This match will be played on January 21st, a date which to most people might seem devoid of any historical relevance but which in Livorno has a significant weight. In fact, on 21 January 1921, the Italian Communist Party was born in the Tuscan city, an anniversary that cannot go unnoticed in a city where certain ideas, even today, still make inroads.
If Livorno and its citizens are protagonists in the morning of the various commemorations in the symbolic places of history, the Curva Nord cannot help but remember this date in turn given that, for several years now, the political vein has assumed an importance of a certain depth in a curve that, even in the distant past, had not failed to expose itself on some pertinent social issues. Then we can stay here and discuss the opportunity to express ourselves in a clear and unequivocal way on some issues and we can discuss whether and in what way it is legitimate to introduce the political aspect in a context such as the sporting one, but that’s it: despite of those who have chosen a purely ultras orthodoxy which essentially excludes politics, are still counterbalanced by those who instead think and act according to the belief that everything is politics and even expressing a certain antagonism in the stands is in this sense still necessary and not at all anachronistic .
Speaking instead of football, it is now an established fact that it is not the best year in Livorno, it is enough to look at the Serie D rankings to notice how the team is unable to regularly attack the top of the standings despite the summer proclamations being completely another stack. Despite everything, a hard core is present in the Curva Nord and given their credit for this, it is also necessary to start again from the current numbers to make an analysis of an overall participation which, season after season, has seen its contribution drastically reduced, a sign of the disconnect between the team and the city is now evident and goes back a long way.
In any case, the curve starts with the foot on the accelerator and after a few chants for the team, the choreography is implemented to commemorate the date of January 21st: the effigy of Ilio “Dario” Barontini is lowered in the center of the sector with the a verse from Fausto Amodei’s song “For the dead of Reggio Emilia”. The glance is good and on this occasion there is no shortage of political chants which find a large segment of the compliant public, a sign that at least in Labronia, the combination of football and politics still has admirers.
Always on the same wave is the curve that underlines, if ever there was any need, its position on a recent controversy, once again of a political nature: a banner traces their distances from the recent commemoration for the victims of Acca Larenzia where the Roman greetings of those present sparked public opinion. Even in this case it would be necessary to contextualize before making evaluations given that the double murder of 1978 in Rome has always been commemorated by far-right militants. Probably gestures and words have changed very little over time but only today are we surprised, condemning them with rhetoric that is quite jarring, especially in the mouths of individuals who, when brought to the top by the game of political alternation, certainly do not change the logic of subordination to the political agenda dictated from above, they certainly do not subvert it by putting before it the requests that come from below.
Once the long political space is over, the North focuses on the team, the support does not fade, the people push on the accelerator and there is not a minute of silence throughout the match. A few flags color the sector, a few Palestinian flags appear to remind us of a massacre that continues to fill the pages of newspapers but to which we cannot put an end, a sign that there is probably not even the will to close, in one way or another, a genocide that has lasted too long.
The curve also displays a banner to remember Marco Mazza, known to everyone as Bubù, a breaking latest news ultras who died way back in 2006. In the stands the support shows no sign of waning and even in the final stages of the match the team is repeatedly supported but after the final draw achieved with the bringing up the rear Ponsacco, the protest against the team and club begins with president Esciua taking to the podium as the main suspect and responsible for this season, which for the moment sees many more shadows than lights.
Valerio Poli
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