This weekend Inter and Hellas Verona face off in the Serie A. It’s a game that is tense because of the positions of the teams in the standings, but mostly because of the history between the supporters. When Inter faced Hellas Verona last season in the Coppa Italia (18th of December) there were riots close to and outside of the stadium, the police had to launch teargas to keep the situation from escalating. What on paper was a simple cup game on a cold Milan night in December, was probably one of the most important games for the Ultras of both teams. Hellas Verona often have many supporters away from home, but this weekend there are probably going to be many more. It’s a big match for the club, but the rivalry between the clubs is more important and to understand this we need to jump back in time to discuss how Inter and Hellas Verona went from being the best of friends, to the worst of rivals.
Inter and Hellas supporters were friends due to some sportimg, but mostly because och political reasons. There are right wing groups on both Curves, some are more extreme than others. The friendship began in the end of the 70’s, but intensified in the middle of the 80’s when the notorious neo-fascist (some would say nazi) group Skins Inter had much power in the Curva Nord. The Skins Inter are one of the most extreme and feared groups ever to exist in the Italian ultras world, to this day many Ultras refuse to speak about the group even though it was 20 years since they were dissolved. The presence of the Skins Inter in the Curva Nord, and the similarly extreme group Briate Gialloblu at Hellas Verona, made the friendship between the supporters even stronger and both set of supporters would not only meet when it was time for football, but they were both active in the Italian skinhead movement that was strong in the beginning of the 90’s.
As I wrote earlier, more than the political reasons the supporters also had sporting reasons to become friends. 1973 Hellas Verona was the team that kept Milan from winning a Scudetto for the season 1972/1973, as the ‘Gialloblu’ beat the Rossoneri in the last game of the campaign. Lightning struck for the second time when Hellas beat Arrigo Sacchi’s legendary Milan in the last game of the season 1989/1990, resulting in Maradona’s Napoli winning the title instead. 1990/91, the friendship was very strong between the teams. A Uefa-cup game that was supposed to be played on a neutral stadium was played at the Bentegodi in Verona, Inter won the game 3-1 and many Hellas Verona supporters were present in the Curva Nord to show support for their friends. This was also the night where Inter started their road to victory in the Uefa-cup later that year, a magical night for both sets of supporters.
By the end of the 90’s things started to change. The Skins Inter had been dissolved. Many members were facing long bans and the group was almost gone. The few remaining members of the Skins joined other groups in the Curva, but with a less political approach and the Skins had nowhere close to the same power as earlier. The members of the Skins who were banned from the stadium mostly went on to be more active in the political world. The right-extremism in the Curva Nord and the neo-fascism became weaker. The Curva’s old friends the Brigate Gialloblu were also dissolved and even though the extreme-right wing politics remained in many groups, the leaders of these groups changed. The new leaders in the Hellas Verona Curva weren’t as keen on being friends Interisti, one of the reasons was that they thought Inter had too many black players in their team. The relationship between the two sets of fans became tense.
In a game during the season 2001/2002, Hellas Verona supporters made racist chants against Inter players. The leaders of the Curva Nord didn’t appreciate this, nor the fact that a small team like Hellas which should be proud to be friends with a great club like Inter, didn’t appreciate the friendship. The Interisti wanted to show the Hellas supporters who was boss. Even though many Hellas supporters were against breaking up the friendship with Inter, nothing could be done to stop a violent fight between the fans. In 2002 two Hellas supporters are stabbed by the Interisti. As Hellas and Inter don’t face off anymore in the Serie A, the situation has been calm for a while but when Italy and Scotland face off at San Siro, somehow the two sets of supporters find eachother again and fight inside of the stadium before the eyes of terrified onlookers.
As mentioned in the beginning of the text, in December there where riots nearby the stadium when the teams faced off in the cup. Now Hellas are back in the Serie A and have surprised many because of the ammounts of points they’ve taken. The rivalry between the supporters is still there and the game on Saturday night is a high risk one with the possibility of riots, and fights. The police in Milan need to be ready for it. When Partizan was expected in Milan the security-arrangements were great and nothing happened. The question is if the security measures will be on the same level on Saturday as Hellas come to visit. One thing is for sure, it will be needed.
