17 June 2001: Five fans reflect on unforgettable day

There are some dates that Roma fans will never forget.

Take 30 August, for example. For us, that will always be about Roma v Liverpool, losing Ago and, perhaps after this year, a first trophy for Roma Women.

17 June is another one.

17 June 2001, to be precise.

The day we were crowned champions of Italy at a Stadio Olimpico packed with a sea Roma yellow and red.

Now, 20 years later, five fans share their memories of that day with us – what they did before the game, and what followed afterwards.

Riccardo, 30 years old that day

“The day began early. I knew I was going to be experiencing something I’d spent 18 years waiting to feel again.

And even so, I was only 12 in 1983 and I hadn’t really fully experienced it because I wasn’t at the stadium. I remember it being incredibly hot. The league was still going in June because it had started in October due to the Sydney Olympics. I remember the sea of flags that back in 1983 I’d only seen on TV, in magazines and in the photos taken by a few lucky schoolmates who had been there on the day.

“I remember hearing 'Non smetterò mai di lottar per questa maglia storica' ['I’ll never stop fighting for this historic shirt'] chant for the first time that day, set to the tune of Chi fermerà la musica by Pooh. I remember the speakers blaring out Grazie Roma and Roma Roma Roma on repeat.

I remember seeing the words “Roma: Champions of Italy” on the big screens and realising that it was real – that we weren’t all just locked in some dream. A short while after that, they started showing footage of the celebrations in the dressing room.

“I left the stadium and got back on my Vespa. When I got to the Foro Italico, I saw Gigi Proietti, beaming. The banks of the Tiber started to fill with flags and the horns began to fill the air. I could have turned off at Piazza del Popolo, but that afternoon I was headed somewhere different. I made for Testaccio, where I stayed until late.”

Alice, 10 years old that day

“17 June 2001 is the answer I always give whenever anyone asks me when I became a Roma fan. 17 June 2001! My father, Augusto, had been trying to get me interested in Roma for months, but at the time I was obsessed with the Spice Girls so to me it was hard to understand how you could be so passionate about something like that.

“Dad would take me to the stadium – we had season tickets, but I didn’t really follow the games too closely. Until that day. When [Francesco] Totti scored that goal, shivers rushed through my body. It was Roma, exploding inside of me. I can’t really put the way I felt during that game into words. That sense of happiness is mine and mine alone. But I can tell you what happened afterwards.

“My dad had this old sidecar, which he’d decked out in yellow and red for the occasion. We set off, heading nowhere in particular, yelling our heads off. It was chaos! We got swallowed up by the sea of Roma fans and eventually found ourselves at the Colosseum.

"Dad parked the sidecar somewhere around the Parco del Celio and we mingled with the tens of thousands of fans wandering euphorically around Rome. We got home late. We were the Champions of Italy.”

Tiziano, 18 years old that day

“We went full immersion the night before - we watched Sfide on Rai 3, a recap of the 2000-01 season, and then moved on to Fever Pitch on VHS. Why? As well as being one of my favourite films, it’s also about Arsenal winning the league for the first time in 18 years – away from home at Liverpool.

“It had been the same period of time since Roma’s last title, in 1983 – my year of birth. Eighteen years had passed by the time 2001 came around. “Eighteen f****** years!” to quote the film. We hit the hay after that. I set my alarm for 8 in the morning on 17 June, even though school was out. I got myself ready, had breakfast and then headed for the stadium, where I had a season ticket in the Curva Nord.

“Fabrizio Grassetti, the president of the UTR [Union of Roma Fans], had been on the radio asking everyone to wear something red to the stadium, preferably a Roma jersey, and to bring two flags each. So that’s what I did. I left the house at around 11, got my usual 628 bus from Largo Cesare Baronio and arrived at the stadium at around 12:15. It was already completely full.

“Everyone knows how it went down on the pitch – and everyone knows about the outpouring of joy at the end. It was never-ending. But there’s one other memory I have. At the end of the first half – we were already 2-0 up – I saw a father lift his newborn baby up in the crowd, to the cheers of the fans. And the next day, that picture was on the front page of Il Corriere dello Sport.

"Who knows what that kid is up to know – if he’s a Roma fan or remembers anything … I’m sure his dad will have told him all about it, at the very least.”

Manuele, 16 years old that day

“Roma v Parma on 17 June 2011 was the only game that I saw together with my older brother Daniele and our father Dario, in front of the TV.

"Daniele was really superstitious and found watching Roma too stressful, but that day there was a strange feeling in the air – we were all just convinced that we were going to win. That we were going to be celebrating the club’s third Scudetto title that day.

“I was furious when I saw the pitch invasion happening at 3-1. My brother was worried that the referee was going to suspend the game. Thankfully, though, he did the sensible thing. Afterwards it was a whirlwind of emotions. Daniele and I got dressed quickly, I grabbed a flag and we jumped into our metallic blue Fiat 500 with its convertible roof.

"Daniele drove – he was only 23 at the time – but we didn’t know where to go. When we got to the corner of Via Chiana, we flagged down a Vespa and asked where the celebrations were. This girl replied: ‘Go to Piazza del Popolo.’ So off we went.

“I stuck my head out of the roof, letting the flag fly in the breeze, while Daniele got on the horn. That poor Fiat 500! We left it somewhere nearby to Piazza del Popolo and stayed there for hours and hours. We hugged, shouted, cheered… There was this sense of timeless happiness. It was unforgettable.”

Francesco, 17 years old that day

“I don’t remember anything of the night of 17 June or the week leading up to it. The only thing I know is that I never once considered the idea that it might not go our way. That was never even an option.

“I’d arranged to meet my cousin at the Colosseo Quadrato at 8:30 that morning. I lived in San Paolo and he was in Magliana. We went from there to the stadium and by 10:00 we were already at the entrance, decked out for the occasion. We went in really early and went through the Monte Mario stand – it was amazing to see the Olimpico slowly fill up with coloured flags.

“Virtually everyone had one. Mine was orange, white and red. I also had an Italy flag, which I’d bought for the 1998 World Cup. I got that one out when it was 3-0, but put it away again when [Marco] Di Vaio scored.

“I can distinctly remember the roar after Totti scored. I’d never heard one so loud, particularly from the rows behind me, which were fuller than they’d ever been.

“I have a few snapshots in my mind of the scenes after the game. Tears in the eyes of my uncle at the final whistle. Jumping into the fountain in Piazzale degli Eroi. Hugging my mate Marco, neither one of us really processing what had just happened. The streets packed, the celebrations stretching from Gabatella to Testaccio, from Via del Corso to Piazza del Popolo. All the flags on the balconies that night.

“And then I remember the walls, still white and blue because of what had happened the year beforehand, ready to be covered up in red and yellow. And rightly so.”