Dedicated to the Diffidati… ‘Leoni Di Venezia‘ is a photo series on the Ultras of Venezia FC during the 2021-22 Serie A season.

For one season only, the ‘Leoni Di Venezia’, the Lions of Venice, had roared back into the top flight of Italian football. That season made for a colourful return, swathes of orange and green accompanying their triumphant reemergence.

Italian photographer Andrea Rigano was there to record it all, and although their coveted place back in Serie A might have lasted just one season, for Rigano it was well worth the wait. His pictures all come from that campaign after they had secured promotion the previous season via the play offs. It was to prove only a brief return after a 19 year absence, but for the club, and their fans, they could savour being back in the big time.

For the club’s devoted Ultras they will always be VeneziaMestre, their name after the 1987 amalgamation of two club sides. Nicknamed the Leoni Alati, the Winged Lions, after the golden crest of the province, their Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo ground, with its 11,000 capacity, first opened in 1913 and is behind only Genoa as the oldest stadium in Italy.

Rigano is passionate about the city and its football team, but for him, it’s the fans that matter. He lists taking pictures of the Ultras as “the best part of football”, and he has dedicated his work to those supporters regarded as Diffidati, those banned for attending games because of previous crowd trouble.