Il Rumore del Silenzio: A less than operatic quiet on the Curva Sud at AC Milan

Words: Ed Stanley

Images: Ed Stanley

Del dolor gli spasimi, Urli di rabbia, udrete, e risa ciniche!

And you will hear shouts of rage and grief, and cynical laughter.

(Tonio – Pagliacci)

... In aria gittano i lor cappelli diggià.

Fra strida e sibili diggià...

...They throw their caps up into the air!

Up they go, with shouts and whistles...

(Chorus – Pagliacci)

Just a few minutes left to kick-off and still so many empty San Siro seats in what is a sold-out fixture. Milan vs Genoa, the last knockings of a desperate 2023/24 season for the home club.

Defeated in both ‘derbies of all derbies’, 18 points behind rivals Inter who have just been crowned champions for the 20th time, crushed in the Champions League by domestic rivals Roma, winless for the last five games.

Rumours swirl over the future of coach Stefano Pioli. New American owners RedBird Capital Partners (how different football has become) have a corporate remoteness in contrast to the local verve of the Tifosi.

Legend Paolo Maldini was dismissed acrimoniously from his technical directorship, later saying the club had “no real respect for Milan’s identity and history”.

For the fans, Serie A runners-up and Champions League qualification is not quite good enough.

©Ed Stanley/ Terrace Edition. AC Milan vs Genoa CFC.

The atmosphere is flat. The teams emerge to a polite reception. The opera Pagliacci is running concurrently at Milan’s famous La Scala, but here there are no flags, no caps in the air, no shouts and whistles from the Curva Sud.

The middle tier of this section alone is generally packed with 8,000 raucous, flag-waving ultras. Thousands of Genoese Tifosi high up in the top tier of the Curva Nord are making the noise. So what’s happened to this infamous cauldron? Why is Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on mute?

In a statement made before the game, the ultras declared that “On Sunday against Genoa, Curva Sud Milan and AIMC won’t display banners or flags and will refrain from any form of cheering”.

“We invite the rest of the crowd to join the protest the sole purpose of which is to get the club to continue the investment strategy from last season, to get a coach who can motivate the team and improve young players, to make the right player signings to cover gaps in the team exposed this season”.

“Choosing who joins the club is not up to us, but it must send a clear and strong signal that it wants to strengthen the project begun last summer”.

“Always with Milan in our hearts.”

The project is – or was - to turn Milan back into a dominant force in Italy if not Europe. To win things.

Milan are not winning things at the moment. The game against Genoa, despite its six goals and end-to-end entertainment, is something of a sideshow. And another draw in this winless run for Milan.

For many, the criticism against the owners may be viewed as harsh, Milan occupying a position and status envied across Europe if not beyond. But this is Associazione Calcio Milan here.

Silence reigned for the next home game too (a 5-1 home win). It remains to be seen what effect, if any, this will have on the management and its direction of travel. Or is this just another example of the impotence of fans, regardless of their club’s scale and stature?

(Many examples closer to home spring to mind.) There are 41,500 Milan season ticket holders but they have little say in the running of the club.

Maybe that’s why they used what quietened red and black voice they do have to “discourage” the appointment of Julen Lopetegui, who was said to be Milan bound but since reported to have re-routed to West Ham.

Incidentally, this was not the first time the San Siro has been silenced. In 2005 the Champions’ League group match v. Rangers had to be played behind closed doors after previous crowd trouble involving Milan hooligans.

Inter fans’ protested earlier this year by the use of silence at the San Siro – oddly enough also against Genoa - after restrictions were placed on flags, loudspeakers, flares and the like on the terraces.

Milan is a club used to turmoil and drama, much of which occurred during the Berlusconi years. It even suffered interference at one time from Mussolini himself. But whilst Berlusconi’s moral compass might have been unreliable, and despite not running the club on the most cautious of business models, he delivered 29 trophies during his tenure, between 1986 to 2017.

Current Californian owners RedBird have reduced Milan’s severe debt, and are getting the club onto a more stable financial footing (they say). But a vision of financial sustainability is perhaps not the most appealing to the Rossoneri.

The Curva Sud Milano will go back for the final game, their protests have been called “ a desperate cry of love”. Time will tell if the amore for Milan will result in more silent displays.

Ed is on X: @Ed_Stanley1

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