Stella Rossa
Words: Matt Barnes
Images: Matt Barnes
A world away from the Scudetto chasing Napoli, and the glorious and Baroque architecture of Naples Centro Storico, you will find Scampia, a suburb located in the eighth municipality. It's very much at the end of Linea 2, and another good 30 minutes walk, but it's certainly worth the journey.
Google searching in hindsight is never particularly beneficial, and many forum posts and articles strongly suggest not visiting, due to the danger. Scampia, and the infamous tenements, le vele (the sails), now demolished, grew in infamy as a key location in Italian hit TV drama Gomorrah.
Art imitates life, and this estate was one of the biggest drug dealing and crime centres in Europe, all at the red right hand of various Camorra (the Campania Mafia) clans. Filming of the TV show bought the area much needed money, but also attention. Graffiti declaring Non Siamo Gomorra (we are not Gomorra) is still prevelant today.
It's certainly a lively and brisk walk to the stadium from the metro, the imposing brutalist concrete blocks, and suspicious looks from people made sure of it, but Diego watches from every corner and ensures safe passage. Italy, like almost everywhere in Western Europe, is facing (and has faced) a rise in extreme right wing politics.
Entrenched deep in Scampia terrority is Stella Rossa 2006, a club who are fighting this, with words and actions. During the Qatar World Cup, their social media was littered with anti FIFA, and they hosted a presentation from author Valerio Moggia who wrote 'La Cupa del dead'.
©Matt Barnes. Stella Rossa 2006.
Today, they play host to Maued San Pietro, who come into the game in third and in good form. The stadium was renamed in 2017 the Stadio Antonio Landieri, who was an innocent victim of a Camorra feud back in 2004. The synthetic turf was even created from reclaimed tyres and rubber from the 'Land of Fires', which is an area in Campania, where disposal of toxic waste was organised by the Camorra.
The game is a clash in the Prima Categorie Girone E. The Prima Categorie has 105 regional divisions, then onto the Promozione (53 divisions), then Eccellenza (29 regional divisions) and finally Serie D and beyond. As kick off approaches, eight minutes late, a crowd starts to gather. One linesman is wearing a Parka and jeans, Serie A this is not.
Stella Rossa, playing in yellow (of course), take the early lead, and they run towards the fence to celebrate with the loyal supporters. The away side equalise, but in the second half, it is all Stella Rossa, who secure a 3-1 victory, complete with a new coach, Mister Battaglia. There was even time for a chant to the tune of a Michael Jackson song, which our completely impartial lino couldn't help shuffling and signing along to.
As Tullio Attolini, in his debut season for the club puts it, "modern football today unfortunately teaches us that the God of money is worth most of all, and that is why I, instead, married the Stella Rossa project. It is based on principles of sharing and belonging". This may be football at a low level, but passion for a cause is here, and in some ways the results are secondary.
©Matt Barnes. Stella Rossa 2006.
©Matt Barnes. Stella Rossa 2006.
©Matt Barnes. Stella Rossa 2006.
©Matt Barnes. Stella Rossa 2006.
©Matt Barnes. Stella Rossa 2006.
©Matt Barnes. Stella Rossa 2006.
©Matt Barnes. Stella Rossa 2006.
©Matt Barnes. Stella Rossa 2006.
©Matt Barnes. Stella Rossa 2006.
You can find Matt on Twitter: @gazzettastadio and Instagram: @gazzetta_dello_stadio
