Photo Daily | October 29 | Gruppo Vandelli, Reggiana

Photo credit: Kimo:·:chaN on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

2 Responses to "Photo Daily | October 29 | Gruppo Vandelli, Reggiana"

ursus arctos says:

October 29, 2007 at 5:18 am

Nice picture, with an interesting story.

First things first. This is Reggiana, the club from Reggio Emilia currently in Serie C2, not Reggina, the club from Reggio Calabria currently in Serie A. The two clubs (each of which has played in Serie A) share colours (claret/maroon/granata and white) and that (combined with the fact that their names differ by only a single letter is a constant source of confusion to foreigners (and more than a few Italians)).

In any event, the story accompanying the Flickr photo describes how the Reggiana ultras were the victim of some particularly heavy handed policing after a match in Viareggio that was marked by a complete lack of incident in the ground and excellent relations between the two sets of fans. Among the people injured by police batons following a complaint of harrassment of a kid who was a bit late getting into the coach (and was then “assisted” by the cops) were two policemen travelling with the Reggiana group (it not being clear if they were “off duty” or somehow accompanying the ultras in an official capacity).

Readers who recall the widely publicized scenes from Machester United’s visit to Rome last year will be familiar with the depressingly familiar police tactics.
Thomas Dunmore says:

October 29, 2007 at 7:51 pm

Fixed my spelling. And I did presume it was the Reggina, too, so once again, I’m in your debt ursus. I was hoping you’d explain what all that bloody Italian said.

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