Why the Federico Chiesa chant is making some Liverpool fans very uncomfortable

“We can hear them crying in Turin,

Federico, he’s here to win.

One chat with Arne Slot and he said ‘ciao’,

F*** off Juve, I’m a Kopite now…”

Not every thought that spills onto a footballer’s social media page comes from a real place, but when Federico Chiesa left Juventus for Liverpool last summer, there was a genuine sense of warmth for at least some of the people he was leaving behind.

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He began by thanking fans for “supporting me in good and the difficult times, and for that I will always be grateful”. Over the previous four years, he had worked with players and coaches “at the highest level”, comparing them to “family”, especially when he struggled. “You have helped me stand,” he wrote. “I will always carry with me the joyful memories we shared.”

Chiesa might have had an issue with the club’s executives. He did not mention owners or directors directly, but felt the need to address rumours he had requested amendments to his contract, saying he had been “informed that I would not be part of the project”, which left no option but to move on.

The statement is a long way from him telling Italy’s most successful club to “f*** off”, as suggested in the song Liverpool fans sing in his honour to the tune of Dean Martin’s ‘Sway’. Similarly, there is no sense of anyone “crying in Turin”.

Chiesa had a strong bond with Juventus (Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Even so, the Chiesa chant has become a staple of the Anfield songbook. It debuted last season but has become increasingly popular over the intervening months, reaching a zenith last Friday when Chiesa enjoyed his best moment yet in a Liverpool shirt by scoring a crucial goal against Bournemouth.

Very few football chants are meant to be taken literally — Mohamed Salah is a wonderful footballer, but, just for the record, he is not actually an “Egyptian king” — yet it is hard not to take a chant seriously if it has been crafted without care.

A player signed from any other club could have had a similar song bellowed out in his honour and it would have been fine. But not someone from Juventus, and for very good reason.

May marked the 40th anniversary of the Heysel disaster, when 39 mainly Juventus fans lost their lives at the 1985 European Cup final in Brussels after being crushed by a collapsed wall. One of the main factors in those deaths was a charge by Liverpool supporters from a neighbouring section of a crumbling venue, which investigators subsequently deemed unfit to host a match of such magnitude.

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Many in Italy have never forgiven Liverpool for what happened in Belgium that day, and feelings in Turin remain especially raw. There have been efforts from both clubs to improve relations, but the fact Liverpool have not faced Juventus in a competitive fixture in more than 20 years means there have been precious few opportunities to build bridges.

On the most recent occasion, a Champions League quarter-final first leg in 2005, travelling Juventus fans responded to a display on the Kop that spelt out “friendship” in Italian by turning their backs.

Juventus fans turn their backs at Anfield in 2005 (Matthew Ashton – PA Images via Getty Images)

It is not difficult to imagine how Juventus fans may feel on hearing the Chiesa chant. For them, the image of ‘crying in Turin’ being invoked by fans of the club indelibly associated with the most dreadful event in its history will cut deep.

Liverpool fans know how hurtful crass chants can be. They are routinely subjected to “victim” taunts by rival supporters, which, while not mentioning the Hillsborough tragedy explicitly, helped create an environment where the authorities who failed so terribly in 1989 were not subjected to the kind of public pressure and legal scrutiny that could have ultimately made every person in Britain safer.

When I hear those “victim” chants, my heart sinks and I despair at how mindless people can be. But the Chiesa chant also makes me feel deeply uncomfortable.

Many Liverpool supporters insist the Chiesa song has nothing to do with Heysel, and it is surely true that those who created it did not do so in an attempt to goad Juventus over what happened in 1985. Yet nobody has offered up a reasonable explanation for the lyrics being so aggressive, beyond them imbuing the chant with a visceral energy.

Chiesa has emerged as a bit of a cult character at Liverpool. Though he has barely featured, he is likable. He always seems to be smiling and given his minimal impact during a title-winning season, he gave the whiff of a competition winner as he paraded the Premier League trophy around Anfield in May.

Chiesa has become a cult hero at Liverpool (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

His song was sung loudly that day on the concourses of the stadium before it made its way into the stands, almost like a victory chant. Given Liverpool’s reduced attacking options presently, there is hope he can do better. At Wembley during the Community Shield, it was one of the loudest songs in the Liverpool end. When he scored the winner against Bournemouth, Anfield erupted, but he had already been serenaded before his strike in the closing minutes. Over the weekend, respected Liverpool fan sites were pushing it on their platforms.

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Chiesa, for his part, says he is “really grateful for the song they are singing”, but that does not necessarily mean he knows about its potential implications.

When the journalist and Walk On podcast presenter Tony Evans — who was at that European Cup final in 1985 — wrote critically about the chant yesterday, the pushback online was significant. It seemed typical of a generational divide on the issue among Liverpool fans, between those who lived through Heysel and its immediate legacy and those who didn’t.

As the years pass, details are forgotten. In recent times, I feel partly responsible for this. Before the 40th anniversary in May, The Athletic was due to publish a series of articles detailing what happened in Brussels and the impact on both clubs. Shortly before they were due to appear, a car ploughed into a crowd of fans at Liverpool’s title parade, leading to the hospitalisation of more than 100 people. Without knowing the condition of the injured, and with emotions so heightened, it felt insensitive to be pushing death in front of readers.

Italian fans flee at Heysel in 1985 (Dominique Faget/AFP via Getty Images)

I understand if some think this was the wrong decision. Three months on, I am not sure whether it was the right call, but I would like to revisit the subject this year. It is clear to me that fading memories of Heysel help explain why the Chiesa chant has taken hold without people questioning it, while also offering mitigation when it is suggested it might be malicious.

Whatever the context, it has already given Juventus fans the chance to say it is a battle cry against them. Anti-Juventus songs have never previously featured among the Liverpool fanbase, but now there is one, with the chant being spread via social media.

It is easy to find clips shared by Sky Italia and others, and the replies from Juventus fans saying Liverpool have no shame and their fans are drunken hooligans or animals.

So far, there have not been any newspaper articles on the subject, either in England or Italy, but if Chiesa starts delivering regularly and earns a recall to his national side, it is imaginable that reporters will want to know what has boosted his confidence. The song will almost certainly be subjected to scrutiny.

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My concern relates to what this means for the present. The Champions League draw is made next week and I, for one, am hoping that Liverpool avoid Juventus or, indeed, any Italian opponent. Liverpool fans have had well-documented issues against Napoli and Roma in recent years, and there has to be a risk that the Chiesa chant, however it was intended, could effectively serve as a call to arms for hooligan elements who need little encouragement in targeting visitors from Merseyside.

It’s a shame because, but for one unnecessary line, it’s a great song. Supporters do not like being told what to do or having fun defined for them, certainly not by the club they support or by journalists. Yet it would not take much to amend “f*** off” with something such as “later, Juve”, or even “arriverderci”.

I’m sure there’s someone out there with a more creative mind than me who can play with the bit about “crying in Turin”. It would be a small gesture, but one that would go a long way.

(Top photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

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