The History Behind Italian Football’s Biggest Derbies
The Italians just make everything sound better don’t they? Something as bland as a cloud becomes a beautiful nuvola. The drowsiness encountered after a big meal might already make you feel bloated just hearing about it, but when you call it abiocca, all of a sudden you’re lounging in the sun, without a worry in the world. Maybe a bit of worry about the economy, but you’ll deal with that later.
On the other hand, even disgusting words like moist, all of a sudden sound far less revolting when they are called umido. Which brings me nicely to the topic of today’s article, football derbies and their names. Whereas English football fans have the Didcot Triangle derbies to look forward to, which include the a420 derby played between Oxford United and Swindon Town, Italian fans have given a nice ring to the biggest football games in their country.
Why is this strange man on the internet talking about this you may ask? Well let me put it to you this way: which would you rather attend? The Derby della Scala or stuff like the Miners strike derby, the coxbridge derby and of course the 4g derby, soon to be upgraded to the 5g derby pending expansion of coverage.
We start with probably the most well known derby to come out of Italy, the Derby Della Madonnina. Up until Manchester City’s oil money finally proved that you can buy it instead of building it, this was the only city derby where both teams had won the Champions League. Also called the Milan derby or Derby di Milano, the name Madonnina comes from the Madonnina statue of the Virgin Mary which sits on top of the Milan cathedral.
This symbol of Milan has been used for everything from songs to the derby. The first game between the two teams took place all the way back in 1908, following the split between them. Originally founded by Englishman Herbert Kilpin as the Milan Cricket and Football Club, the club decided to only allow Italian players to represent the team, despite its Anglo Italian roots. Thus, the international version of the Milan football club came into existence.
The derby reached its first boiling point during the 1960s, when it arguably truly became iconic. Long before Ronaldo and Mourinho battled against Messi and Guardiola, the top two teams in Europe came from the same city and played in the same stadium. Inter had their superstar in Sandro Mazzola and were managed by Helenio Herrera, whilst Milan’s Gianni Rivera was nicknamed the golden boy and was coached by Nereo Rocco.
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Both managers were proponents of the Catenaccio, the original form if at least, not what lazy pundits label defensively minded football nowadays. Milan drew first blood by winning the 1963 European Cup and Inter of course took that personally and won the subsequent two editions.
From then on, the Milan derby was one of the most incendiary in Europe, giving us of course that famous image of Materazzi and Rui Costa, watching the inferno in the stands of the San Siro, which every lazy sports page on Instagram or X loves to share.
Just south of Milano, a lesser-known derby has sadly been put on hold for the time being. The Derby Della Lanterna, or Derby of the Lighthouse pitches Genoa against their cross-town rivals Sampdoria. Genoa has historically been one of the most prosperous trading cities in the Mediterranean since the Middle Ages, which is when the construction of their famous lighthouse started.
Named La Lanterna, it first came into existence in 1128 and reached its current form in 1543 and was the tallest lighthouse in the world for almost 400 years. The derby that was named after it, is one of the newer ones in Serie A. Now when I say new, I don’t mean 2008 or something but 1946 when the first game between Genoa and the current iteration of Sampdoria took place.
Despite on paper it being a pretty lopsided affair, with Genoa having won 9 italian titles to Sampdoria’s one, Samp leads the all-time records in their head-to-head games. This is mostly because Genoa’s glory days came before the first world War, whilst Sampdoria experienced their heyday during the 90s, culminating in the 1992 European Cup final.
Sadly, for the Italians (except Genoa fans), the Samp team lead from the front by Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli succumbed to Barcelona and a 112’ minute goal from everyone’s favourite Everton manager Ronald Koeman.
An even more one-sided derby is the Derby Della Mole. And I know English readers might read this as mole, but I promise this Derby has nothing to do with the small subterranean mammals that like to burrow. The name of the Derby, which is also called Derby Di Torino, comes from the Mole Antonelliana.
The building, named after its architect Alessandro Antonelli, originally started out in life as a synagogue, and nowadays houses the national cinema museum. The derby between Juventus and Torino, to which the building has given its name is one of the oldest in Italy and has a deep-rooted class rivalry.
Historically Juventus, which was founded by students of a prestigious local high school, were viewed as the club of the city’s aristocracy, especially after their takeover by the wealthy Agnelli family, whereas Torino’s fans mostly came from a working-class background. This divide in financial might was mostly maintained throughout history.
However, during the 40s the Grande Torino team had won 5 Serie a titles and were looking to become the dominant team in Italy. Sadly in 1949, the whole team died in the tragic Superga air disaster when their plane crashed into a wall of the Basilica of Superga. Torino was subsequently completely weakened and bar a short revival during the 70s has remained Turin’s second-best team.
Since the Derby Della Mole was first played in 1907 I thought it might be good to look at something more current, namely the Derby Della Scala. First played in 1994 this derby pitches Hellas Verona against their neighbours Chievo. Hellas has always been Verona’s main club and Chievo, located in a suburb at the edge of the city, didn’t turn professional until 1986, almost 60 years after it was founded.
Despite Hellas being crowned Serie A champions in 1985 after a betting scandal rocked Italian football (a topic which I have covered in a previous article), they were in Serie B by the mid-90s where they met their rivals for the first time. Still considering themselves superior to Chievo, Hellas fans taunted their smaller neighbours with the chant “Donkeys will fly before Chievo are in Serie A.”
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And in 2001 Chievo, now nicknamed the flying donkeys did in fact gain promotion to Serie A forcing Hellas fans to eat their words. The derby hasn’t been played in the league since 2018, as Chievo has currently been reformed in Serie D. As for the Della Scala name, this comes from the Scaligeri family.
Taking a ladder as their family crest the Della Scala family managed to climb the steps of medieval Italian aristocracy. Starting out as lords of Verona in the 13th century, they managed to extend their dominion across northern Italy capturing cities such as Lucca, Parma or Brescia in just over 100 years.
Always suspicions of the rise of a new power amongst them, the other Italian city states and powerful families banded together against them forming a league containing Florence, Venice, the Visconti, the Este and the Gonzaga families and defeated the Della Scalas after a three-year war. This reduced their dominion back to Verona, which they lost to Milan and later to Venice.
Another one of Europe’s fiercest derbies is next on the list, the Derby Della Capitale. The capital derby is fuelled not only by a sporting rivalry, but also by a cultural one. Both Rome clubs vie not only for the bragging rights within their city, but also for their place among the elites of Italian football. This rivalry is one of the most political in all of European football.
Lazio’s right-wing fans have caused controversy after controversy throughout the years with their banners evoking the Holocaust and their abuse directed to Roma’s black players. This of course has forced a shift in Italian football and fan behaviour has been more firmly policed through fines and bans, making the league one of the most inclusive and progressive in Europe.
Just kidding, everyone lost their minds when Gianluca Mancini waved a banner with Lazio’s colours and a rat on them. The Italian FA, always gallant and fair immediately dropped everything to fine and reprimand Mancini for making the little fascies cry and then proceeded to continually ignore all the instances of racial abuse players suffer in Italy. This absolute dumpster fire of a derby is also called Derby di Roma, Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone.
The last two names come from the famous Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome and the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica conceived and built by Michelangelo. And by Michelangelo I mean the guy with The Creation of Adam painting and not the teenage mutant ninja turtle.
From the city derbies we now move on to the intercity derbies and the biggest one of them all is the Derby D’Italia. Inter and Juve’s rivalry has been perfectly captured through this name, meaning of course the Derby of Italy, coined by journalist Gianni Brera. The simplicity of the name wonderfully conveys this meeting between the two giants of Italian football.
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Brera’s influence on Italian football language doesn’t stop at naming derbies and providing nicknames for players, such as “Little Abbot” for Gianni Rivera and “Rolling Thunder” for Gigi Riva. The term libero, used to describe a sweeper, has also been coined by him. As for the derby, it pitches the two of the most decorated teams in Italian football against one another and not even the Calciopoli scandal and Juventus’ dominance of the 2010s could ever make this derby a dull affair.
Before we get to my absolute favourite derby on the list a few others deserve a mention. Starting with the Derby Del Sole, or the derby of the Sun. Played between Roma and Napoli, it is considered the most prestigious game involving teams outside of northern Italy. Next, we have the Derby Dell’Appennino, which takes its name from the Apennine Mountains, which separate the two cities of Florence and Bologna.
And you can probably hazard a guess between whomst this game is played. Another derby where the two teams are separated by a geographical feature is the Derby Dello Stretto, or derby of the strait. Messina and Reggio Calabria face off against each other in a rivalry that spans the straits of Messina, which divides mainland Italy from Sicily. Staying in the region, we can also find the Derby Delle Due Sicilie or Derby of the two Sicilies between Napoli and Palermo.
The name of the two Sicilies is another one of those quirks of history that carried over in the names of areas to this day. The kingdom of Sicily was initially founded in 1130, by the Norman king Roger II of Sicily, comprising basically everything south of Naples. The Kingdom came under the rule of the House of Anjou, which managed to lose the Sicilian part of their kingdom, which later came under the rule of Aragon.
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Unfazed, the Angevins, kept referring to their dominion as the Kingdom of Sicily, when in reality theirs was the Kingdom of Naples. Meanwhile the actual Kingdom of the island of Sicily remained under Aragonese and later Spanish rule until both kingdoms united in 1816 as the Kingdom of the two Sicilies, greatly overstating the number of Sicilies the kingdom actually had.
The last Derby we are going to look at is the Derby Dell’Enza. The Enza river divides the two neighbouring regions of Parma and Reggio Emilia. With Parma Fc and AC Reggiana. Once again, this rivalry transcends the beautiful game and reflects the cultural and economic background of the region.
Whilst Parma, a former capital of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza is viewed as more affluent and aristocratic, with its city encompassing palaces and monuments, Reggio Emilia is considered more lower class (at least by their rivals). And why is this derby so interesting you might ask.
Well, in the immortal words of James May: Cheese. The two other names of the derby are Derby del Parmigiano Reggiano and Derby del Grana, Parmigiano Reggiano being the correct name of Parmesan cheese and Grana being a more general term for hard cheeses.
By: Eduard Holdis / @He_Ftbl
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Stu Forster / Getty Images Sport Classic