Words: Lee Nash and Barley Nimmo
As we write, San Marino are on the brink of the unthinkable. Following that historic win vs Liechtenstein back in September (and a hard fought draw vs Gibraltar in November) the team know that victory in their next match will secure Nations League promotion.
It's a ridiculous turn of events. A team that's lost 196 of their 205 fixtures are – dare we say it – on the precipice of glory. Their fan group, the 'Never Any Joy Brigade' (Brigata Mai 1 Gioia) may have to rename very soon.
We sent Barley Nimmo to San Marino to chat with the fan group back in March, before all of this craziness happened. Here's his account.
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Imagine lining up against your old (well, retired at least) national team heroes.
How would you contain an older, wiser, Teddy Sheringham and Alan Shearer partnership? Would you be able to bundle one past a slightly pot-bellied Peter Schmeichel? Could you nick the ball off a pirouetting silver-haired Andrea Pirlo? Well for the Brigata Mai 1 Gioia – the principal fan group of the San Marino national team that I am meeting this morning – in a few hours they’ll know.
I meet Danielle and his daughter at the Campo Sportivo di Domagnano, a small pitch near the foot of the Monte Titano. Today it will host a game between the Brigata and the San Marino legends and as the two squads arrive, there’s a healthy mix of banter and fanfare.
Danielle, from the Italian city of Modena, is a short man, with a face that despite us meeting for the first time, is instantly welcoming. Nowadays Danielle is the lead organiser of the Brigata and he arrives bedecked head-to-toe in San Marino training gear. The man who founded the supporters group, Massimo Visemoli, took a step back in the past few years due to other commitments but it was Massimo who originally saw the need for a supporters group. Now, the responsibility is Danielle’s and it’s a big one. While the core of the group is a mix of Sammarinese and Italians who reside in nearby cities, there are people here from all over the world.
“Massimo said it was like a theatre when he first came to that stadium. Everyone sat in silence watching the match. So, with some friends he started the Brigata in 2012”.
Now the group attends every home match, arriving with flags, banners and megaphones to foster their relentless chanting throughout the game, all in the name of devotion for their beloved San Marino. Their chant repertoire is broad, ranging from the classic ‘Freed From Desire’ to more self deprecating songs referencing their dismal record.
Danielle’s first game was in 2018.
“What first brought me to San Marino was my love of geography. I love the idea of San Marino being a microstate and I love the idea that in football the smallest teams play against the biggest.”
Despite witnessing mostly heavy defeats, Danielle and the Brigata have never regretted being there. The group, whose name translates to ‘Never Any Joy Brigade’, see football in a different light to most. Formed after the famous victory over Liechtenstein in 2004, they had to wait another 20 years to taste that feeling once more. For them the sporting greatness is secondary to the joy felt from being part of such a truly unique narrative.
“I think going to a match to see San Marino you have to understand something. You’re not going for football, you’re going for another thing. If you want to come and see San Marino you must understand that what happens on the pitch is the least important thing for us. It's too easy to support Italy or France or England. It’s more beautiful to support a team who has lost every match”.
Instead for Danielle and the rest of the Brigata the significance is on the romanticism of being there, together, knowing that they are watching this country of only 30,000 people battle against the biggest and the best. It really doesn’t get more David against Goliath than this.
For today’s game, pitting fans against the legends, the Brigata has a team of around 30 ready and waiting in full strip all looking to play some minutes.
The legends emerge from the dressing rooms in good spirits dressed in the famous pale blue home strip. Casually they start flicking the ball to one another in one of the more fluid interpretations of a rondo that I’ve seen. For the most part the squad look in good nick, despite being out of the game for some time.
The Brigata, donning the away navy strip, include one man whose job it is to get the game going and then substitute himself off to enjoy the rest of the game from the sidelines. That man is Joseph, from Ingolstadt in Germany. At 69 Joseph is a San Marino fanatic and the oldest member of the Brigata. For every home game, he drives 800km from his home in Germany in his orange SUV, adorned with heart shaped stickers of San Marino’s flag. Despite the distance, Joseph has been to every home game, and several away games, over the past decade.
“The first time I came to San Marino was 35 years ago and I just fell in love. They are nice people, it’s a small place with a big heart” he explains.
Joseph, isn’t the only member of the Brigata from distant shores. I meet a group of French 20-somethings and one Brit who spent three days travelling via Europe's rail networks to be here, plus a whole host of Italians who’ve given up supporting the azzuri and instead become fans of the titani.
Their consistent support hasn’t gone unrecognised by those affiliated with the national team. As Danielle explains, “last October we went to Northern Ireland as guests of the Federation. They organised for us to use the extra seats on the charter flight to go with them to Belfast. We stayed with the players and the management team, we made friends and we know each other well”.
There may have been lots of defeats, but the Brigata haven’t gone completely without moments of jubilation amid their plight of supporting the blue and white.
On 17 October 2023, San Marino were trailing in a European Qualifier against former winners Denmark, when Alessandro Golinucci pulled the minnows level.
“When he scored that goal it was the most unbelievable feeling. Being level with Denmark was never in anyone’s mind. It was amazing” reminisces Danielle. For him, mentioning the subsequent Yusuf Poulsen winner is superfluous because for those nine minutes San Marino were holding their own against a team whose powers far outweighed theirs.
Back at the Campo Sportivo di Domangano the legends show their class and seal a 3-0 win in the final few minutes. Having scored three in a single game, there’s a strong likelihood that today's goalscorers matched or bettered the entire tally of their record for the national team. As the final whistle goes both teams come together in a rattle of laughter and handshakes, some take this moment to get signatures and selfies from their idols.
Today's meeting between the Brigata and the Legends is a precursor to the national teams game in Serravalle that evening. As Danielle and his daughter head out towards their car to grab a bite before the game I ask him if he’s given any thought to a win?
“Tonight, if San Marino win, I don't know what I’ll do. I’ll have to make the journey home to try and arrive back in Modena before 2am. My daughter’s got school tomorrow and I’ll have to work. So I have no time to celebrate. Even if we win there is never too much joy, I must go home as soon as possible. But, of course I will celebrate another time”.
Mai 1 Gioia, sempre.
This article appears in Glory San Marino edition – available to pre-order here.
