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Photos: Napoli fans celebrate Italian football league title

Ecstatic celebrations follow the team’s first Serie A title in more than three decades.

Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
A Neapolitan man holds the flag of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies during celebrations after Napoli won the Serie A title for the first time in 33 years. Many Neapolitans feel resentment against the Italian government for neglect and mistreatment after what some refer to as a colonisation and not a unification of the southern part of the country after 1861. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
By Savin Mattozzi
Published On 5 May 2023

Naples, Italy –  A young man grabs his friend by the shoulders and shakes him, overwhelmed with joy. “We did it! We won! We beat them! We beat the north!”

In the second half of Thursday night’s game with Udinese, Napoli player Victor Osimhen scored the goal that secured the team’s place as the 2023 Italian Serie A champions.

The last time Napoli won the title was in 1990 and before that 1987. Both wins came from a team led by Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona, a beloved and saint-level personality for Neapolitans even today.

For many people in the southern city, Italian football represents much more than a sport. Although the game is a way for people to enjoy themselves and to have pride in their team, it is also seen as a political battle between the deeply divided north and south of the country.

The southern Italian region of Campania, of which Naples is the capital, has a youth unemployment rate of about 50 percent, more than double that of the north. The region has a severe poverty rate nearly three times the national average, and the percentage of people at risk of social exclusion or poverty is nearly 40 percent.

This neglect by the state paired with discrimination that fans face when they attend games in the north, such as being spat on and called ethnic slurs, creates a kind of southern patriotism that is expressed in the pre-Italian unification symbols that adorn many Napoli flags and scarves.

Thursday night’s title win was more than three decades in the making, and the celebrations were of historic proportions with hundreds of thousands of Neapolitans partying on the streets and squares of the city.

The celebrations are expected to last well into Friday as the city will welcome the team back from Udine.

Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
A father and his three children blast Neapolitan folk music from their car, wave flags and shout after Napoli secured the Serie A title. Neapolitans have been anxiously waiting for their team to win the title for more than 30 years. In Italy, football is seen as a symbol of the country’s dramatic north-south divide. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
Young men climb light posts, street signs and garbage bins in Naples second largest square, Piazza Plebiscito, to celebrate Napoli’s first Serie A victory in more than three decades. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
A fan chants after Napoli secured the title of Italian champions for the first time since Diego Maradona was on the team. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
A man lights a flare as thousands of people fill the second largest square in Naples and count down the final seconds to victory after Napoli player Victor Osimhen scored the goal that pushed the team to the title. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
A girl waves a Napoli flag next to Galleria Umberto in Naples. Most Neapolitans under the age of 40 have never seen or could imagine their team winning after 33 years of economic hardship and mostly low points. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
A man emerges from celebratory smoke wearing a mask that Napoli player Victor Osimhen made his trademark after suffering an injury. Osimhen’s goal in the second half of the game secured the team’s title as 2023 Italian champions. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
Neapolitans clamor on top of newsstands, kiosks and street signs to wave Napoli flags and light flares to celebrate their team's championship. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
A child sits on their parent’s shoulders shouting and waving around a Napoli fan after the team secured their title as the 2023 Italian champions; a title that has not been won by the team since 1990. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
All ages join the celebrations in Naples. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
A group of fans march next to the central post office waving flares, tossing smoke bombs and shouting into loudspeakers, minutes after Napoli was declared Serie A champions. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Young Neapolitan men light red flairs and wave Napoli flags in one of the city’s most central squares to celebrate Napoli’s first Serie A victory since Diego Maradona in 1990. Football is one of the ways for the city’s youth to feel pride in their city that is often the punchline of discriminatory jokes about crime and education. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Young Neapolitans light flares and wave Napoli flags to celebrate their first Serie A title since 1990. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
Noemi Perfetto, 34, waves a Napoli flag as her friends dance in the background. "I’m so glad my father was able to see this happen again," she says. "And I can’t wait for my son to see it when he grows up." [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
Emotions ran high after Napoli player Victor Osimhen scored the goal to secure their team the title as Italian Serie A champions. Many people born after the late 1980s only heard stories from their parents about what it was like to see Napoli win in Serie A. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
Celebrations in Naples were expected to go well into Friday when the team is due to return from Udine. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]
Fever pitch as Napoli on brink of first Serie A title since 1990
Neapolitans' pride in their football team goes beyond the matches themselves. The team represents a sense of identity for the city and its residents, who often feel mistreated by the state and the northern, wealthy part of the country. [Savin Mattozzi/Al Jazeera]