There's every possibility that I may end up moving Italy in the next year or two (wife's Italian and her family live near Naples). Obviously I'm going to need a team to follow and am currently torn between Napoli and Salernitana. My English side should give you a clue that I'm not necessarily tied to Serie A. Please could you give me some pros and cons to help me make my choice? Grazie
Well Napoli is in top flight football in Italy. Also you're asking a bunch of Napolitans and Napoli supporters if you should support Napoli or another club .... A little bit of bias here. Napoli is the only choice.
Just realized I didn't really answer your question. OK .. Pros Napoli fans are among the most passionate in the soccer world .. not just in Italy. Our fans travel by the thousands to attend away games that are 5-10 hours away. Diego Maradona, the greatest footballer ever, played for our club. The timing couldn't be more perfect .. Napoli have just returned to topflight after 6 years and they are already making a run at European football via Uefa. We have one of the most active forums and there is a wealth of information that you can find ... unlike Salernitana (good luck following them or getting merchandise) Our owner and president is Aurelio DeLaurentiis ... a true president who cares about the club more than any other venture he has going on at the time. He flyes home for every game even when his in mid-production on a movie. We have some of the future stars of the world on our team. In 2-5 years they will be the talked about players ... like Ronaldinho, Messi, Totti, Cannavaro, etc. We have Lavezzi, Hamsik, Domizzi, Gargano, and Garics. Most are very young and are already international stars with the exception of Domizzi who is just a monster in defense at the age of 27 but is one of the best defenders in Serie A. I have to get ready for work so I can't go on .. but I could have wrote a ton more .. and if some of these guys don't beat me to it then i will later on. Cons ..... ZERO. Maybe that little thing about every northern club hating us ... but I don't see that as a con ... I see it as motivation.
Yeah, following Salernitana would be pretty tough unless you plan on living in the city of Salerno. Although they have been doing well this season and may be in Serie B next year.
I think one big thing to prove how great the fans and atmosphere is at Napoli is that they had the highest attendance for a Serie C game (basically League 2) at over 50,000 if I remember. Now that's an amazing feat.
Where exactly will you live? We're easier to follow, you can watch online just go to the official site.
Heh. Kind of, but by no means certain. I'd have gone to a Salernitana board as well if I'd found one. If everyone on here had said "because we're a much bigger club" that wouldn't cut any ice with me. Following a club is about dealing with the lows makes the highs more intense and memorable.
Well Italian football is intense all the time so you don't have to worry there. To be fair, Napoli probably have the best fans in Italy... when the club were down in Serie C only a couple of seasons ago, the stadium still managed to pack around 50,000 people weekly, this is against tinpot teams that, if compared to English football aren't much above Conference quality in terms of skill and organisation. As Cassano said though, Salernitana are probably coming up to Serie B too and they have a decentish set-up (stadium is a lot bigger than Bloomfield). I'd ask your missues' family who they support and check out a couple of games with them.
well then you'd be really close to Salerno. One thing about the Salernitana fans, like the Napoli fans, are very passionate and the stadium gets good attendances. The stadium is also one of the newer ones in Italy, being built in the early 90s (In Italy that's like brand new!). Players like Gattuso, Di Vaio, and Di Michele all starred at Salernitana before moving on to bigger clubs.
As further proof that you will be making the right choice, check out this video from our recent demolition of Juve. [youtube]lgEKko1eaaE[/youtube] You want to be a part of this. You need to be a part of this. I mean, if you choose to not be a part of this it's cool, but just know that your life will not be complete. If you want to live an incomplete life, that's up to you. We can only tell you what to do, not do it for you.
I think they'll send out the information soon. Let's hope so. It's planned to start with the game against Catania. Seaside, my opinion is support the club you've always supported. But if you want to follow one of the two clubs, I would follow the one most followed wherever you'll be living so you can meet other football fans and make some friends I suppose. These two clubs are actually fierce rivals, and the fans of each do not get along very well. Both have good history and very passionate fans. If you like to interact with fans online, Napoli probably has the advantage there. I would suggest going through our highlights thread to get a taste of what Napoli is like. There's a ton of information on our board, if you like what you read, stay on board! When will you be moving there? I'll be going to a Napoli game in December if you're in Italy and would like to catch a game with another English speaker, Randy will also be going I believe and I hope I can meet up with him as well.
You have to support the team you best identify with. So we could be here giving you reasons all day, in the end the choice has to come down to you. Napoli is in A now and hopfully they'll never get relegated ever again. Bigger city with more fans = more access to information. Also, more chances to see Napoli play the other big teams in Italy. They have a committed president who not only wants to make Napoli one of the top teams in Italy, but Europe as well. So needless to say, these have been some really interesting times for the club and its fans. The uphill climb will be enormous. As for Salernitana, they have some good support for a small team. But the reality is that even if they can scrap enough money to get some half decent players, they'll most likely always by between serie B and C. Their ultras always have some funny banners and choreographies. This one is the most famous : Napoli ultras returning the love, although im not sure which one came first (i was supposed to go to this game!) : If you pick Salernitana, i respect that. Afterall they are an underdog and i always have to give respect to the underdog. But Napoli is equally an underdog in respect to the rest of Italy and Europe. Just remember not to wear you teams colors in the opposite city!. The rivalry is fierce and you could catch a beating depending where you are. My suggestion to you is to watch both teams, get a feel for them, then make your decision.
Thanks. Don't worry, I've been going to games for more years than I care to remember so I'm sufficiently sussed not to do anything stupid at games. Never was much of a scarfer anyway. Thanks very much for your thoughts all.
It's an illustration showing Napoli's plans going into the toilet. 10 plans ... to get into Serie A, to better themselves, etc. It's pretty funny. But hey, look who's in Serie A.