United Glasgow players in Naples, Italy
Napoli United 2-1 United Glasgow
by Stewart McGill
at the Alberto Vallefuoco stadium, Mugnano, Naples
BACK in December 2021 I was in Napoli doing some research for The Roaring Red Front, a book about the world’s top leftist football clubs and supporters.
While chatting to Pietro Spaccaforno from Napoli United, the team representing the refugee population of Naples, I suggested they play a game against United Glasgow, that city’s refugee team.
The Napoli club was founded as Afro-Napoli United in 2009 by local Neapolitans and two Senegalese immigrants. Its aim is to achieve and promote social inclusion through sport, focusing in particular on the involvement of migrants, asylum-seekers and young people at risk of exclusion living in the metropolitan area of Napoli. The team is now known as Napoli United and plays in the fifth tier of Italian football, La Eccelenza.
Two teams from different sides of the world will face off this weekend in a landmark football occasion. One team from the Americas, another from Europe, will meet in an exhibition of the world’s game that is being broadcast across the globe, writes JAMES NALTON
In the second part of LAYTH YOUSIF’S history of the New York Cosmos, he reflects on their stunning reboot
In the first of a three-part series, LAYTH YOUSIF visits a community-driven club in blue-collar Paterson, New Jersey, with a rich heritage that is rising once again
