60 years a Roma season-ticket holder!

Now 78, Gaetano bought his first season ticket in 1964/65, when Juan Carlos Lorenzo was in the dugout. He has been a permanent matchday fixture ever since. One season ticket after another – first on paper, then digital. Absolute, unwavering loyalty.

Alegiani's bond with the club has been unbreakable, regardless of how well the team are doing, regardless of the coach, regardless of the conditions. Gaetano buys a season ticket because he loves Roma.

“Everything that is 'Roma' is sacred to me,” he explains. “I'm in love with the word 'Roma' – from ancient Rome though to the modern city and sport. There's nothing like Roma.”

His first season ticket was in the Curva Sud and cost him 9000 lira, less than €5 in today's money. Four years later he paid 38,000 lira to upgrade to the Tribuna Tevere.

Gaetano has kept coming to the Stadio Olimpico despite moving away from Rome in 2010 to return to his roots, in Amatrice, 140 km away.

“My granddad was from Collegentilesco. The house collapsed on the day of the earthquake.”

Fortunately Gaetano wasn't in the house at the time because when he left the capital he moved into a modern building next to the mayor of Amatrice, Sergio Pirozzi. The same mayor who tugged at the heartstrings of an entire country in 2016 when he declared on national television, “Amatrice is no longer.”

Gaetano was just a few metres away from Pirozzi at 3:36 on 24 August 2016, when two devastating quakes razed the communities of Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto.

“It was the worst night of my life,” he recalls. “After I'd overcome my initial sense of disorientation, I went outside in my slippers with my wife.”

Despite living a long way from Rome and the fact he's not getting any younger, Gaetano cannot be kept apart from his beloved team.

 “I've espoused the cause. I have, at times, wondered if it was still worth it. But my desire to go to the Olimpico has always prevailed.”

And so at the age of 78, he climbs into his car, on his own, and makes the 280 km round trip from Amatrice to the Stadio Olimpico and back. All on the same day. Actually, in a matter of hours.

“It doesn't matter if there's snow or ice. I have to go.”

The club recognised his undying support ten years ago by sending him a personalised jersey when he reached the milestone of 50 consecutive season tickets. A jersey he is immensely proud of.

“It came with this note,” he says, smiling. “A little gift for a huge Romanista.”

“My favourite part of going to the stadium is singing the anthem a cappella. It gives me goose bumps. I sing it at the top of my voice. No other club in the world has anything like that.”

Gaetano's only regret is the season he missed because of Covid, something he makes a point of stressing as he flicks through the season-ticket album he guards jealously at his home near the foot of the Monti della Laga, in the Apennines.

Like many Roma fans of his generation, he was initially drawn to the Giallorossi colours by Pedro Manfredini. “I fell in love with his hat-tricks!”

Alegiani remembers the time he met a young Claudio Ranieri on a plane.

“It was after an away game at AC Milan in the early 1970s. He was by himself. The team had returned to Rome by train but he took the plane.”

As a thoroughbred Roman, he sees Lorenzo Pellegrini and Niccolo Pisilli as the team's leaders.

“Lorenzo is the present. Niccolo is our future. A boy who shows how much he loves the club.”

Gaetano pushes a curtain to one side. Outside it's snowing. Snowflakes settle on the rubble and the construction sites – a reminder of the slow rebuilding process. But a few centimetres of snow present no obstacle to him.

“A few times I've had to shovel the snow away so that I could get the car out and go to the Olimpico.”

He ends by vowing: “I'll keep renewing my season ticket as long as I can. As long as I have the strength. As long as I'm able to sing for Roma.”

Gaetano's season-ticket album

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