The organised supporters of Bari have built one of the most distinctive fan cultures in southern Italy. Their history stretches from the city’s first football spectators and the mass journeys organised by Peppino Cusmai to Ultras Curva Nord, the winged skull and the modern era of Seguaci della Nord.
At the centre of this story is the Curva Nord of the Stadio San Nicola. It has survived changes of stadium, divisions, ownership, generations and leading groups, while remaining the principal home of active biancorossi support. For the people who gather there, Bari is not simply a team but an expression of the city and its collective identity.
The first organised supporters in Bari
Football began attracting public interest in Bari during the early years of the twentieth century. Local historian Gianni Antonucci traced the first recognisable forms of football support to around 1910 and 1911, although the culture became more established after the First World War through the followers of Liberty and Ideale.
The two clubs merged in 1928 to form Unione Sportiva Bari. Soon afterwards, some of the city’s first known supporters’ associations appeared. Their names included La Banda dei Pollastri, L’Ordine del Galletto and 27+2, reflecting the rooster that had become associated with the club. These early associations were very different from modern ultras groups. They consisted mainly of adult men who organised meetings, attended matches together and helped strengthen the connection between the new club and the city. Most were relatively short-lived, but they represented the first attempt to give Bari’s supporters a collective identity.
Peppino Cusmai, the first great leader of Bari support
The most important supporter of the pre-ultras period was Giuseppe “Peppino” Cusmai. Known as Baffone because of his large Hungarian-style moustache and as the “Napoleon of the supporters”, Cusmai became the driving force behind Bari’s following during the post-war decades. Before important promotion or survival matches, he travelled through the streets of Bari on a horse-drawn cart, wearing a ceremonial cocked hat and calling on citizens to follow the team. His bar in the Libertà district became a meeting point where supporters discussed Bari, arranged away journeys and waited for news of results.
Cusmai accompanied the biancorossi across Italy, regardless of whether they were competing in the highest division or the lower leagues. After Bari returned to Serie A in 1958, his famous moustache was ceremonially cut in celebration. The ritual was repeated following another promotion in 1967. In 1968, the city awarded him a gold medal for the enthusiasm and human contribution he had brought to Bari’s football community. Cusmai remained an active presence until his death in 1980, bridging the period between traditional popular support and the emergence of the ultras movement.
The first great Bari away journeys
Large travelling support existed long before the foundation of Ultras Curva Nord. One of the earliest mass journeys took place on 27 June 1954, when Bari faced Colleferro in a promotion play-off at the Stadio Collana in Naples. Contemporary estimates suggest that approximately 20,000 biancorossi supporters travelled to the match.
Around 10,000 Bari supporters were reportedly present in Bologna for the decisive match against Verona in July 1958. Another major journey took place in June 1971, when an estimated 15,000 followed Bari to Bologna for the promotion play-off against Atalanta. The tradition continued in later generations. In November 2009, approximately 10,000 Bari supporters travelled to the Stadio Olimpico for a Serie A match against Roma. These journeys reinforced the image of Bari as a club with a following capable of mobilising far beyond Puglia.
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| Foto: Ultras Avanti |
The foundation of Ultras Curva Nord
The modern ultras era began in 1976. Franco Marvulli, known as “Florio”, was only 18 when he and a group of young supporters founded the movement that would become Ultras Curva Nord. Their first banner carried the words “Alè Grande Bari Club Ultras”. The group initially gathered at the old Stadio della Vittoria before establishing itself in the Curva Nord, inspired partly by the organised support of Torino’s Curva Maratona.
An early version of the group’s symbol showed a skull above crossed bones. In 1983, the design evolved into the famous front-facing winged skull that would become inseparable from UCN. Because of this emblem, members were frequently described as the teschi alati, or winged skulls. The group was not merely another banner in the stadium. UCN functioned as a federation capable of bringing numerous neighbourhood groups and different generations under a single structure. For more than three decades, its name represented Bari supporters throughout Italy.
The growth of the Curva Nord
During the 1980s, the Curva Nord developed rapidly in numbers, organisation and visual presentation. One of its earliest large choreographies was produced for Bari-Monza during the 1982/83 season, using long strips of material to transform the stand. The group organised transport, produced scarves and banners, coordinated chanting and established a more disciplined style of support. As Bari moved from Serie C1 to Serie A between 1983 and 1985, the curve attracted a new generation of young supporters.
Numerous groups appeared alongside UCN. Among the best known were Alcool Bari, Viking, Kaos, Stonati, Gioventù Biancorossa, Incorreggibili, Istinti Mercantili and Nucleo 1993. Some survived only a few seasons, while others became important components of the wider Curva Nord structure. Re David Bari was formed in 1989, taking its name from the street and neighbourhood in which its members gathered. Bulldog followed in 1991 and developed particularly strong roots in the San Paolo district. Both groups survived the later disappearance of UCN and remain part of Bari’s organised supporter scene.
From the Stadio della Vittoria to San Nicola
Bari moved to the Stadio San Nicola in 1990. Designed by Renzo Piano for that year’s World Cup, the new stadium was dramatically different from the compact and traditional Stadio della Vittoria. Its enormous size, separated upper sections and distance from the pitch created difficulties for coordinated support. Nevertheless, the Curva Nord adapted and gradually turned the new stadium into its home. The UCN banner, winged skull and large choreographies became central features of the San Nicola during the 1990s.
This period represented one of the strongest phases in the numerical and visual development of the curve. UCN maintained its central role, while neighbourhood groups provided their own banners, personalities and internal structures. The political image of the Bari ultras was often associated with right-wing and nationalist positions, particularly through the history of UCN and the frequent use of Italian flags. However, not every group or generation followed an identical political line. Support for Bari and pride in the city usually remained the principal elements capable of holding the curve together.
Estrema Guardia and the Curva Sud
Not all active Bari supporters gathered under the UCN structure. In 1999, Estremo Sostegno and Nuova Guardia merged to create Estrema Guardia, commonly identified by the initials EG.
Estrema Guardia initially occupied the Curva Sud and presented itself as an alternative to the established leadership of the Curva Nord. The group later moved to the northern end of the stadium, but maintained its own identity and approach. Estrema Guardia officially dissolved in 2007. Its closure was therefore not connected to the events that later brought an end to UCN, as is sometimes incorrectly stated.
The introduction of the tessera del tifoso created further opposition. Like numerous Italian groups, Bari’s ultras argued that the supporter card restricted freedom of movement, divided fans and transformed away travel into a heavily controlled activity. A much deeper crisis developed around the 2011 Italian football betting investigation. Three prominent figures associated with the Curva Nord were investigated over allegations that they had pressured Bari players to lose particular matches. The accusations produced anger and a serious loss of trust within the wider fanbase, which was already divided over the curve’s behaviour during the club’s relegation season.
On 24 August 2012, UCN announced its dissolution after 36 years. In its final statement, the group maintained that the decision had been considered before the betting investigation and was not caused directly by those events. Instead, UCN cited years of stadium bans, arrests, restrictive laws and the gradual destruction of the ultras culture it had known. The statement declared that the winged skull was dead. Many former members continued following Bari from the same sector, but the names, banners and official symbols of Ultras Curva Nord disappeared.
The rise of Seguaci della Nord
The dissolution of UCN did not bring organised support in Bari to an end. Bulldog 1991 and Re David Bari 1989 remained active, while other smaller groups and neighbourhood collectives continued to occupy the Curva Nord. A new leading group emerged in 2014. The Seguaci della Nord banner was displayed for the first time on 30 July during a friendly match between Bari and Olympique de Marseille.
The name, meaning “Followers of the North”, also recalled the historic Bari expression “Del Bari Seguaci”. Seguaci della Nord did not attempt to reproduce UCN exactly, but inherited responsibility for coordinating the central section of the curve. Together with Bulldog and Re David, Seguaci della Nord became part of the new organisational core. Its identity has been expressed through the slogan “Mai per moda”, meaning “Never for fashion”, emphasising that support for Bari should represent conviction and belonging rather than a temporary trend.
The fall and rebirth of the club
Bari’s financial collapse in 2018 presented the supporters with another major test. The old club failed to register for the Serie B season and the newly formed SSC Bari was forced to restart in Serie D.
Despite the humiliation of dropping into amateur football, the city continued to support its team. Bari sold 7,680 season tickets and recorded an average home attendance approaching 10,000 during the 2018/19 Serie D campaign, figures beyond the reach of most clubs at that level. For the Curva Nord, the restart reinforced a familiar principle. Club administrations, owners and players could change, but the colours and the city remained. Support therefore continued even at grounds far removed from the stadiums traditionally visited by the biancorossi.
Friendships and brotherhoods
The oldest and most important active twinning is with the supporters of Salernitana. The relationship was established on 25 September 1983 at the Stadio della Vittoria, following contact between Bari’s UCN and Salerno’s Granata South Force. The friendship developed into a relationship between generations and cities. Joint gatherings, reciprocal visits, flags, banners and choreographies have repeatedly renewed the bond. In 2023, both supporter scenes marked its 40th anniversary.
Another historic twinning exists with Reggina. It began in 1988 through the relationship between UCN and Boys Reggio and was helped by shared friendships and rivalries. Bari and Reggina supporters have continued entering stadiums together and celebrating their brotherhood even after the disappearance of the original groups that established it. The official friendship with Sampdoria dates to 2006. It was consolidated during Cremonese-Bari, when a banner belonging to Ultras Tito Cucchiaroni was displayed above the travelling Bari ultras banner. Years of earlier contact developed into an alliance involving wider sections of the Curva Nord Bari and Gradinata Sud in Genoa.
Bari supporters also maintain friendships or good relations with groups from Spezia, Parma, Vicenza and Triestina. Within Puglia, positive relations have existed with supporters from Fidelis Andria, Barletta, Monopoli, Martina Franca and Casarano. These relationships do not all carry the same formal status as the twinnings with Salernitana, Reggina and Sampdoria. Historically, Bari also had strong friendships with Lazio and Torino. The Lazio relationship, established with the Eagles Supporters, ended after changes within the Roman curve during the early 1990s. The Torino alliance ended in 1991, while an older relationship with Inter gradually collapsed and eventually developed into hostility.
Rivalries in Puglia and beyond
The strongest rivalry is with Lecce. The Derby of Puglia represents far more than a football match, reflecting the historic competition between Bari and Salento for regional identity and influence. Long periods without meetings have done little to reduce the hostility. The rivalries with Taranto and Foggia are also deeply rooted in local identity. Bari and Taranto finally met again in 2021 after 28 years without a competitive match, bringing one of Puglia’s oldest confrontations back to the stadium. Matches against Foggia carry similar tension and are among the most heavily controlled fixtures in the region.
Outside Puglia, particularly difficult relations exist with Pescara, Napoli and Avellino. The hostility towards Avellino is strengthened by Bari’s brotherhood with Salernitana, while the relationship with Palermo is affected by the Sicilian connection with Lecce. Other negative relations include Roma, Juventus, Inter, Hellas Verona and Genoa. The rivalry with Genoa is also influenced by Bari’s friendships with Sampdoria and Spezia. As with friendships, the intensity of these rivalries can differ between groups and generations.
Protest against the De Laurentiis ownership
The Curva Nord’s role has never been limited to organising chants and choreographies. It also sees itself as a guardian of Bari’s identity and has repeatedly confronted club ownership when supporters believed that identity was being weakened. During the 2025/26 season, organised groups intensified their opposition to the De Laurentiis family and the multi-club ownership connecting Bari with Napoli. The curve decided to attend home matches but remove almost all banners and flags, leaving only the message “Per la nostra città”, meaning “For our city”. Full colours continued to be displayed on away trips.
In December 2025, hundreds of supporters gathered outside Bari City Hall to demand clarity over the club’s future and an end to the ownership structure. The organised groups also boycotted the home match against Pescara, leaving the Curva Nord empty as part of the protest. The season ended with Bari’s relegation to Serie C in May 2026. It was the club’s first relegation on the pitch to the third level since 1983 and further damaged an already broken relationship between the city and the ownership. In June 2026, shortly after his death, the Curva Nord of the San Nicola was officially named after former Bari captain Igor Protti. The decision connected the physical home of the ultras with a player remembered for loyalty, humility and identification with the biancorossi colours.
Curva Nord Bari today
Today, Seguaci della Nord, Bulldog 1991 and Re David Bari 1989 remain the most visible names within the organised Curva Nord. Around them stands a wider network of neighbourhood groups, long-term supporters and younger generations carrying forward a culture formed over more than a century. The names on the banners have changed, from the first supporters’ clubs and Peppino Cusmai to UCN and the modern Seguaci. The central idea, however, has remained remarkably consistent: Bari must be represented by its own people, independently of owners, results or divisions.
The winged skull may no longer hang from the central barrier, but the history it represents remains embedded in the Curva Nord. Bari’s ultras culture continues through mass away travel, regional pride, old brotherhoods, fierce rivalries and the refusal to separate the club from the identity of the city.