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Doidge, Mark. "The Ultras." Football Italia: Italian Football in an Age of Globalization. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. 141–180. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 25 Sep. 2021. <http:// dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781472519221.0012>. Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 25 September 2021, 16:28 UTC. Copyright © Mark Doidge 2015. You may share this work for non-commercial purposes only, provided you give attribution to the copyright holder and the publisher, and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. 7 Th e Ultras Boom! As the players marched onto the pitch the bangers were detonated. Th e loud bang coincided with the chants emanating from the curva . Th ese bangers and chants combined to create a cacophony of noise that was both powerful and intimidating. Among the chants, the fans were engaged with rhythmic clapping that added to the wall of noise. Alongside the bangers and the chanting, a series of smoke bombs were ignited. Th ese fi lled the end with smoke and fuelled the sense of disorientation and chaos emanating from the curva . As the smoke dissipated, every individual in the curva held aloft a piece of coloured card. Th e terrace was subdivided into three. Th e fans in the outer thirds were holding aloft pieces of card in the deep-red colour of Livorno football club. Th e middle third was coloured white, and the centrepiece was the number ‘ 99 ’ in gold. Not only was the number ‘ 99 ’ the squad number of the captain of Livorno, Cristiano Lucarelli; it was also the suffi x of the Livorno ultras , BAL 99, denoting the year of their formation. Elsewhere in the crowd, other fans waved a variety of fl ags. Among these were fl ags with Livorno ’ s badge, as well as the fl ags of Jamaica, Palestine, Cuba and the Soviet Union. Th e visual and aural eff ects combined to create a powerful spectacle that demonstrated the powerful organization of the fans, as well as the approaches used to perform the group ’ s identity and intimidate opponents. Th ese spectacles are carefully planned and choreographed by the ultras , and they constitute a signifi cant element of football fandom in Italy. Th ese ritualistic spectacles are performed with varying intensity depending on the opposition. Th e more important the opposing team is seen by the fans, the greater the participation and intensity of the spectacle. Th e recurring themes of this book re-emerge in relation to the fans and fan groups. Th ese groups operate within their own familial and patrimonial networks, which are incorporated into the wider networks of the football clubs and their owners. In some cases, however, it provides a site of resistance and a way of reinforcing the group ’ s sense of identity. Global political economic transformations have directly impacted the identifi cation of fans with their FFootballootball IItalia.indbtalia.indb 114141 33/26/2015/26/2015 22:18:59:18:59 PPMM 142 Football Italia local clubs. Th e intense politicization of Italian society has led to an amalga- mation of regional and political identities. Furthermore, these identities are impacted by the prevailing regionalism and distrust of the central government that exists in Italy. With the rolling back of the state and changes to the global political economy, mass participation in football and associated fan groups has fragmented into smaller groups with a diverse range of outlooks including extreme politics and violence. In the face of the state and police action against the activities, however, the ultras have started to unify against this ‘ repression ’ . In parallel to the fragmenting group identities within club support, a collective national ultras mentality is also forming. Th is chapter will present an overview of the key elements of the ultras style of support. It will then trace the historical development of the ultras in relation to the political economy of Italian football. Th rough this, the ritualistic element will be elucidated to highlight how local ultra groups grow, fragment yet remain united to an overarching social movement. ‘ Ultras stile di vita ’ : Performing the ultras identity Italian fan culture is a central image of Italian football. Passionate fans help create a carnival atmosphere full of fl ags, fi reworks and songs. It can also result in violence, as the death of Filipo Raciti demonstrates. Th is focus on violence, argues Cere (2002), has rendered female ultras invisible as academics and the media continually ignore them to focus on the masculine forms of fandom. Th is is unusual as the countercultural origins of the ultras meant that groups were always open to diff erent genders. Although there are relatively more young women in ultras groups, the leaders and core ultras tend to be male. Th e term itself derives from French politics; during the French restoration period (1815 – 30), an ultr á -royaliste was a partisan supporter of Absolute Monarchy (Testa 2009). Th e term has been adapted to refer to all hard-core football fans that demonstrate an unwavering support of their team. Th e terms ultr á and ultras are used interchangeably, and without reference to singular or plural (Cere 2002). Th is support is highly ritualistic and is characterized by the extensive displays of fl ags and banners, igniting of fl ares, and chanting of songs. Arranging these choreographies takes a lot of coordination and ultras are highly organized with a direttivo . Th is organizing committee has members responsible for fundraising or design of the choreographies. Th ey are presided over by the capi-ultr á , the head of the ultras who leads the direction of the group, the chants and the choreographies. FFootballootball IItalia.indbtalia.indb 114242 33/26/2015/26/2015 22:18:59:18:59 PPMM Th e Ultras 143 Th e central aspect of the ultras style of fandom is the impressive matchday choreographies generated by the ultras . Th ese spectacles are an important way of presenting the identity of the group and distinguish the ultras style of support: Italians refer to the staging of a match as a spettacolo [spectacle]. No English word adequately conveys the spettacolo, but it involves creation of a special atmosphere characterised by a combination of colour, vibrance and noise. (De Biasi 1996, p. 116) Th ese spectacles are highly organized and incorporate a variety of key elements. Ultras utilize a variety of local and political symbols in their spectacles. Th ese refl ect the dominance of politics and locality in everyday Italian life. Matchdays are characterized by extensive displays of fl ags and banners that create a riot of colour. Th e fl ags depict the colours of the team and of the city and are waved at the start of matches, and at various points throughout the game. Banners or striscione are unfurled across the curve . Th ese depict membership of the group, political messages or taunts to rivals. In addition to the visual display, the fans produce an aural performance through orchestrated choruses and combined with drums and trumpets, in some cases. Many of the songs reinforce the aesthetics through expressing support of the team, city or political views. Th e choreography is oft en supplemented with fl ares and smoke bombs that add to the aural and visual spectacle. Th ese ritualistic displays help to create the collective ultras identity. Durkheim (1915) has demonstrated that the rituals of the group create a collective eff ervescence that connects participants to a collective. Th is emotional energy stands in contrast to the mundanity of everyday life and helps create a bond that exists beyond the congregation. Th is is symbolized by a totem that embodies the group. Likewise, Turner (1969) saw rituals as a way of creating a focus and location for group identity, or communitas , to exist. Th e community is created in the liminal space of the ritual. It does not exist in the mundane everyday world. Th is sense of liminality was also important to Bakhtin (1984) and his concept of the carnivalesque. As Bakhtin (1984, p. 7) states: Carnival is not a spectacle seen by the people; they live in it, and everyone participates because its very idea embraces all the people. While carnival lasts, there is no life outside it. During carnival time life is subject only to its laws, that is, the laws of its own freedom. Th e traditional rules and borders of everyday life became subverted as degradation of the sacred becomes permitted. Just as Turner argued that a FFootballootball IItalia.indbtalia.indb 114343 33/26/2015/26/2015 22:18:59:18:59 PPMM 144 Football Italia communitas formed out of the liminal space of the ritual, Bakhtin suggested that a folk consciousness emerged from the rituals of carnivalesque festivities. Individual identity is about being part of the wider collective of ultras as well as supporting the team. Th e stadium becomes the central location for the articulation and expression of this imagined community of ultras . As Dal Lago (1990, p. 37) argues: In a stadium, according to the sectors or groups that occupy it, behaviours become accepted that in other situations of daily life tend to be hidden, or however protected from the gaze of the forces of order. In this way, in a ‘ curva ’ one can smoke marijuana with relative impunity, one can throw objects onto the fi eld, simulate brawls, tear up the symbols of rival teams and above all express in various ways transgressive behaviours. Th e atmosphere generated by the collective solidarity of the crowd fuels the construction of emotional ties to their physical environment. Th is contributes to a feeling of topophilia to the stadium (Bale 1990) and turns the stadium into a temporary sacred space that subverts the normal everyday practices.