Football support in Salerno is inseparable from the identity of the city. Salernitana have spent much of their history outside Italy’s highest division, endured financial collapses and repeatedly started again, yet their following has rarely depended on results or status. From the old Stadio Donato Vestuti to the Curva Sud of the Arechi, organised support has become one of Salerno’s strongest forms of collective expression.
The history of Salernitana’s ultras cannot be reduced to famous choreographies or impressive attendance figures. It is also a story of neighbourhoods, generational change, internal divisions, friendships maintained across decades and tragedies that permanently altered the character of the curva. At its centre stands the Curva Sud Siberiano, named in memory of Carmine Rinaldi, one of the most influential figures in the history of organised support in Salerno.
Vestuti, Giuseppe Plaitano and the First Groups
One of the most painful events in Salernitana’s history occurred before the birth of the ultras movement. On 28 April 1963, disorder followed a match between Salernitana and Potenza at the Vestuti. During the police intervention, 48-year-old Giuseppe Plaitano was struck and killed by a bullet while watching the events from the stand. His death became a permanent part of the collective memory of Salerno, and a later ultras group, Ultras Plaitano, was founded in his honour.
The first recognisably ultras-style organisation appeared during the mid-1970s. On 21 September 1975, during a match against Reggina, young supporters connected to Bar Nettuno gathered behind an Ultras Bar Nettuno banner in the Curva Nuova of the Vestuti. The group was small and relatively short-lived, but it represented an early attempt to introduce coordinated chants, visual identity and a more confrontational style of support.
A more stable movement developed around the supporters who met at Bar Nettuno and Bar Reale. Panthers ’77 emerged in 1977 and became one of the first enduring ultras groups in Salerno. Ultras Plaitano followed in 1978, carrying a name that connected the new generation with one of the darkest moments in the city’s football history. Other groups, including Warriors, Fedayn, Fighters and Ultrà, gradually contributed to a scene that was becoming more organised and ambitious.
The Rise of Granata South Force
The decisive turning point arrived in 1982, when Panthers ’77 joined forces with several other groups to create Granata South Force. The GSF banner made its first known appearance on 26 September 1982, during a home match against Casarano. From that moment, the group became the main reference point for the Curva Sud and one of the most recognisable ultras organisations in southern Italy.
Granata South Force introduced a stronger collective structure to the terrace. Large flags, coordinated chants, handmade banners and increasingly elaborate displays transformed the Vestuti into a stadium where the supporters were not simply watching the match but actively shaping its atmosphere. The group also placed great importance on travelling, representing Salerno in away sectors regardless of the division in which the club was playing.
The eighties were also the period in which some of Salernitana’s most important friendships began. The relationship with Bari was formally established in 1983, while contact with Reggina developed during the 1986/87 season and was consolidated soon afterwards. These bonds became part of the wider identity of the curva and survived changes in leadership, groups and generations.
Further groups appeared towards the end of the decade. Broom Typhus was founded in 1989, while Nuova Guardia emerged around the period of the move to the Arechi. Together with Ultras Plaitano, East Side and other banners, they helped create a broader scene around Granata South Force without completely surrendering their individual identities.
One of the greatest demonstrations of Salernitana’s travelling support came near the end of the 1989/90 Serie C1 season. Thousands of Granata supporters travelled to Brindisi for the penultimate match of the campaign, filling much of the stadium and witnessing the result that secured Salernitana’s return to Serie B after 23 years. The final match against Taranto at the Vestuti became a celebration and a farewell to the stadium that had shaped several generations of supporters.
From the Vestuti to the Arechi
Salernitana moved to the newly built Stadio Arechi in 1990. The modern ground provided far more space than the Vestuti, but it also required the ultras to recreate the intimacy and intensity of their former home. The Curva Sud quickly became the central point of organised support, while the larger capacity allowed Salernitana’s following to grow throughout the province.
The 1990s are widely remembered as the most powerful period of the Granata terraces. Granata South Force remained the dominant organisation, supported by groups with their own banners, neighbourhood identities and approaches to terrace life. Home matches regularly attracted crowds that would have been remarkable even in higher divisions, while important away matches produced mass departures from Salerno.
The 1993/94 season became particularly significant. During an away victory over Avellino on 20 February 1994, Roberto Breda scored in the 76th minute, giving Salernitana their first league win at the Partenio. The words “Che l’Italia lo sappia, Breda al 76º” later appeared on a banner and became one of the best-known phrases associated with the rivalry.
Salernitana’s return to Serie A in 1998 brought the scale of the support to national attention. During the 1998/99 season, the Arechi recorded an average attendance of more than 30,000, with the Curva Sud producing some of the largest displays in Italian football at the time. The season ended in relegation, but the events that followed the final match in Piacenza were far more devastating than anything that happened on the pitch.
The Tragedy of 24 May 1999
More than 1,500 Salernitana supporters travelled to Piacenza on 23 May 1999 for the final match of the Serie A season. A 1-1 draw confirmed the club’s relegation, and disorder followed before the supporters boarded a special train for the journey back to Salerno. During the early hours of 24 May, a fire broke out in one of the carriages as the train passed through the Santa Lucia tunnel near the city.
Four young supporters lost their lives: 16-year-old Ciro Alfieri, 21-year-old Giuseppe Diodato, 15-year-old Vincenzo Lioi and 22-year-old Simone Vitale. Vitale was later awarded the Gold Medal for Civil Valour after attempting to help others escape from the burning carriage. The four names are remembered every year in Salerno and remain present in the symbols and commemorations of the curva.
The disaster cannot be treated as a minor episode in the history of the supporters. It created a deep rupture within the movement, causing numerous individuals to step away and changing relationships between groups. The model that had developed around Granata South Force gradually became more fragmented, while an entire generation was forced to reconsider its understanding of away travel, responsibility and belonging.
Carmine Rinaldi and the Curva Sud Siberiano
Among the central figures of the Granata South Force era was Carmine Rinaldi, known throughout the Italian ultras world as ’O Siberiano. His authority came from years spent organising the curve, leading chants and representing the mentality of Salerno at home and away. Together with figures such as Francesco “Ciccio” Rocco and Raffaele “’O Viking” Russo, he became associated with the period in which the Salernitana terraces reached their greatest unity.
Rinaldi died on 12 April 2010. The Curva Sud was subsequently dedicated to him and became known as the Curva Sud Siberiano. The name was not chosen as a decorative tribute but as a permanent reminder of a figure who had influenced the language, behaviour and organisation of the terrace for decades.
The years surrounding his death were difficult for the club and its supporters. Salernitana’s exclusion and reconstitution in 2011 forced the team to restart in Serie D under the temporary name Salerno Calcio. Around 4,000 people attended the first match of that new chapter, and the average attendance remained close to 4,000 despite the amateur level.
Only months earlier, 25,073 spectators had attended the 2011 promotion play-off against Hellas Verona, establishing a remarkable attendance figure for Lega Pro Prima Divisione. The contrast between the two occasions demonstrated something fundamental about Salerno: the category could change overnight, but the support remained rooted in the city rather than the division.
The post-Granata South Force scene developed through a network of groups rather than a single dominant organisation. Nuova Guardia, UMS, Centro Storico, Nucleo Storico, Viking Guerrieri, IGUS, Prigionieri di una Fede, Frangia Kaotika, Paestum Ultras, Costiera al Seguito and Mariconda are among the banners that have represented different areas and generations of the support. Other clubs and territorial sections have connected supporters from the province, other Italian cities and communities outside the country.
Frangia Kaotika emerged in 2012 around the historic figure of Raffaele Russo, known as ’O Viking. Its arrival reflected the return of older experiences within a scene increasingly shaped by younger groups. Fedelissimi, another established name on the terrace, ended its activity in 2014, illustrating how the structure of the curve has continued to change rather than remaining fixed in the form created during the eighties.
A major reorganisation took place in August 2025. Following a period of internal discussion, the Direttivo Ultras associated with UMS, Paestum Ultras and Costiera al Seguito announced that it was separating from the groups positioned in the lower section of the Curva Sud. The three groups moved behind their banners in the Curva Sud Superiore.
The decision followed two consecutive relegations and a period marked by investigations, stadium bans and growing differences over how the curva should be organised. It did not represent a withdrawal from supporting Salernitana. Instead, it created two visibly distinct centres of organised support within the same stand, each preserving its own banners, principles and methods.
For this reason, the contemporary Curva Sud Siberiano should not be described as a single organisation with one leadership. It is a shared space containing several groups, territorial identities and generations. The divisions are real, but so is the common attachment to Salernitana and the city, particularly during periods of protest against club ownership or uncertainty over the team’s future.
The activity of the ultras also extends beyond matchdays. Groups from the Curva Sud have organised collections, charity initiatives, commemorations and support for local communities. These actions are an important part of the scene because they demonstrate how belonging to the curva is connected to Salerno itself, not only to 90 minutes of football.
Friendships with Bari, Reggina and Brescia
The friendship with Bari is the oldest and most important relationship recognised across the Salernitana support. It was formally established on 25 September 1983, following contact between Granata South Force and Bari’s Ultras Curva Nord. The bond has survived periods without competitive meetings, changes within both terraces and attempts to question the relationship.
Salerno and Bari are connected by a southern identity, a similar understanding of organised support and decades of mutual visits. Anniversaries of the friendship have been marked with banners and displays in both cities. Although individual opinions can differ, the relationship remains one of the central reference points of the Curva Sud Siberiano.
The friendship with Reggina developed during the 1986/87 season and was strengthened over the following years. Granata and Amaranto supporters have repeatedly renewed the bond through mutual visits, commemorations and displays. It remains another of the longest-lasting relationships in Salernitana’s ultras history.
The relationship with Brescia carries a more tragic meaning. During Salernitana-Brescia in May 1997, Brescia supporter Roberto Bani suffered a serious fall at the Arechi and later died from his injuries. The assistance and solidarity shown by people in Salerno towards his family were deeply appreciated by the Brescia support, strengthening a relationship that developed into a lasting friendship.
These curve-wide relationships should be distinguished from contacts maintained by individual groups. Specific Salernitana banners have formed friendships or respectful relations with supporters elsewhere, but these do not automatically represent an official bond accepted by the entire Curva Sud.
The Rivalries That Define Salerno
The most deeply rooted local hostility is with Cavese. Salerno and Cava de’ Tirreni are separated by only a few kilometres, and both football traditions trace their origins to 1919. Their rivalry predates the ultras movement and has been shaped by territorial pride, historical competition and the closeness of the two cities.
For many years, the absence of competitive meetings reduced the frequency of confrontation but not the strength of the hostility. The claim that the most recent derbies took place in 2006/07 is now outdated, as Salernitana and Cavese met again in Serie C during the 2025/26 season. Their return to the same division immediately restored one of the most sensitive fixtures in Campanian football.
The rivalry with Avellino is broader and has greater regional importance. Meetings between the clubs have repeatedly influenced promotion campaigns, while the journeys between Salerno and Irpinia have produced some of the most intense away days in the history of both sets of supporters. The Breda goal in 1994 remains one of the defining memories on the Salernitana side.
Relations with Napoli are shaped by regional competition and the enormous difference in the identities of the two cities. From the Salernitana perspective, the rivalry became particularly intense during the 1994 promotion play-off final against Juve Stabia at the Stadio San Paolo, where sections of the Napoli support openly backed the team from Castellammare. Historical disputes between the clubs existed long before the ultras era, but the events of 1994 became a central reference point for the modern hostility.
Nocerina represents another extremely local rivalry. Nocera Inferiore lies close to Salerno, and meetings between the two clubs combine territorial tension with the antagonism of two organised supporter scenes. The most infamous encounter came on 10 November 2013 in a match remembered as the “derby of shame”.
Nocerina supporters had been banned from attending, and reports indicated that members of the team had been threatened after being told not to play. The match eventually began after a long delay, but Nocerina used all three substitutions almost immediately before five more players left the pitch claiming injuries. With only six players remaining, the referee abandoned the match after 21 minutes. A subsequent investigation found the club guilty of a serious offence, resulting in Nocerina’s exclusion from the division, financial penalties and bans for several officials and players.
Other hostilities have developed with Juve Stabia, Casertana, Cosenza, Verona and Paganese, although their intensity has changed according to the period and frequency of meetings. As with friendships, not every rivalry carries the same importance for every generation or group inside the curve.
An Identity Built Through Continuity and Change
The history of Salernitana’s ultras is not a simple progression from one group to another. It contains periods of unity and fragmentation, extraordinary travelling support, internal disagreements, club failures and tragedies that extend far beyond football. The names and positions of the groups have changed, but the connection between the terrace and the city has remained.
Granata South Force defined an era, Carmine Rinaldi gave the Curva Sud Siberiano its name, and the groups that followed have continued to interpret the meaning of organised support in their own way. Even the division between the upper and lower sections reflects a scene that remains active, argumentative and unwilling to accept a single imposed identity.
At the Vestuti, the Arechi and in away sectors across Italy, Salernitana’s supporters have carried the colours of a city accustomed to rebuilding. That persistence, shaped equally by pride, grief and independence, explains why the Curva Sud Siberiano occupies such a distinctive place in Italian ultras culture.