Founded in 1968, Fossa dei Leoni became one of the most influential organisations in the history of Italian terrace culture. From a meeting point beside Ramp 18 at San Siro, it helped establish many of the practices later associated with the ultras movement: permanent banners, coordinated chanting, organised away travel, visual displays and a strong identity independent of the club itself. For more than 37 years, the Fossa remained a central force within AC Milan’s Curva Sud. It followed the Rossoneri through domestic crises, two seasons in Serie B and some of the greatest European journeys in the club’s history. Its dissolution in November 2005 was therefore one of the most significant ruptures ever experienced by an Italian curva.
The Birth of the Fossa at Ramp 18
The group’s foundation is traditionally dated to 31 March 1968. A small number of young Milan supporters began gathering near Ramp 18 in the popular sections of San Siro, bringing handmade red-and-black flags, scarves and bags of confetti. Their early banner included the words “Fossa dei Leoni” and “Rampa 18”, permanently linking the group’s identity to its original location. Different explanations have been given for the choice of name. One version connects it to an old Milan ground near Linate that had been compared to a lions’ den. Another account claims that the father of one of the young supporters described their section as a place that should intimidate anyone entering it, almost like descending into a fossa dei leoni, or lions’ den.
Fossa dei Leoni is frequently described as Italy’s first ultras group, although that claim requires some qualification. Commandos Tigre had been established by Milan supporters in 1967, while traditional fan associations existed in several Italian cities long before either group appeared. However, the Fossa is widely regarded as the first organisation to embody the complete model of the modern Italian ultras group, combining youth culture, collective identity, independent leadership, a permanent banner and an organised presence both at home and away.
From Ramp 18 to the Curva Sud
As its membership increased, the group outgrew its original meeting point. In 1972, it moved from Ramp 18 towards the central area of the popular section, known as the rettilineo. By the middle of the decade, the Fossa had established itself in the second blue tier at the southern end of San Siro, which would become the recognised home of Milan’s organised support. During this period, the group created one of its most recognisable chants, inspired by the march from Mario Monicelli’s 1966 film L’armata Brancaleone. The words were adapted around the image of armed lions marching together, giving the Fossa an anthem that reflected its name and collective identity.
The group briefly appeared under the name Inferno Rossonero during the mid-1970s. This was not a separate organisation or a permanent change of identity. The alternative banner was introduced after the authorities prevented the Fossa name from being displayed following crowd disturbances, but the historic name was restored after a relatively short period. Fossa dei Leoni was not the only major organisation in the Milan end. Alongside the Brigate Rossonere, founded in 1975, and the Commandos Tigre, it formed the central axis of the Curva Sud for several decades. The three groups did not always share the same ideas or methods, but together they transformed Milan’s south stand into one of the most recognisable terraces in European football.
Identity, Politics and Influence
The Fossa is often described simply as a left-wing group. A substantial part of its membership was connected to Milan’s working-class and radical-left environments, while images of Che Guevara occasionally appeared among its flags and banners. However, the organisation included thousands of people with different political views and never adopted a completely uniform party position. Supporting Milan and defending the autonomy of the group remained more important than formal political alignment. This distinction is essential because the Fossa’s political reputation later became part of the explanations offered for its disagreements with other sections of the Curva Sud. Those divisions were real, but they cannot be reduced to a straightforward conflict between left and right.
The group’s influence came primarily from its organisation and consistency. It arranged travel, produced material, coordinated chants and choreographies, maintained sections outside Milan and created a powerful sense of belonging among generations of supporters. Its presence remained strong even during Milan’s most difficult years, including the club’s two periods in Serie B during the early 1980s. When Milan returned to the top of European football, the Fossa was present during the great red-and-black journeys to Barcelona, Vienna and other cities across the continent. The contrast between following the club in the second division and travelling to European Cup finals became an important part of the group’s identity. Loyalty was measured by presence rather than results.
The Fossa also entered Italian popular culture. In the 1982 comedy Eccezzziunale... veramente, Diego Abatantuono played Donato Cavallo, a fanatical Milan supporter known as the “Ras della Fossa”. Although the character was a comic caricature rather than an accurate representation of terrace life, the film introduced the Fossa name to audiences far beyond football stadiums. In 2002, members documented the group’s history in the privately published book Nella Fossa dei Leoni. Through photographs, banners, documents and personal memories, the book recorded the development of the organisation from its beginnings at Ramp 18. It also demonstrated how far the Fossa had developed from an informal gathering of young supporters into a structured association with its own historical consciousness.
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| Foto: Ultras Avanti |
The Banner Dispute and Dissolution
The events that brought the Fossa to an end began around the Milan-Juventus match played on 29 October 2005. Two flags belonging to Viking, a Juventus ultras group, were displayed in the Curva Sud. Conflicting accounts circulated about how the material had been obtained, making the incident controversial even within Milan’s organised support.
Several days later, after Milan’s European away match against PSV Eindhoven, the main Fossa banner was taken from one of its members during a targeted confrontation. The stolen material was eventually returned, but accusations emerged that members of the Fossa leadership had involved DIGOS, the Italian police division responsible for political and security investigations, in recovering it. Within ultras culture, cooperation with the police in a dispute between supporter groups was considered a serious violation of unwritten terrace rules. The Fossa firmly rejected the accusations and maintained that the claims had never been supported by convincing evidence. Nevertheless, the affair exposed divisions within the Curva Sud that had existed for some time. Relations with other groups had become increasingly strained over leadership, political differences, the management of the stand and the wider organisation surrounding tickets, travel and merchandise.
On 15 November 2005, after a decisive internal meeting, the group’s leadership chose to dissolve Fossa dei Leoni. Its official statement explained that the banner dispute had revealed irreconcilable positions within the Curva Sud and that continuing under those conditions was no longer possible. The announcement became public during the following days, ending more than 37 years of uninterrupted activity. The exact reasons behind the decision remain debated. Some viewed the banner affair as the direct cause, while others considered it the final episode in a much longer struggle for influence inside the Milan end. What is certain is that the Fossa was never officially re-established under its historic name.
After the Fossa
The disappearance of the group left a major space in the Curva Sud. On 22 December 2005, Leoni della Sud was established by former members who retained the lion symbolism. Guerrieri Ultras Curva Sud Milano followed on 31 December, also bringing together a number of people from the former Fossa alongside a younger generation of Milan supporters.
Neither organisation represented an official rebirth of Fossa dei Leoni. They continued parts of its terrace culture, but the original name, structure and leadership were gone. In 2008, Curva Sud Milano emerged as the main collective identity of the organised Milan end, absorbing much of the scene that had developed after the Fossa’s dissolution. The historic Fossa banner has occasionally returned to the Curva Sud as a tribute to the group’s place in Milan’s history. Such appearances have represented remembrance rather than a formal return. The organisation that began at Ramp 18 in 1968 ended permanently in 2005.
Fossa dei Leoni’s importance does not depend solely on whether it can be called the first ultras group in Italy. Its real significance lies in the model it created: a permanent collective identity built around a banner, a section of the stadium, organised travel, visual culture and unconditional presence. Many of the structures later adopted throughout Italy and across Europe could already be seen in the Fossa’s earliest years. Its history also contained the contradictions that would come to define the wider ultras movement. Creativity, loyalty and collective belonging existed alongside confrontations, internal politics and struggles for control. The Fossa disappeared, but the terrace culture it helped shape remains visible wherever supporters organise behind their own name, colours and banner.
