Last day of the championship for the Lazio Promotion and verdicts hanging by a thread. In Grottaferrata – a town located a handful of kilometers from the capital, on the Via Anagnina – Vivace hosts VJS Velletri, in a sort of derby between teams located at the two ends of the Castelli Romani. The red and white association boasts distant origins, having been founded in 1922 and therefore being among the first to play football in this area. Grottaferrata is historically a place of passage, as well as the seat of the Abbey of San Nilo, an important religious center linked to the Roman curia, which still today is often visited – in addition to tourists and school groups – by a large number of religious people from all over the world . Being a fixed stop for Roman students, returning after several years has a certain effect on me. Regardless of its religious imprint, its structure maintains an undoubted beauty intact, with the imposing view dominating the Capital at its feet. Furthermore, the name of the town is linked to his presence: when, at the beginning of the year 1000, San Nilo da Rossano took possession of the land donated to him by the Counts of Tusculum, he noticed the existence of an iron crypt, on which he then the abbey itself will be built. It is no coincidence that throughout the Middle Ages, the urban center is known as Cryptaferrata and its inhabitants as cryptenses. Denomination today accompanied by the linguistically more cumbersome “grottaferratesi”.
In the collective imagination – especially in the Roman one – Grottaferrata is also one of the conventional places for picnics and lunches away from home. This practice has increased especially since the post-war period, when for obvious reasons linked to the extreme poverty of a country just devastated by the war, the most that could be afforded was to travel a few kilometers on the “I Castelli tram” and spill out onto the meadows, still taken by storm in the summer. It is no coincidence that Renato Rascel, one of the most famous singers of the Eternal City of the 1950s and 1960s, in his “Arrivederci Roma” mentions the melancholic greeting of a Roman close to emigrating to England, citing Squarciarelli, a Cryptense location still today full of restaurants and kiosks selling porchetta: “If you find yourself for lunch at Squarciarelli/Fettuccine and wine from the Castelli/Like the good times that Pinelli immortalized”.
Historical/social parentheses aside, after passing the Abbey you arrive at the entrance gates of the stadium Of the Olive Trees (no, we are not in Andria and the name is due to the street of the same name on which the camp is located). Playing field literally sunk into a basin and characterized by a beautiful horizontal grandstand, which thanks to the work carried out about ten years ago has improved a lot, especially for the category. For VJS it is a fundamental match: a success would allow them to mathematically maintain the category, which until a few days ago seemed difficult, especially due to a return round that was truly deficient in terms of results. When the match has just started, here comes the Volsca Band, who after a small procession outside reaches the facility, positioning himself on the side to my left, hanging the usual material and starting to cheer. The distance between the two centers is certainly not prohibitive (about twenty kilometres) and the race is a fundamental one, but even today the Veliterni ultras confirm the excellent mix of quantity and quality that has characterized them for some years now. A couple of torches are lit and shortly after their team finds the advantage, going to celebrate under the sector. Except for a disinterested police officer from the local Carabinieri station, there is no security service and anyone can sip a nice 66cl glass of beer or move from one part of the sector to another without paranoia. Obviously, this is also because there is no local fan base (the gentleman with the drum and a banner behind him is undoubtedly picturesque, but I certainly wouldn’t define him as ultras), but as we often find ourselves underlining, in these categories and on these days breathe at least a healthy air of freedom. And as much as we all enjoy busy Sundays and rivalry-filled races, sometimes detoxing from the repression and witch hunts that now accompanies these events is healthy, to say the least.
VJS also finds the second goal and the goal with which the Cryptons shorten the distance is of little value. At the final whistle, the beautiful singing performance of the Rossoneri ultras finds its just reward in salvation, obtained on the pitch and above all with their own merit. Without wanting to seem pimps, but it is certainly pleasing to see realities that for better or for worse manage to live and grow over the years, without getting lost in useless thickets of mythomania or self-referentiality, but constantly working to increase their aggregative strength and strengthen the ultras imprint within the community. The fact that the climb of the Veliterni started again from the slums of Lazio football and that even the ultras have slowly closed their ranks, remodulating their way of being and slowly managing to become a transversal point of reference in the city, is important for the present but above all for the future. If a large and populous center like Velletri, in fact, manages to raise the bar of its ambitions, the Volsca Band will also be able to begin to deal with curves and realities of discreet tradition. Crucial step to grow even more and understand your strengths and weaknesses. For today, the team and fans are enjoying salvation, which is however the result of a journey that starts from afar and which has put the ball back at the center of any project. Without speculation and without shady interests. In our era the term “sustainability” is clearly abused, but on the other hand it is precisely with economic and managerial sustainability that today we must and can return to playing football on a regular basis. Without the desire to win and without self-styled last-minute entrepreneurs, capable of making the stars see the stars in the first few months, and then throwing years of sporting history into the landfill.
Via Anagnina is deserted now. Lunch is served and – some at home, some at the restaurant – everyone is engaged in the ritual that unites the Peninsula without distinction. On this Sunday the sun is starting to burn and the bus that takes me back to Rome, without air conditioning, seems like a real furnace. Who knows, even there Cotral is wisely thinking of interpreting – obviously in his own way – the word “sustainability”.
Marco Meloni
I like:
I like Loading…
Related
2024-05-21 09:53:34
#Lively #GrottaferrataVJS #Velletri #opportunism #word #sustainability
