(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-31 10:29

MILAN - Real Madrid fans from Barcelona are seldom seen and Manchester United supporters born in Liverpool are just as rare.

In Milan, though, a Juventus supporters' club is thriving with around 630 members.

They meet in relative secret, with no Juve shirts in sight, but every other week about 100 of the group troop off to Turin an hour away and expose their black and white hearts.

On Sunday, members will have to be extra careful as they share the motorway and Turin train-line with Inter Milan fans. The leaders are visiting title-chasing Juve.

The fan club is called Madunina, a fortunate name as it does not include the word Milan, something which could further anger Inter and AC Milan fans already aghast that fellow Milanese would dare support old enemy Juventus.

The football rivalry is so intense that anyone going against the grain and supporting the other team risks jocular banter from work colleagues at best.

Verbal abuse and physical harm can happen though, prompting the question of why they put themselves through it when they have two perfectly good teams on their doorstep.

"The history of Juve is written in letters of gold on the roll-call of glory and victory. Juve will always be and when the other teams are no longer, Juve will still be there," Madunina member Guido Secreto told Reuters.

FINDING JOBS

The Milanese in the fan club, founded in 1964, are proud of being from Milan and for having chosen Juventus rather than having one thrust upon them because of where they were born.

Members also point out that any knowledgeable person would be aware they came from Italy's second city because Madunina refers to the Virgin Mary statue on the main spire of Milan's cathedral.

"Between the organised Juventus and Inter ultra groups, there is a deep hatred," said Igor, who asked not to reveal his second name.

"But many Inter fans live with Juventus supporters as if Juve was another team from their city."

Several in the fan club are not originally from Milan but have gravitated to Italy's financial centre from all around the country in order to find jobs.

Juventus, like Bayern Munich in Germany, are the club most supported in their country by people not from the city and are almost viewed as the nation's team.

Rather than support smaller hometown clubs, Italians, especially in the south, tend to choose Juventus as many fans do across the globe.

"I support Juve because I cannot at all imagine supporting any other team. As I say to my friends I follow football because I am a Juve fan. Otherwise I probably wouldn't follow football at all," said fan club member Paolo Bencardino.

"Supporting Juve is like being part of a religious sect."

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