Tifosi
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Tifosi (pronounced [tiˈfoːzi; -oːsi]) is a group of supporters of a sports team, especially those that make up a tifo.
Etymology
The plural tifosi is used for a mixed gender or an all-male group; masculine singular is tifoso, feminine singular tifosa, feminine plural tifose.
The term is derived from Italian tifoso, meaning "typhus patient," referring to the "fevered" behaviour of the most dedicated fans. The Times of Malta pointed out that the English term "fan" sounds similarly odd to Italian ears, as to them fanatico usually is only used in the context of religious fanaticism.[1] Journalist Birgit Schönau traces the term tifosi back to the 1920s, a time when football fever was spreading in Italy and typhoid fever was also still prevalent in the poorer parts of the country.[2]
Other sources link it to Greek τῦφος (typhos, "smoke"), which is also related etymologically to the disease, but historian John Foot states that a derivation from the disease is more plausible.[3]
Football
The word is mainly used to describe fans of clubs in
A fictional depiction of a tifoso in football is shown in Tifosi, an Italian film released in 1999.[4]
Formula One
It has become common to use the word "tifosi" to refer to the supporters of
The tifosi provide Formula One with a sea of red filling the grandstands at the
The tifosi in Italy have been known to actually cheer for a non-Italian driver in a Ferrari passing an Italian driver in another make of car.[6] At the 1983 San Marino Grand Prix, the crowd at Imola cheered long and loud when Italian Riccardo Patrese crashed his Brabham out of the lead of the race only 6 laps from home, handing Frenchman Patrick Tambay the win in his Ferrari. Patrese himself had only passed Tambay for the lead half a lap earlier.
One driver who never actually drove for Ferrari but is supported by the tifosi is Frenchman
The tifosi stuck by Ferrari during the struggles in the early 1990s, where
When Ferrari's Charles Leclerc won at Monza 2019, which was the first time for the team since 2010, a massive crowd of tifosi went to the podium to celebrate the victory. As revealed by David Croft during the podium celebration, there is a strained relationship between the tifosi and Mercedes, who have won in Monza from the start of the turbo hybrid era in 2014 to 2018. Whenever a Mercedes won the Italian GP, or made the podium, the tifosi would boo at the driver.
Cycling
The word is commonly used to describe fans along the roadside at professional road cycling races in Italy such as Tirreno–Adriatico, Milan–San Remo, the Giro d'Italia, and the Giro di Lombardia.
Passionate supporters of Italian cycling teams and cyclists are called "the tifosi".
See also
- Curva
- Ultras
- Oranjegekte, Dutch counterpart
References
- ^ Malta, Times of (6 July 2006). "Fans or supporters?". Times of Malta.
- ^ Simpson, P., Hesse, U. (2013:296). Who Invented the Stepover? And Other Crucial Football Conundrums. United Kingdom: Profile Books.
- ^ Percy, M. (2016:196). The Salt of the Earth: Religious Resilience in a Secular Age. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing.
- ^ Milano-Firenze, Mo-Net s r l. "Tifosi (1999)". mymovies.it.
- ^ "Leclerc calls on Tifosi to help Ferrari gatecrash title scrap - France 24". 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Ferrari's passionate tifosi facing a miserable afternoon at Monza". 3 September 2020.
- ^ Andrew Benson (8 September 2009). "Your classic Italian Grand Prix - Andrew Benson's blog". BBC. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
- ^ Moxon, Daniel (11 June 2022). "Beloved Ferrari icon won just one race before being ousted by Michael Schumacher". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
