On This Day: 50,000 fans turn up to watch Roma... on a big screen

It’s remarkable to consider it now – especially in the current situation we are living through – but once upon a time Roma fans would head to the Olimpico en masse to watch their side... even if they were playing away from home that weekend.

The first time, at least in the modern era, in what would eventually become a series of such occasions, came 23 years ago today – with Zdenek Zeman’s side playing at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Fiorentina, and thousands of Roma fans watching back home in the Curva Sud.

The game, a mid-afternoon kick-off, saw around 3,000 Giallorossi supporters pack out the away sector in Florence. But, with anticipation high for a game between two of Serie A’s most in-form sides, more than 10 times the number were at the Olimpico to watch the game beamed back on the big screens for them.

The service was free, helping to create a vibrant atmosphere for the occasion.

The long-distance game

There were no players out on the pitch at the Olimpico – there wasn’t even any activity going on in that part of the stadium. In fact, for the entire 90 minutes, the vast majority of the fans in attendance had their back completely turned to the green square in the middle.

Instead eyes were focused on the big screens positioned above the stands; the same screens usually used on matchday (even now) to present the line-ups, the match details, the club partners and (hopefully) the home goal celebrations.

The game itself was just the sixth game of the new Serie A season, although that had not prevented Roma fans from getting excited about it.

There were the battles on the pitch, for starters: Francesco Totti against Manuel Rui Costa in a clash of two classy No. 10s, and Abel Balbo going up against Gabriel Batistuta in a head-to-head match-up of two Argentine ‘bombers’.

Enthusiasm restored

For the fans, the passion for the Giallorossi was well and truly back. After the agonising, disappointing late battle to stave off relegation the previous season, Zeman’s Roma had started the new campaign in style – taking 11 points from the opening five games to sit just two points behind Inter Milan (and level with both Juventus and Parma) in the early standings.

A 6-2 victory over Napoli the previous matchday had really kickstarted the new feeling around the team, meaning the club was overwhelmed with requests for tickets for the game in Tuscany. Unable to satisfy everyone, club chiefs hit upon the idea of using the Olimpico to welcome supporters.

Lazio had played their game that weekend there a day earlier – losing 2-0 to Atalanta – so there was no problem with the idea, especially given that the pitch would be given a rest anyway.

From the stands

The game itself – predictably, perhaps, given life's propensity to laugh in our faces at times – ended up passing without a goal being scored at either end.

Balbo missed an early penalty, while Francesco Toldo somehow denied Luigi Di Biagio when the goal seemed almost certain. 0-0, the game finished just has it started.

But the occasion remained memorable, if only for the events of hundreds of miles away in Rome. The sun, reflecting off the screens at awkward angles, may have made watching all the action difficult at points – but nevertheless much of the news coverage of the following day was centred on events inside the Olimpico.

A successful experiment, and one the club would repeat – when circumstances and opportunity aligned – on a number of occasions over the next few years.

50,000 fans, eyes fixed on the same point – just as it should be.

And, as we fast-forward to current times, hopefully just it will be again some time soon.