ambitious European dream. Despite being only the fourthbiggest club in Russia’s most recognisable city, Torpedo still provided stern resistance for their English opponents, battling to the last before eventually losing the tie 3-2 on aggregate.

Next up for Town were Swedish side Helsingborg, whose effervescent performance on the Portman Road turf gave good reason for the Suffolk club to fear for their UEFA Cup existence. While the game eventually finished 0-0, this was largely due to the typically eccentric brilliance of Ipswich’s madcap goalkeeper, Matteo Sereni, who probably produced what was to be his best-ever display as the club’s number one.

The mood among Ipswich circles was understandably downbeat – an exit at this stage would have been a disastrous blow to a morale that had already suffered severely following a poor start to the club’s Premier League campaign. Besides, fans had dreamt of a brave and glamorous exit on

Latin soil rather than a humiliating defeat at a 12,500-capacity stadium on a cold November night in Scandinavia.

Fortunately, though, there was to be a backlash from the boys in blue. The titanic Hermann Hreidarsson proved to be the catalyst, thriving on his home Scandinavian roots and lashing a 69th minute equaliser into the Swedish net to set Town on their way to victory.

A Marcus Stewart double gave the score-line a resounding and somewhat undeserved look given the balance of play over 180 minutes, but it was little matter to the thousands of manic Tractor Boys who had made the trip to Sweden. Ipswich Town’s European tour was still on track, with the long-awaited lure of a glamour tie once again becoming a possibility.

No one could have imagined quite how glamorous it was going to be, though. The Lord must have heard Suffolk’s prayers on the day the draw was made because lo and behold, the dream of a county miraculously came true.

Inter Milan. Actual Inter Milan. F.C. Internazionale Milano, the Nerazzurri, the two-time champions of Europe whose alumni boasted the names of Fachetti, Rummenigge and Baggio would be coming to Portman Road for a competitive game of football – it will never be so fashionable to call yourself a Tractor Boy. It was certainly a welcome boost for Town fans, whose pre-season hopes of Premiership consolidation had been replaced with genuine feelings of dread after an awful start to the year.

Despite their laboured but nonetheless entertaining run into the middle rounds

Ipswich v Inter Milan

of the UEFA Cup, the league success of the previous year was proving to be nothing more than a one-season wonder.

Prior to their showdown with Inter Milan, Ipswich had won only four games – two of those had come in Europe, with a narrow 3-2 victory over Crewe Alexandra also boosting the desperately short tally of wins.

The only three points registered in the Premier League had come in Town’s opening home game of the season against Derby County, when big-name signing, Finidi George, inspired a 3-1 win and appeared to offer a glimpse of the sublime talent that would now be gracing the Portman Road flanks.

Yet, this was to be a solitary moment of optimism for the Tractor Boys who quickly realised that the expensive exotic talents of George, Sereni and Ulrich Le Pen had divided a once happy dressing-room, decimating the all-for-one mentality that had epitomised the previous season’s good work. It was replaced with an apparent nonchalance for the club, and a naivety that was repeatedly exposed against all the Premier League’s battle-hardened contenders.

But, a cup-tie with Inter Milan offered a welcome reprieve, the chance to forget the daily pressures of domestic form and topple one of the biggest names in world football.

The Italians certainly arrived in Suffolk with the intention of winning. Stepping off their multi-million pound team bus were the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Mohamed Kallon and Javier Zanetti – quite what they made of Portman Road’s modest surroundings is perhaps a secret that best remains that way so as not to offend those particularly proud of their rural roots.

They were also accompanied by the elite of the country’s football media. With the game being broadcast live on the BBC, the likes of Gary Lineker, Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson all arrived at Portman Road to create widespread pandemonium among home fans not used to their team creating such a fuss – the sight of Garth Crookes primed and ready at pitchside remains one of the most magnificent moments in recent memory for any Ipswich Town fan.

What a noise these fans made in response to such a marquee occasion. Little Portman Road, normally such a quiet and quaint place perfect for a family day out, was transformed into a cacophony of noise, a glorious stage for a chorus of 25,000 Tractor Boys to bellow their passionate song in support of their players who appeared to be facing an impossible mission.

Sensing the will of this laddish Suffolk symphony, the Ipswich players responded in exemplary fashion. The confidence that was bereft of them in the league seemed to instantaneously re-emerge as they set about hounding an Inter Milan side who found themselves entrenched in a battle far more testing than they expected.

Titus Bramble, who had failed to build upon his genuinely imperious form in the previous campaign, missed a gilt-edged chance from only five yards out, steering Mark Venus’ free-kick just wide with the goal at his mercy. The heroic Matt Holland also went close as his infinite energy got him on the end of another brilliant Venus delivery, with Inter’s defence seemingly spellbound by the majestic craft that Town’s centre-back could conjure with his left foot.

However, alarm bells repeatedly rang whenever Inter’s vast array of attacking

Jon Vale

talent sauntered into action. While there was no real intensity to their work, they nonetheless oozed a quality that is synonymous with all truly artistic players.

Their new £11 million striker, Nicola Ventola was a constant menace with his wise and threatening movement, and was well complimented by the raw athleticism of Kallon – the supporting cast of Seedorf, Emre and Farinos also offered fleeting moments of brilliance.

Yet, the true show-stealer was the sublime Javier Zanetti. Confined to his usual rightback role, the Argentinean somehow managed to command the game even from this underwhelming position, showcasing the composure, vision and elegance that made him one of the world’s best defenders for over a decade. They say that all good players seem to have more time than everyone else – on this night, Zanetti appeared to have decades before making every incisive pass.

One of these passes created his team’s best chance, as Zanetti slipped a ball through to Ventola who found himself with only Sereni to beat. But, the £11 million man couldn’t find the finish, denied as Sereni spread himself superbly at his countryman’s feet to keep the scores level at 0-0.

It was at this moment that the terraces started to shift their optimistic expectations from dream to reality. Ipswich were playing well, Inter’s defence looked vulnerable and they appeared to have on their side the quality that is an absolute necessity for any underdog to have its day – luck.

Chances came and went at either end, with Ipswich’s eternal business being juxtaposed with Inter’s classy, albeit pedestrian approach. After 75 minutes, George Burley unleashed his game-changer.

Alun Armstrong, a talented but injury-prone centre-forward whose career had previously sampled the delights of Stockport and Middlesbrough, was brought on to replace the ever-willing Richard Naylor, whose efforts as a target-man were always packed with honesty, but little quality.

Armstrong shouldn’t really have been playing. He had spent the past few weeks on his sick bed, nursing a mystery virus that couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Tractor Boys given Marcus Stewart’s longterm absence with injury – without these two, Ipswich’s tractor didn’t have much of an engine.

But, Armstrong’s hopeful introduction for a 15-minute cameo was to turn into legend only six minutes after entering the fray.

Having been instructed by Burley to “get to the back stick”, Armstrong waited patiently in his assigned area as the ball broke to Town’s Jamie Clapham on the left-hand touchline.

Clapham, an honest pro who had spent most of his game on the left-wing acting as a full-back given the incessant attacking tendencies of Inter’s right-back Javier Zanetti, simply looped a hopeful ball into the Inter area, with his tired legs no longer able to produce the precision he was capable of.

It didn’t matter. Armstrong had always been noted for his aerial prowess, and in a straight contest between he and makeshift centre-back, Luigi Di Biagio, you’d have bet your house on the Geordie giant coming out on top.

The resulting header was unstoppable.

Even a ‘keeper as gifted as Francesco Toldo was left utterly helpless as Armstrong’s goal-bound torpedo surged unchallenged

Ipswich v Inter Milan

into the top corner of the Inter Milan goal, sparking hysteria among the thousands of Ipswich fans who had been dreaming of this moment from the very second the tie was made.

The 81st minute winner thankfully gave little time for an Inter Milan comeback. Danish defender Thomas Gaardsoe was introduced as a destructive force in midfield to shore things up and helped ease Town over the line against an Inter team who didn’t seem overly-dejected at the final whistle given the promise of a return leg two weeks later.

For Ipswich, this second leg was temporarily a matter of irrelevance. Realism was cast aside by all those with any kind of affinity for Ipswich Town, with fans, coaches and players all swept up in the unparalleled joy that comes with such a momentous and unlikely triumph. The team second from bottom in the Premier League had just taken on the team second from top in Serie A. And won.

There was a uniqueness to this upset, though. Given the favourites were from foreign soil, it added a certain glamour, a touch of pizzazz to the whole occasion.

The great and good of the continent retain a mysticism and flair that is unmatched even by the best of British – perhaps it was simple patriotism that made this victory over gifted foreign invaders seem sweeter than any domestic triumph.

Of course, Town were given a harsh reality check on their visit to the San Siro for the tie’s second leg. Christian Vieri had returned from injury to terrorise a shell-shocked Ipswich backline, netting a first-class hattrick and creating a fourth for Mohamed Kallon before goalscoring hero, Alun Armstrong slotted home a late penalty to give the travelling Town fans at least a shred of consolation.

From here, Town’s season descended into oblivion. Despite a valiant post-Christmas rally, Ipswich never really escaped the stifling clutches of the Premier League’s bottom three, with a crushing 4-1 defeat away at relegation rivals Bolton in early April all-but-confirming the fact the Town were a dead club walking.

Their subsequent life in the Championship has not been kind to them. Despite brief flirtations with promotion, play-off heartache has been replaced in recent years with mid-table anonymity, with the administration of the post-Premiership years still lingering in the corridors of Portman Road despite the investment of a wealthy but reclusive owner in Marcus Evans.

It is in these sorts of surroundings that the mentality of mediocrity can flourish.

With finances tight and momentum lost, it is desperately hard to break free of the inevitable mental shackles that follow such events and recapture the ambition and expectancy of only a few years ago, especially in a world where media scrutiny highlights your every flaw.

It is a mentality shared by all bar a handful of the nation’s football clubs, whose dreams of grandeur and brilliance are repeatedly shattered by the cold realisation that football is very much a game of haves and have nots.

But, it is for moments like the ones described in this article that we keep our faith strong.

It is the distant dream of European football, of classic cup-ties or showpiece occasions that makes the often hideous experience of fandom, such a worthy and necessary cause.

While the game has progressed so far in only a decade, hope is an eternal comfort

Jon Vale

that such events may one day repeat themselves, even if the current climate in football makes such a scenario seemingly unthinkable.

Armstrong would have never scored an 81st minute header to give Ipswich Town an against-all-odds win over one of the aristocrats of European football.

Based on rationale, Championship midtable outfit, Ipswich Town, will never make the progress required to finish fifth in the Premiership or to play UEFA Cup football.

Then again, based on rationale, Alum

‘Rationale’ can do one. Football is about dreams and on that magical night at Portman Road ten years ago, thousands of dreams from the heart of East Anglia came true. Maybe one day, they’ll do so again. 

‘Derby della Capitale’ – Troubled times Scott Balaam

On the 21st March 2004, the Rome derby was abandoned just four minutes into the second half with the game level at 0-0 after riots erupted in the stands.

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iots in the stands does not even tell half the story – it all started outside the ground before the game had even kicked off.

I was living in Italy, at the time, working as an English teacher. I regularly stood (the seats are only used before the game and at half-time, during the game everyone stands on them) in the Curva Nord, just behind the Irriducibili (Lazio’s Ultras). Having used my contacts, I managed to get four tickets for the fixture, one for my dad and then three friends, two of whom were visiting from England.

We got the tram to Piazza Mancini (no, not named after Roberto, as I have often been asked too many times). As we made our way across Ponte Duca d’Aosta, the bridge leading to the stadium, we heard some loud bangs and my dad turned to me and joked: “That’s a little early for the fireworks to be going off!”

when I found out the hard way what those bangs had been. I went to the game, again with a friend who was visiting from England, and I went into the Lazio shop to buy tickets for the following week’s game against Empoli, only to be told: “Solo derby!”

When we found out it was only €25, we jumped at the chance to go, a big change for my friend whose normal weekend football consisted of being sat in the Lower Rous stand at Vicarage Road watching Watford.

When we bought the tickets, we were told to get to the game early. So, we arrived at 19:00, for a 20:00 kick-off – it turned out not to be early enough!

As we walked around the stadium towards the Curva Nord, a large group of Roma fans ran past us. My friend pulled me to the side, as I stood frozen, wondering what had happened.

 The pain

We turned the corner and we were met with a wall of Lazio fans who were fighting the police. The former were busy throwing bottles, whilst the latter kept firing tear gas canisters into the crowd. Somehow the groups shifted and we found ourselves in the middle of it all. Suddenly the tear gas kicked-in; neither of us had felt pain like it; the gas burned our eyes, the tears poured down our cheeks and we could not see more than yard in front of ourselves.

Just over a year earlier, I went to my first derby between the two sides which was

Along with a dad and his young son, we managed to scramble to the closest

“Nope, that’s the police firing tear gas!” I responded.

We should have known it was going to be a messy affair.

Scott Balaam

entrance, where the four of us kept banging on the door, shouting for it to be opened until one of the match attendants let us in – whilst it was worrying that they did not even check our tickets, we did not care, we were just relieved to be away from the trouble and able to wash our faces.  The rumour mill Back to 2004, we went to walk to our respective entrances only to find the police were blocking it because of the earlier problems, so we made a detour to avoid any trouble. When we finally got to the right place, I said my goodbyes as they head off to their seats in the posh area, and I joined the hardcore fans and the Ultras.

Inside the stadium, I met up with my friends who I used to go to matches with. We couldn’t believe how much noise there was coming from outside, constant loud bangs as the police fired tear gas in an attempt to keep the peace and fans kept letting off fireworks.

When the game kicked off, the fans focused on the match while verbally abusing each other, but that all changed as time went on. Smoke could be seen coming from Roma’s Curva Sud (south stand) while a Carabinieri (police) vehicle had been set on fire, after rumours had started to fly around the stadium that they had killed a child – not that a child had been hurt or died in an accident but that the Carabinieri had intentionally run over a young child.

During half-time, the Roma Ultras ripped down their banners, a sign that someone is hurt or there is a problem. The Lazio Ultras then followed suit and the chants soon followed.

Both ends starting aiming abuse at the Carabinieri: “Asasini, Asasini, Asasini”, which

just in-case you were unsure, that means ‘Assassins.’

The players returned for the second-half and immediately knew something was up, as the atmosphere had become even more hostile that usual for this fixture. Four minutes into the second-half, three Roma Ultras climbed over the security fence and came onto the pitch where they were met

by Roma’s captain, Francesco Totti. At the same time, Lazio’s captain, Fabio Liverani, approached the Curva Nord with a loud speaker to talk to the Irriducibili.

The players tried to play down the fans’ fear and there were even announcements made across the tannoy, but the fans were having none of it – this led to Totti asking for the game to be postponed.

Referee, Roberto Rosetti, managed to get in touch with Adriano Galliani, the president of the Italian Football League who was sat in the crowd and he subsequently took the decision to postpone the game.

As the fans left the game there were numerous vehicles alight as well as fighting between fans and the Carabinieri.  The reality The truth of the situation was that some fans had seen a child’s body covered with a white sheet. Later on, the medics said the child was a young boy, who had been struggling to breathe with the tear gas in the air, so they were using the sheet as a filter.

Sadly, the rumours went from that child being seen under a sheet to the “Carabinieri had ran over a child“, it was a terrible situation – one that should never have happened. But, in a country where the fans did not and still do not trust the authorities,

‘Derby della Capitale’ – Troubled times

it allowed them to believe that it could have happened.

It is common knowledge that the two sets of fans hate each other, but both sets of Ultras have a common enemy, which is the Carabinieri. It’s implied that if the authorities would try to break up a fight between Lazio and Roma’s fans, the two groups would join forces to down their legal counterparts.

The following year, in the same fixture, one of my students showed me his chest the following week – he was literally black and blue. He said that he was fighting with Roma fans, and then like before, they fought the Carabinieri together, but the latter used their batons to “defend” themselves.

Whilst I did not see that, I remember being on my usual ‘32’ bus on the way back to Piazza Risorgimento and as we sat in traffic, opposing fans threw objects over the cars and buses at each other, yet due to the police being so stretched, nobody came to try and stop it.  Gone too far The saddest moment at any game played between the two clubs was during the 1979-80 season when Lazio fan, Vincenzo Paparelli was killed, after he was hit in the eye by a flare that had been thrown by a Roma fan.

Paparelli, was only 33-years-old when he died on October 28th. He stood eating a sandwich when an emergency rocket fired by a Roma Ultra killed him. His wife, Wanda, tried to remove the burning flare from her husband’s eye, but only ended up burning herself. By the time the doctor arrived, Paparelli was dead, and the doctor remarked that he had never seen such a severe wound, not even during the war.

Paparelli was a regular man, not an Ultra. He lived in a local Roman neighborhood and had borrowed his brother’s season ticket for the game, the same brother he owned a mechanical workshop with.

The person who ended the Lazio fan’s life was Giovanni Fiorillo; an 18-year-old unemployed painter. Straight after the incident occurred, he disappeared and became a fugitive where he was on the run for 14 months, before turning himself in.

In 1987, eight years after Paparelli’s death, Fiorillo was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 6 years and 10 months in prison, plus his 2 accomplices who had helped him escape both received sentences of 4 years and 6 months respectively. Whilst on the run, Fiorello regularly phoned Paparelli’s brother Angelo begging for forgiveness and saying that he had not meant to kill anyone.  More misery Whilst neither Roman club were involved, Italian football changed on February 2nd, 2007 when Catania and Palermo’s football fans clashed violently at the Sicilian derby and police officer Filippo Raciti was killed.

Raciti’s death was due to liver damage, which was caused by blunt object trauma – initially it had been thought that it was because of a homemade firecracker.

Following the tragic incident, all Italian football matches, including the national team, were suspended for a week. Then Prime Minister Prodi stated: “A remedy that makes clubs feel responsible (for fans) and radically changes the situation.”

The culprit was a 17-year-old, who like Raciti was from Catania, and he was charged with murder following investigations by the police.

Scott Balaam

 New measures Starting from the following season, clubs were forced to introduce strict antihooligan policies with more control over who was buying tickets and increased usage of closed circuit cameras.

The new anti-violence regulations state that you have to use ID when you buy your ticket, and then when you go to the stadium you have to show the same ID. The ticket will have your name printed on it, ensuring that it is your ticket.

When Lazio played Genoa earlier this season, a 44-year-old American tourist was in the Lazio end cheering on the opposing team.

A 32-year-old took offence and attacked the American. The police reacted quickly to apprehend the attacker. He tried to escape by

quickly removing his shirt but it did not work.

Under the new regulations passed in 2007, that moment of madness led him to get a threeyear ban for “violence during a sporting event.”  A safer place The new rules and regulations are leading to a safer environment for football fans in Italy, whilst having to take ID to games can be frustrating (as I found a couple of seasons ago when I tried to go and see Lazio against Bologna, but as neither myself or my dad had any documents, we were not allowed to buy tickets).

The added cameras, increased security and banning processes that have been introduced have led to less violence inside the stadiums, especially during the volatile derbies up and down the country. 

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