Curva Express / 37
Taranto's broken dreams...Verona, Caserta, Milano celebrations...petition reaches Senate
It was supposed to be the day of recognition for Taranto as their new stadium keeps being built (capacity now extended to 20,360) but, in the end, the Dolphin won’t be playing next season in Serie D as Gladiator won 2-1 in stoppage time in Massafra. Some Taranto ultras (12 of them have been identified and reported by local Digos police) invaded the pitch and tried to have a go at their own players.
After knocking out SPAL in the semis, Santegidiese went on to prevail over Grassina in the Eccellenza playoff final played in Giulianova, and were promoted to Serie D after a 14-year absence. On the eve of the game, Santegidiese ultras disturbed the Grassina’s dreams as they beeped their car horns at midnight then lit up fireworks at 2AM and 4AM. Good presence for Grassina fans as 100 reached Abruzzo from Tuscany.
As already seen during the season, Hellas Army kept celebrating despite their relegation to Serie B. Their antics won’t never go down after all. Verona ultras (was it the Banda Camisa?) “disguised themselves” for their end of season party at the Bentegodi, some were wearing Burberry top-down (those shorts now in fashion this summer in Italy, so it seems).
In the basketball world instead, Verona celebrated their return to the top flight after prevailing over Rimini in the playoff finals.
Juve Caserta celebrated their promotion to Serie A2, the second tier of the Italian basketball pyramid, after defeating Vigevano in the finals. Away ultras here, fireworks here.
And Olimpia Milano celebrated their domestic treble as they lifted their 32nd league title as they beat Reyer Venezia. In protest with this season’s “protocol,” the red and white ultras stayed home and then lit up flares and fireworks on the Darsena in the southern part of the city to celebrate the victory, before welcoming their heroes back.
The ultras petition for a more popular football eventually reached the Senate – almost 150,000 signatures were physically collected outside of many Italian Curvas and names of the towns/curvas who subscribed to the initiative were read out loud (Ancona, Atalanta, Avellino, Bari, Bologna, Brescia, Como, Napoli, Padova, Palermo, Parma, Pescara, Sampdoria, Udinese, Vicenza and many others). It will be assigned to the Senate’s Environment Committee, which, if deemed valid, may combine it with a bill on the same subject. The addressees include all the governing bodies of Italian football: from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) to the professional leagues of Serie A, B, and C, and the National Amateur League. The battle for fairer ticket prices, bans, better kick-off times and rules over multi-club ownership has only just begun.
As the round of end of season parties continues, also Torino’s Curva Maratona gathered and hosted friends from Genoa and Fiorentina.
Catania’s Mecha Klan officially disbanded after 11 years (and too many bans).
When we were kings: Treviso v Venezia 1997
Random sticker of the week: Fiorentina
