Old Firm rivalry springs up in Italian villages between footballers from Pontremoli and Soliera Apuana

Rangers and Celtic-daft Italian footballers from Pontremoli and Soliera Apuana, in the Lunigiana province of Massa Carrara, have created two football teams modelled on the Glasgow institutions.

The teams were founded in different years with the aim of recreating the famous passion and rivalry shown by fans of Rangers and Celtic.

In each village, residents fully support either Celtic or Rangers.

The Italian side of Farafulla, set up in 1998, chose the green and white hoops as their colours out of respect for Celtic and with the aim of winning silverware.

Old Firm in Italy

The Club was set up by a group of friends in 1996, and plays in the Italian UISP Amateur League, which is made up of three divisions - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Serie with a promotion and relegation between them, organised on a regional basis.

The Champions of each district league - the team that wins the 1st Serie - is then entitled to a play-off with the other district winners in order to decide the national champions.

Farafulla FC has its own roots in Pontremoli, a Province of Massa Carrara.

One of the most enthusiastic founders of the club, Pier Giuseppe Nicolosi, is a former player and its owner.

Old Firm in Italy

He said: “We choose Celtic because it was emotional to see the Hoops stripes when we were young, and since day one we try to bring the Celtic winning mentality into our group.

“Celtic, for us it means Scots’ tradition, a tradition of starting small and achieve bigger things with the right ambition.”

In 2017, a visitor from Northern Ireland to Soliera Apuana introduced Rangers in Lunigiana.

The Rangers daft fan helped Pietro Santini and Diego Serafini create the Rangers Soliera football team, the only Rangers team in Italy, modelled on the Ibrox side.

A spokesman for the team said: “Back to 2017, we wanted to create this team to bring the Rangers spirit to this squad and we did, as for us Rangers are a faith to follow.

“It has been quite unbelievable creating a bond between Scotland and Italy, and our aim is to bring medals and lift trophies as Rangers do.”

Old Firm in Italy

Farafulla 1998 and Soliera Apuana will both compete in the UISP amateur championship ‘Val Di Magra’ in Tuscany and Liguria, but have so far been denied the chance to meet on the pitch, due to COVID-19.

Last summer, they organised a charity match called ‘Old Firm Lunigianese’ between the two clubs, in order to raise money to distribute to different local associations to support their local community.

The long-awaited sporting clash cannot take place while COVID-19 restrictions remain in place, but both teams have pledged to organise a fund-raising tie for the good causes once Italy comes out of lockdown measures. Ina joint statement, they said: “Once restrictions are lifted, we will 100% organise a match between us, an ‘Old Firm’ in Italy.

‘There will be a battle between us, but just on the pitch and we would aspire to be like LorenzoajljpfdskjpkljlsAmoruso and Paolo Di Canio, which are our idols for our teams.’

Old Firm in Italy

There is an increasing passion about the support for Farafulla and Rangers Soliera in the whole Lunigiana territory, and the birth of Rangers Soliera surprised Farafulla’s owners.

Farafulla owner-founder Giuseppe, said: ‘Farafulla was founded 23 years ago, and has been competing since 1998. When I saw that Rangers Soliera were born and I saw their crest, I immediately thought ‘here we go, the battle is on!’ Now there will be an Old Firm in Lunigiana.’

So a 'new' Old Firm is underway in Italy, with both teams putting tradition and respect at the heart of their rivalry, in honour of the two Glasgow institutions.

Guiseppe adds: "While it was a surprise to see them creating the Rangers Soliera team, I wish them all the best because for us, that friendly rivalry is what football is all about."