On a day when the Azzuri play, we give a shoutout to the left-wing ultras of Associazione Sportiva Livorno Calcio, whose fan culture reflects the great tradition of Italian Communist autonomism.

Striker Cristiano Lucarelli, who hails from Livorno and played on the Italian national team, famously walked away from a career at top-flight club Torino, taking at 50% pay cut, to play for this home team and stay true to his politics. He said: “Some players buy themselves a Ferrari, or a yacht, for a billion lira. I bought myself a Livorno shirt.”

As 2010 World Cup champions Spain face an unthinkable elimination in today’s game against Chile, we remember the powerful history of Spain’s greatest football club, whose players form the core of the Spanish national squad.

FC Barcelona’s slogan is “mes que un club” (“more than a club”) – and throughout its history, it has indeed kept the flame of Catalonian identity and spirit of resistance alive and burning bright in the face of state and cultural repression. During the Spanish Civil War, FC Barcelona’s president Josep Sunyol transformed the club into a democratic arena of ‘sport and citizenship,’ and was arrested and executed by Franco’s regime for his role in the struggle against fascism. FCB was also an important space for the preservation of the Catalan language, which was banned during the dictatorship.

Fans of FC Barcelona, or ‘Barça’ as it is affectionately named, continue to keep the tradition of Catalonian resistance alive today through its rivalry against Franco’s chosen team, Real Madrid. During these ‘El Clásico’ matches, Barça fans often break into freedom chants at 17 minutes and 14 seconds, signifying the year 1714, when Catalunya was invaded by Castilian forces.

Tots Units Fem Força!! Adelante Barça!

In 1958, Rachid Mekhloufi, star striker for French club team St. Etienne, and nine other Algerian players walked away from promising careers in France to form a national team for a country that, at the time, existed only in the revolutionary dreams of the anti-colonial movement in Algeria.

The Algerian national team formed by the FLN went on to spectacular success, winning 65 games in 4 years despite France’s efforts to ban them from FIFA and international play. Their stellar performances despite the odds made them a powerful symbol for the Algerian struggle, and an inspiration to oppressed peoples everywhere – including today’s Palestine.

1-2-3, Vive l’Algiré!!

Football hooligans, or ‘ultras,’ are notorious for their fanaticism, violence, and reactionary home-team politics. But on the other hand, football fandom can also express radical virtues of solidarity, community, and resistance. As Germany plays today, we pay tribute to the revolutionary anti-fascist fan base of Hamburg’s football club FC St. Pauli – embraced by anarchists, communists, punks, and other left-wing counterculture fans the world over.

Never Again Fascism! Never Again War! Never Again the Third Division!