An Englishman Among Italian Ultras: Stadium Culture, Passion, and the Vibe of Calcio, with Richard Hall

A first, but certainly not the last, journey to Italy, the homeland of Ultras: with Richard Hall, founder of the Guardian Sports Network blog The Gentleman Ultra - a treasure trove of Italian soccer stories - and host of Inter Milan’s English-speaking club podcast, we travel first to the 1990s, when Ultra fanculture first became visible across Europe as an alternative to Hooligan and other supporters cultures, and then try to explain the fascination of Calcio from Italy for all soccer fans, the stadium experience in Italy today, and the life of an English-speaking fan at the heart of one of Italy’s great clubs. There is a lot more ground to cover on Ultras and Italy, of course - politics, power dynamics, and violence that now takes place almost exclusively outside of stadiums. Richard’s experience is that of a fan himself. Some books and articles linked below deepen or reframe his impression - but they do not take away from the fascination he felt, and is feeling, when coming in touch with the culture in Italy’s curvas, the terraces behind the goals in Italian stadiums. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:The Gentleman UltraRichard on twitterInter choreo against Benfica Lisbon, April 2023Pazza Inter Amala - Inter’s club songInter Ultras - best moments (video)Tobias Jones on changes within Inter’s ultra scenePerhaps the 3 best English books on Italian soccer:John Foot, Calcio: A History of Italian FootballTim Parks, A Season with Verona: Travels Around Italy in Search of Illusion, National Character . . . and Goals!Joe McGinniss, The Miracle of Castel di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of ItalyNEW: send me a text message! (I'd love to hear your thoughts - texts get to me anonymously, without charge or signup) Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. If you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, pleaseRecommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/