Other Games - 2017/18

[Jon Crofts]

It'll be all-seater, which will be more geared to actual long term football watchers rather than your casual thug element.

It's a shit stadium, set in beautiful surroundings in a suburb of Rome that's an absolute twat to get to and from the city itself. The seats themselves are like plastic arse shaped buckets set in concrete uncomfortable as fuck and if its been raining full of water. I hope it rains.

Cool that you've got back from the future to tell us about Roma's new stadium. Niche but cool.

Edit: sorry that was bitchy to a completely unjustified degree!

Ah cock it, my bad, I see what you did there. Stadio Olimpico is all seater and I stand by my remarks, it's shit!

[Monty]

You're not wrong about the Olimpico absolutely being shit, but just because it's all-seater in principle doesn't mean it is in practice - that shallow bowl thing is just too easy to turn a seated curva into a standing area. The Stadio della Roma should be more 'English' in style and harder to do that in.

[Pat McMahon]

The blokes I knew reckoned some of their fellow supporters did not make the distinction between Roma and Juventus fans in Brussels a year later and were far more ready for trouble that horrible night.

Being careful what I say here - it doesn't defend what happened at Heysel in any way - but the seeds of the trouble there were sown (sowed?) in Rome

From what I have heard over the years it probably contributed

[Pat McMahon]

You're not wrong about the Olimpico absolutely being shit, but just because it's all-seater in principle doesn't mean it is in practice - that shallow bowl thing is just too easy to turn a seated curva into a standing area. The Stadio della Roma should be more 'English' in style and harder to do that in.

I have only been there once, for the Italy v England 0-0 in 1997, but I liked it, though we did have cracking seats opposite the England fans on the halfway line.

My old boss was from Rome and a Roma season ticket holder, so I went to Rome frequently between 2000-2008. I was always told they were "the team of the city," and left wing to Lazio's right wing fans.

Monty, I have heard about the fall in gates and the rise in hooliganism but why have Roma fans become so aggressive in the past decade? Or is that just a symptom of Italian football?

[Pat McMahon]

When we played Juve at Villa Park back in 82? I seem to recall a couple of Villa fans were stabbed outside the ground

Correct - by UK based Juve fans

Weren't they hairdressers from Herts or something like that?

My recollection was Kent but it was a long time ago.

I knew some of the C Crew lads from our estate and they reckoned it was partly of their own making - they piled into some Juventus fans although they suspected they may have knives. The away leg in Turin was apparently not for the faint hearted. Although i would never have expected ultras wearing red parkas to be particularly menacing.....

[Monty]

You're not wrong about the Olimpico absolutely being shit, but just because it's all-seater in principle doesn't mean it is in practice - that shallow bowl thing is just too easy to turn a seated curva into a standing area. The Stadio della Roma should be more 'English' in style and harder to do that in.

I have only been there once, for the Italy v England 0-0 in 1997, but I liked it, though we did have cracking seats opposite the England fans on the halfway line.

My old boss was from Rome and a Roma season ticket holder, so I went to Rome frequently between 2000-2008. I was always told they were "the team of the city," and left wing to Lazio's right wing fans.

Monty, I have heard about the fall in gates and the rise in hooliganism but why have Roma fans become so aggressive in the past decade? Or is that just a symptom of Italian football?

Ha, well we'll disagree on our Olimpico experiences (it really is too far from anywhere), but they definitely are the lefty team of the city while Lazio are the club of the countryside - paisani who are all fascist pagans, you understand.

As to why it's got worse, my guess is it's got more to do with economics than anything else. Rome's a weird city, neither north nor south, not provincial but also not really like Turin or Milan at all, and its economic suffering is kind of unique too - the city still *feels* prosperous in a way that even Naples doesn't quite, but it's still suffered a lot in the last decade, and the violence in the city always gets worse when it does. Answering why exactly would probably take a PhD though!

[QuintonVilla]

Forza Roma

[nordenvillain]

Forza Liverpool - If only for the style of football they have played this season. I would love to see similar being exhibited by the Villa.

[SteveN]

Roma need 5 now

[Villa in Denmark]

Bollocks. Awful defending from Roma (again)

[QuintonVilla]

Roma need 5 now

4

[SteveN]

Roma need 5 now

4

Never was any good at maths.

[QuintonVilla]

3 now. Come on Roma

[Villa in Denmark]

There's Roma's first.

[Villa in Denmark]

And that must really be game over.