Irriducibili Lazio History & Pictures

Commandos Monteverde Lazio were the first organized group of Lazio's supporters (1971) in the Curva Sud.

In 1976 the Curva Sud groups decided to unite becoming the 'Eagles Supporters'. Three years later the 'Eagles Supporters' moved to the Curva Nord, later followed by all the other groups.

In 1987 another group entered the Curva Nord : The Irriducibili. They changed the way of supporting (introducing english oriented chants) which was in contrast with the, old style, Eagles Supporters. In 1992 the Irriducibili took over the leading role in the Curva Nord.

The arrival of the Irriducibili

During a Lazio-Padova match in 1987, a 10 meter long banner announced the arrival of a new Ultra group on the scene, Irriducibili Lazio formed by Antonio Grinta. Irriducibili rose to power in the Curva Nord and revolutionized the way Lazio fans supported their side. No more drums were used but English chanting styles were adopted. This contrasted boldly with the Italian style of the Eagles Supporters, and by 1992, Irriducibili were by far Lazio's most powerful group as the Eagles Supporters disbanded.
With the arrival of the new club president, Sergio Cragnotti, Lazio qualified for European competition becoming one of the world's strongest teams. During this period, Lazio ultras formed close ties with both Interisti and Veronesi. In addition to these, relationships with supporters of Real Madrid, Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain developed.
The number of traveling Lazio fans did not drop from the "old days" though, as approximately 4,000 travelled to Dortmund and Vienna, 20,000 to Paris, 15,000 to Birmingham for the 1999 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final and 10,000 to Monaco for the UEFA Supercup despite only being allocated 3,500 tickets.

The new millennium

The Serie A 2002-03 season was an important year for the Irriducibili as they achieved their fifteenth anniversary and in that same year, Lazio opted to retire the jersey number 12, permanently dedicated to Curva Nord.
Currently, the Curva Nord is led by the Banda Noantri; a group which existed from 2000 until 2005 but then disappeared due to some of the members getting banned from the stadium or sentenced to prison. They took over the Curva Nord from the Irriducibili during the season 2009/10, when the leaders of Irriducibili decided to invite politician Polverini on to the Curva Nord, which was not accepted by the vast majority of the ultras on the Curva Nord and on Tribuna Tevere. The Irriducibili now exist on the background and don't display any banners anymore. The current leaders are members from the group Banda Noantri and from In Basso a Destra. Apart from those there are the CML '74. Groups such as Viking and Veterani disappeared since many years now. The Legione Mr.Enrich are based in the old Curva Sud-Maestrelli together with Ardite Schiere. In 2006, Sodalizio was born, allowing fans all over Italy to follow Lazio more actively, home and away matches either.

Lazio ultras' strongest friendship is certainly with the ultras of Internazionale. This friendship was born around the mid-1980s and has grown stronger in recent years with the UEFA Cup 1997-98 final in Paris and the infamous Serie A 2001-02 season decider on 5 May 2002 at the Stadio Olimpico, when many fans of Lazio supported Inter, their opposition, hoping they would claim the Scudetto instead of hated rival Juventus. The match ended 4-2 to Lazio, a result which saw Inter lose their title on the last day and many Lazio ultras called for manager Alberto Zaccheroni to be sacked.
Another twinning of Lazio was born during the 80s, with Triestina. It was formed when the two sides were both playing in Serie B. On a match against Lazio, the Triestina ultras unfurled a banner, stating in Italian: Welcome Eagles, together we return. The twinning only got stronger recently when, during a Coppa Italia match at the Stadio Olimpico, between Triestina and Lazio's hated rivals AS Roma, the Triestina fans displayed Lazio banners in their terrace.
A friendship is held between the Lazio ultras and those of Hellas Verona. This is based on the two groups both being on the right-wing politically, and sharing the same ultras principles. However, Verona fans are twinned with those of Fiorentina, historically a rival of Lazio, which means there is only an amicizia, or friendship, instead of a true twinning. Another similar friendship is shared with the ultras of Chieti.
Since they first played in Europe, Lazio began to develop friendships at an international level. The most important are those with the Real Madrid ultras known as Ultras Sur, Espanyol Brigadas, Levski Sofia, and West Ham.
The first, with Real Madrid, was born in 2001 during a UEFA Champions League match between the two teams, while that with West Ham grew from the two teams mutual love for Paolo Di Canio, who started his career at Lazio before moving to West Ham in the late 1990s