Derby di Sicilia

The Derby di Sicilia (English language: Sicilian Derby) is a local derby between Italian football clubs Calcio Catania and U.S. Città di Palermo. Catania and Palermo are the two main cities on the island of Sicily, and the teams are fierce rivals. However, they have seldom played each other within the Italian football league system, because in many seasons they have played in separate divisions of the league. The first time the Sicilian derby took place in the context of league football was on November 1, 1936, at Palermo in Serie B level; it ended in a 1–1 draw. The Sicilian derby has been played 10 times in Serie A: Catania leading their rivals by 5 victories to Palermo's 4; the other occasion was drawn. The teams have also met in local Sicilian competitions, and friendly matches.

The most notorious derby was on February 2, 2007, when 40 year-old policeman Filippo Raciti died in Catania from severe liver injuries during riots following the derby.^[1] The events led FIGC commissioner Luca Pancalli to indefinitely suspend all professional and amateur football games in the country.^[2]

For the 2007 season, all Palermo fans were banned from Catania's Stadio Massimino for the Catania-Palermo match on December 2, 2007. Catania subsequently proceeded to defeat Palermo 3–1, a historic derby win for Catania, their first in Serie A.

List of Sicilian derby results

Sicilian derbies with Atletico Catania

For five seasons, Palermo played an "alternate" Sicilian derby against Atletico Catania, a minor team which reached its peak during the late 1990s, when it was the major football club in Catania, following the disbandment of the old Calcio Catania. In 1999–2000 and 2000–2001, Palermo contested derbies with both Catania and Atletico Catania, as all three teams were playing Serie C1/B at the time.

Atletico Catania are now playing in Prima Categoria following their exclusion from professional football in 2001, their final disbandment in 2005 and their subsequent reformation in the lower levels of Italian football.^[3]

References

1. ^ Miami Herald. "CONI responds to deadly soccer rioting". http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/16622154.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-05. 
2. ^ BBC (2 February 2007). "Italian league halted by violence". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/6326513.stm. Retrieved 2007-02-03. 
3. ^ 2006