The pleasant news is that instead of the classic Palamacchia where Pielle generally plays its home championship matches, today’s match is played at Palamodi, a facility capable of hosting around eight thousand people. Given the figures involved, the old building would have been far too small and decidedly unwelcoming. It must be said that this time the audience is not only made up of fans of the local team, but also from nearby Montecatini, a good number of fans are expected to arrive, not exactly on good terms with the home Curva Sud.
Basketball fever in Livorno is reaching significant peaks, after all the Serie B championship standings see the two Labronian teams first and second in the standings respectively. Let’s also add that some old basketball lovers have rediscovered the joy of watching the game, the result are numbers that make the difference. And this evening too is no exception, there are over five thousand people present and the glance is striking: the basketball fever is striking, the variety of characters that populate the steps are striking, it is striking to see and feel the desire to cheer that it is evident already in the pre-match.
Pre-match goes by calmly, early in the morning there are already the first fans around Palamodi armed with a flag and scarf in tow, they range from entire families to the youngest kids on scooters who don’t even want to miss the starter of the match. Many fans arrive one by one from Montecatini and settle in the large host sector. The ultras, on the other hand, arrive when there is a good half hour left before the start of the hostilities, the time to organize themselves at a minimum and the entry into the sector takes place as on the best occasions, all together, receiving the inevitable forest of boos and responding to them with the classic gestures. The thermal workers hang the pieces that distinguish the place on the window Curva Estthe ultras then make a nice square appropriately kept at bay by security while the local Digos records every suspicious movement, whether on one side or the other. Given the numbers in question, the structure of the arena and the presence of the police, the boiling spirits are promptly cooled unless a kamikaze action which would make very little sense. There is a heartfelt rivalry between the two fans which can be seen from the first chants that the two factions exchange, but everything is limited to the classic back and forth.
From Montecatini, in addition to presence, there is the desire to leave one’s own stamp on the meeting. The ultras engage in good, organized and fairly continuous support. On this last aspect I now have to abandon myself to the obvious, it is rare or at least not so common to witness a drumming cheer: the actions of the game, a three-point bomb or a badly wasted basket, almost inevitably affect the chorus undertaken, cutting it miserably short. or by lighting the fuse that was going out. The cheering instruments are all there on the host side, a drum to dictate the tempo, a megaphone that always makes a scene and finally some well-made flags, which offer that nice touch of colour. The separation between athletes and ultras is quite marked and only in rare circumstances does the cheering embrace all those present, ultimately it is only the ultras who support the team for the entire duration of the match.
The proof that the result affects the trend of the fans is evident when the home team goes ahead by seventeen points: with the victory seeming to be in the safe, the stadium is a real bedlam, it is no longer just the curve that encourages the team but there is no shortage of shouts and chants of encouragement from other sectors too. The guests on the parquet are not about to be put under in a clear way and in a short time they recover the game, even taking the lead: in this case they are the ultras of the Curva Est to call into question all those present in the sector, with the spa-brand cheering rising in intensity thanks to a recovery that is difficult to imagine. The building is bedlam and the referees end up in the crosshairs, a great all-Italian classic, accused on both sides of some unfortunate decisions.
Regular time is not enough to decide the winning team, extra time is needed which rewards Pielle, who consolidates first place in the standings. Once the victory is achieved, the home team celebrates, invading the parquet for the classic embrace with the players while opposing managers and fans are targeted; nothing so sensational or aggressive, you release some of the accumulated tension by exulting and mocking today’s opponents. Good match in the stands, finally there is also a guest fan present who brought interesting numbers to Livorno. The rivalry sharpened the spirits, banners, chants and gestures made a match lively which even on the parquet gave more than one emotion.
Valerio Poli
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