The Breaking of the Twinning

These days, it’s exhausting to imagine that the Roma and Napoli supporters as soon as was pals. Within the final 40 years, the connection between the 2 golf equipment’ fan bases has been tense, to say the least.

Certainly, the Derby del Sole is now thought-about a match vulnerable to clashes between the 2 supporter teams, whose encounters have at occasions had a tragic end result.

That was not the case within the Nineteen Seventies and early Eighties, although. Again in these days, the Giallorossi and the Partenopei fan bases had been linked by an official gemellaggio, a “twinning” between their foremost extremely teams — one so sturdy that it was re-cemented each time the 2 sides met by way of a solemn flag-exchange ritual.

Earlier than every sport performed in Rome, a consultant from every fan base holding a membership flag would meet on the midfield circle of the Stadio Olimpico. The 2 would greet one another, then proceed collectively to salute every curva earlier than ceremoniously exchanging their flags.

It was a reasonably large deal.

Till one thing occurred.

The twinning between the Giallorossi and the Azzurri followers was formally declared damaged on October 25, 1987, on the finish of a Serie A sport between the 2 sides that ended 1-1. Napoli managed to cancel Roma’s lead regardless of taking part in with two males fewer resulting from Careca and Alessandro Renica’s expulsions.

The explanation for the break has been historically attributed to Napoli participant Salvatore Bagni celebrating his staff’s equalizer by addressing the Roma followers with the notorious “umbrella gesture,” the Italian equal of giving somebody the finger…

Nevertheless, issues are extra advanced than that. Bagni’s conduct – for which he repeatedly apologized – may need been the final straw, however the once-peaceful relationship between the Roma and Napoli ultras had been progressively deteriorating forward of that day’s confrontation. Issues spiraled uncontrolled even earlier than kick-off.

However earlier than we get to that – how had the 2 golf equipment’ fan bases come to be pals within the first place?

In direction of the tip of the Nineteen Seventies, there appeared to be a pure liking between the Napoli and Roma followers. In any case, their groups had been the one ones doubtlessly able to breaking the Serie A domination of the extra highly effective, richer golf equipment primarily based within the north of Italy – Juventus, Inter, Milan.

Roma had managed to take action by profitable the title within the 1982/83 season. Napoli weren’t but a match for them, and their supporters used to genuinely look as much as the Giallorossi and their extremely teams – who had been the undisputed trendsetters on the planet of Italy’s supporter teams. It wasn’t uncommon to see small teams of Roma followers be part of their Napoli pals on the stands of the San Paolo when the Partenopei confronted Lazio – Roma’s bitter enemies.

Issues began to vary as Napoli grew within the second half of the Eighties. Diego Maradona’s arrival, along with many different costly switch offers, slowly turned the underdog Partenopei right into a power to be reckoned with.

The Neapolitans began to now not be some humorous, youthful brothers to the Romans. They had been now true adversaries and contenders for the Scudetto as a lot as they. Certainly, Napoli had been the Serie A defending champions on the day the twinning was damaged, having gained the 1986/87 version of the league.

Nevertheless, what actually put a pressure on the connection was Napoli’s buy of striker Bruno Giordano in 1985. Giordano was a Lazio veteran of ten years and had been a Biancocelesti fan since childhood. The Roma ultras couldn’t settle for that. Chants towards Giordano began to be heard each time Roma confronted Napoli, to which some Neapolitan followers replied by providing the identical remedy to the Giallorossi captain Bruno Conti.

On October 25, 1987, the friendship got here to an finish. It occurred throughout the conventional flag-exchange ceremony, in such a manner that makes one imagine that breaking the twinning was a deliberate selection on the a part of the Roma fan base – not less than, of a portion of them.

The 2 flag bearers met as ordinary in the midst of the pitch, then moved in direction of the north stands, the place the Napoli followers stood, and had been greeted by the Partenopei with some joyous “Roma! Roma!” chants.

They then moved to the south stands, the house of the Roma followers, the place the flag-exchange ritual was anticipated to happen. The Napoli ambassador supplied his flag, however the Roma boy theatrically spurned it because the Giallorossi supporters showered the Azzurro with whistles and threw plastic bottles at him.

It was clearly a setup, and sure the tipping level of an underlying rigidity that had grown over the previous few years. The occasions on the pitch solely added gasoline to the fireplace, as that day’s match between Roma and Napoli ended up being brutal, with seven bookings and two send-offs.

Roma took the lead proper after the restart as their cannoniere Roberto Pruzzo headed the ball house from a Bruno Conti nook kick.

On 50 minutes, Napoli’s Brazilian star Careca misplaced it after a foul by Fulvio Collovati and headbutted the Romanista proper underneath the referee’s eyes. The consequence might solely be an early bathe for Napoli’s quantity seven.

9 minutes later, Renica needed to pull Zbigniew Boniek by the shirt (Giorgio Chiellini-style…) to cease a quick break. However he had already been booked, and so Napoli had been diminished to 9 males.

Solely three minutes later, although, Maradona took a nook kick from the left and picked defender Giovanni Francini in the midst of the field. Francini’s lobbed header went excessive and excessive, previous goalkeeper Franco Tancredi, to present Napoli an unhoped-for equalizer.

Roma’s closing assault was relentless, however the Partenopei’s wall held. At full time, the stress exploded; there have been some scuffles between the gamers and, whereas parading underneath Roma’s south stands, Bagni got here up with the gesture that made him go down in historical past – maybe undeservingly – as the person who broke the Roma-Napoli twinning.

There’s extra to it, although, as we noticed. The friendship between the Giallorossi and the Azzurri supporters was one of the vital stunning, stunning issues within the advanced world of Italian soccer supporter teams. The breaking was resulting from a mix of rising tensions, misunderstandings, and even divisions inside every membership’s fan bases.

The connection has by no means recovered thus far. As usually occurs in soccer, issues are simpler destroyed than constructed.

MATCH SCORECARD

October 25, 1987 – Serie A 1987/88 Spherical 6ROMA – NAPOLI 1-1

SCORERS: 46′ Pruzzo (R), 67′ Francini (N)

REFEREE: Mr. Magni from BergamoNOTES: Pink Playing cards: Careca, Renica (N)