Naples arrogated, Thursday, May 4, the title of Italian champion. A first for thirty-three years, when Diego Maradona, who remains an icon of this city in southern Italy, played for the club. The joy is immense for the Neapolitans, who are among the most fervent supporters in the country and have a particularly passionate relationship with football.
► Maradona, icon of Napoli
The history of the Naples club is closely linked to that of Diego Maradona, Argentinian football genius and undisputed star in the 1980s. “El pibe de oro”, the golden kid, arrived at the foot of Vesuvius in 1984 from Barcelona, for the record sum – at the time – of 12 million dollars.
He received a standing ovation from 70,000 people for his welcome. His arrival takes place in a complicated context for the city, devastated by an earthquake four years earlier and plagued by the mafia, with which Maradona will maintain controversial relations.
The sequel proved popular enthusiasm right, with Naples securing its first two Italian league titles, in 1987 and then 1990. The Argentinian even led Napoli to victory at European level, winning the UEFA Cup in 1989 against VfB Stuttgart.
More than thirty years after his departure, the cult of Maradona remains alive in Naples. The walls of the city are covered with frescoes in his glory and a statue in his likeness has been erected in front of the stadium of the club which now bears his name. You can even see, in an underground museum, the belongings he left behind when he left the city.
► At the Maradona Stadium
The Maradona stadium, former Stadio San Paolo, is the home of Napoli. With 55,000 seats, it is one of the biggest in Italy, and it is very busy during the season. It hosted the preliminary rounds of the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1990 World Cup semi-final between Argentina and Italy.
The presence of Maradona on the field then obviously tested the sporting patriotism of the Neapolitans. Especially since he had tried to make their hearts waver by relying on the contempt of certain Northern Italians for the South: “Neapolitan friends, for 364 days a year you are considered foreigners in your own country. Today you have to do what they want you to do, supporting the Italy team. Conversely, I am Neapolitan for 365 days a year”he said before the meeting.
“Maradona, Naples loves you, but Italy is our country”, respond the supporters with a banner deployed in the stands. The Argentinian victory, on penalties, will not tarnish the love that Naples has for its eternal number 10.
► Rivalry with the North
Napoli, the main club in southern Italy, maintains a stubborn rivalry with clubs from the North, Juventus from Turin, Inter from Milan and AC Milan. This opposition replays the fractures of Italian society, divided between a rich and industrial North and a poorer South, where the absence of the State has opened up a boulevard to the mafia.
► A club founded in 1926
The Associazione Calcio Napoli was founded in 1926. Renamed Societa Sportiva Calcio Napoli, or SSC Naples, its current name, the club will have to wait until the 1986-1987 season to win its first Scudetto. The Neapolitans are again champions of Italy in 1990, then in 2023.
The club has also won five Italian Cups, two Italian Super Cups and one UEFA Cup, the ancestor of the Europa League.
Its players wear sky blue jerseys and white shorts and its mascot is a donkey. They are sometimes nicknamed the “Partenopei”, a reference to Parthenope, a mermaid who in Greek mythology tries to seduce Odysseus before committing suicide.
► Italy’s most fervent supporters
Napoli supporters are arguably the most fervent in Italy. Even when the club tumbles in Serie C (the 3e division) in 2004 due to financial bankruptcy, up to 50,000 of them settled against all odds in the bays to support their team.
To celebrate the coronation of 2023, the supporters partied all night long. Not without overflows. At least one person was killed and more than 200 people presented themselves to the city’s hospital emergency rooms with injuries or illnesses.
