“I realized that I feel good only when I’m with you” sang Daniele Silvestri in “Sempre di Domenica”, a perfect phrase to describe my state of mind when I find myself in front of two sets of fans facing each other in a stadium. It’s Thursday and I have to choose the weekly game to follow. After having attended Samb-Sora with pleasure the previous week, my eye falls on Tivoli-Samb: motivated by the beautiful fans of the home team that I have wanted to see for some time, and by the Marche fans among the best in the category, I don’t think about it twice and ask for credit. A few hours later the prompt response from Tivoli Calcio arrived, accepting me as a photographer. At that moment I couldn’t imagine what would happen to me once I arrived.
I show up at the stadium Olindo Galli half an hour early compared to the start of the match, I go to collect the accreditation at the box office and they tell me that the entrance for the photographers on the pitch is different. I head to the place indicated to me but I realize that there is something wrong: a lady (who later identified herself as the president of Tivoli Calcio) is discussing with several photographers, someone who has come from San Benedetto del Tronto (which is almost 200 km away from the stadium in question) to do their work, which notoriously takes place close to the pitch, even if only for a mere question of framing the players or fans. I get closer to understand the reason for the discussion and point out that I should have also entered the field to take photos, I am told that for reasons of public order, Tivoli Calcio cannot allow more than one photographer per club (aka the official photographer) to enter. and that all the others should have sat in the stands, from where – according to the top manager – generally shots can be taken without problems. I try to argue that I can only do my job well from within and that it’s not the same in the stands but there’s no way, the president insists that she’s in charge at home and despite being reminded that by national regulation the photographers (up to a number of 15) must be able to enter the field, she does not change her position.
A question comes to me spontaneously: in terms of image and professionalism, what does Tivoli gain by behaving in this way? I’ve tried for days to find an answer but there’s no way out. A club should be happy when it rises to the forefront of a national championship like Serie D and becomes the object of attention from journalists and photographers, because they contribute to advertising and spreading the name of the club, which will not happen with those who is found faced with the facts cited above. After all, we are talking about a championship with uniform rules, which certainly cannot change based on the opponent or the mood of the managers. Last week, in front of 6,000 spectators at the Palm Riviera, we had no problem accessing the field and doing our work. Because the same didn’t happen to Galli?
At this point, irritated and also quite angry in the face of such a situation, I find myself in great difficulty, How can I photograph both sets of fans from the stands? I play my last card by going to the Tivoli fans and, after having explained the situation to them, I ask if I can stand in their sector to photograph them and to photograph the Samb fans across the street. They very kindly agree and allow me to do the job I came for. At this point, although in a troubled and far from easy way, my game can also begin.
The Tivoli ultras already made themselves heard before kick-off to charge up their team and on the other hand the visiting fans are no different, stimulated by the promotion objective that has accompanied them since the first day. The start of the match was explosive with the players from the Marches who initially found the advantage but then were left with ten men due to a reaction foul, finding themselves 2-1 down after a few minutes. The amarantoblu sector is bedlam: choirs of various kinds, different banners (I found the one with the symbol of the city very beautiful, meticulously handmade) and flags accompany the tiburtini throughout the match.
When at the beginning I quoted Daniele Silvestri saying that “I feel good only when I’m with you”, I was referring precisely to this type of situation: stationed a few meters from the balustrade where the megaphone and drum give rhythm and push to the chants, I feel all that feeling of well-being that the proactiveness and determination of the ultras can communicate to me. Here we are neither atOlympicné a San Siro. There are no televisions and large cameras to film, so everything sounds more true and genuine. And you can see first-hand how much the Tiburtina ultras have sewn the soul and sense of belonging of their colors onto their skin. Furthermore, they really support impeccably, paradoxically with much more intensity and continuity than an important guest sector today. “Few but good” may be a cliché, but on this Sunday the numbers are relative and the substance rewards the home boys greatly. Who have now represented a constant growth in the regional ultras panorama for years, deservedly landing in D after dark years in the slums of Lazio football. It makes you smile to see how their noise and their desire to be the twelfth in all respects, “convinces” the ball boys to position themselves as far away from the pitch as possible and give the ball back slowly, to lose a few seconds of play.
In the guest sector, where there are 450 people from the Marche region, the situation is different: in the first half the rossoblù started well, but faded slightly after the expulsion and the reversal of the result. In the second half, also due to a good performance by their team who, outnumbered, sweated and fought for every ball, they improved as the minutes passed until the explosion at the end with the 2-2 goal that would end the match. Maybe not the best test for the people of San Benedetto, but still a confirmation of the enormous value of a fan base which, after years, failures and disappointments, continues to turn out with important numbers, regardless of the sporting performance and wanting at all costs to make people excel name, color and symbol of San Benedetto del Tronto. Of note, among them, is the presence of the Roma twins, highlighted by a yellow-red flag and a patch with the Capitoline Wolf.
Final consideration: for the umpteenth time the fans prove that they are the only healthy part of the ball. Special thanks therefore go to the Tivoli ultras, who today not only allowed us to carry out the service and test the environment of an important and heartfelt race, but who honored the name of their thousand-year-old city – a stupendous place, which does not deserve the business card mentioned above – and of their over one hundred year old company, whose dignity and honor is fortunately solid because it is linked to local colors and traditions, not to managers or presidencies. A club, after all, is the heritage of the city and the fans and certainly cannot be treated as something of its own to do and dispose of. Especially in the context of a tournament which from Valle d’Aosta to Sicily observes an identical modus operandi for information operators. So yeah, that one Proud Eagle cited by Virgil, it remains so today thanks to those boys who, behind flags and banners, preserved its soul and honor.
Marco Meloni
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2024-01-17 11:39:59
#TivoliSambenedettese #ultras #eternal #guardians #honor #dignity
