As I’ve mentioned previously on this beginner’s guide to visiting the San Siro, Italian football and ‘ultra’ culture go hand in hand – for better and sometimes for worse. But regardless, it’s a proud staple of calcio, especially when observed correctly.
Behind the goal at Atalanta’s Home Groud sits the Curva Nord Pisani, filled with flags, banners and thousands of supporters providing the soundtrack, pyrotechnics and visual displays to your typical matchday in Bergamo.
One man had an enormous influence on how that culture developed.
Claudio Galimberti, better known as Il Bocia, became one of Italian football’s most recognisable ultra leaders after helping unite Atalanta’s fragmented supporter groups in 1998, and continuing his cause ever since.
His personal story however, isn’t very straightforward – at all.
Galimberti has been associated with violence, disorder and repeated stadium bans, while simultaneously being respected for community work and his attempts to make Atalanta – rather than politics – the central identity of the Curva.
Nearly three decades later, you can still see elements of his influence every time Atalanta play at home.
Who Is Il Bocia?
Claudio Galimberti grew up in the Redona area of Bergamo and was introduced to Atalanta from childhood. His father had even represented the club’s De Martino youth side.
Galimberti became involved in Atalanta’s organised support and emerged from the Brigate Nerazzurre, one of several influential groups occupying the Curva Nord. He later formed the short-lived Nuova Guardia before becoming increasingly important within the terrace culture of the 1990s. His nickname was wonderfully simple.
Bocia roughly means “boy” or “kid” in the Bergamasco dialect. It stuck. And for good reason, I say.
How Il Bocia Changed Atalanta Ultras in 1998
Atalanta already possessed a substantial ultras culture before Il Bocia arrived on the scene to change things in his image.
The Atalanta Commandos had emerged in 1971, followed by groups including the Brigate Nerazzurre and Wild Kaos. By the 1990s, however, different factions within the Curva Nord were divided by identities and political differences.
In 1998, Galimberti helped establish the Dell’Atalanta Supporters. The idea was surprisingly simple.
Atalanta must come first. Before any political or socio-political causes, the actual football club needs to be at the forefront of mind when it comes to establishing a new supporters’ group.
Members with backgrounds in different groups began coming together under one identity, with the Supporters deliberately attempting to remove party politics from the Curva and unite supporters around the club and Bergamo instead.
It wasn’t an overnight takeover. Older groups continued alongside the new movement for a period, but the Supporters gradually became the dominant force in the Nord. With different sects within the group focusing on additional elements to come together to establish the group as a coordinated offence against opposition – banners, tifos, chants, movements, etc.
By 2005, they were effectively its main organised group and subsequently adopted the name Curva Nord Bergamo 1907.
The Positive Side of Il Bocia’s Atalanta Legacy
The easiest thing would be to reduce Il Bocia to hooliganism. As famously deried by the likes of Margaret Thatcher in England as a way to diminish the true essence and meaning behind their emotion and passion for the game and its representitives
It also wouldn’t tell the whole story.
Under the Supporters, Atalanta’s Curva became more unified and increasingly known for large-scale choreographies. The philosophy was that supporters should represent the entire Atalanta community rather than simply their individual ultras group.
There was a substantial community element too.
Il Bocia became associated with fundraising, family events and the Festa della Dea, a large annual celebration bringing Atalanta supporters together away from matchday. Even accounts critical of his violent past have noted the respect he gained for work within Bergamo’s supporter community.
That helps explain why his influence became considerably larger than simply leading chants.
For many supporters, the Curva was supposed to represent Bergamo itself: local identity, friendship, family and an almost excessive devotion to Atalanta. Which has been key as the club themselves began to improve on the pitch. Culminating in that fantastic UEFA Europa League win v the ‘Invincible’ Bayer Leverkusen under Gasperini in 2024.
Why Il Bocia Became So Controversial
There’s no sensible way of telling Galimberti’s story without addressing the other side.
Il Bocia has openly discussed physical confrontation as part of ultras culture and became associated with numerous incidents of football disorder. Contemporary reporting documented his uncompromising attitude towards fighting rival ultras, while repeated DASPO orders – Italian bans preventing individuals from attending sporting events – eventually removed him from the stadium.
His relationship with the authorities consequently became a major part of his story.
In a 2025 letter, Galimberti claimed the cumulative effect of his banning orders had reached 30 years, describing the restrictions imposed on his life as excessive. That is his own characterisation of events, rather than an uncontested assessment of his legal history.
Personally, I think you can recognise Galimberti’s influence on Atalanta supporter culture without sanitising the violence and disorder that accompanied parts of that world. And indeed the fans themselves will attest to that.
And it’s interesting to see how his reputation diverges depending on who provides the assessment.
What Happened to Il Bocia?
Galimberti has now spent many years away from Atalanta’s stadium.
He also moved away from Bergamo and rebuilt his life in the Marche region, where he has spoken publicly about working around fishing and hospitality after previously working as a gardener.
Yet his absence hasn’t completely removed him from the Curva’s consciousness.
As recently as August 2026, supporters in the Curva Nord displayed banners and chants referring to Claudio and his continuing exclusion from stadiums. Not bad for a man the authorities would like to have you believe is a ‘bad egg’ to the club and fans.
What Are Atalanta Ultras Like Today?
The Curva has changed considerably since Galimberti’s peak influence.
Curva Nord Bergamo 1907 officially dissolved in September 2021, ending the organisation directly descended from the Supporters project. New supporter groups subsequently emerged, including Millenovecentosette – Per chi non può esserci, while a new “Ultras” identity appeared in the Nord in 2024 from the coming together of several smaller groups.
There are other organised groups around the stadium too, including Forever Atalanta in the Curva Sud. So it would be wrong to suggest Il Bocia still personally controls the modern Curva Nord. The organisational landscape has moved on.
But the current sound and feel of the stadium is very much influenced by his legacy and supporters.
Il Bocia’s Legacy at Atalanta Today
This is ultimately where Galimberti’s influence becomes most interesting.
Atalanta themselves have changed almost beyond recognition since 1998.
The club that spent years moving between Serie A and Serie B became a Champions League regular under Gian Piero Gasperini, moved into a dramatically redeveloped stadium and won the Europa League in 2024.
Yet the idea of the Curva as something distinctly Bergamasco has survived.
The enormous flags, coordinated displays and emphasis on collective support aren’t the work of one person, nor did Atalanta’s ultras culture begin with Claudio Galimberti. It stretches back decades before him and continues through generations who followed.
Il Bocia helped move the Nord away from competing group identities towards the idea of one Curva supporting one club. Politics was pushed aside. Atalanta became the common denominator.
His legacy deserves neither uncomplicated celebration nor easy dismissal. There are serious controversies within the story and elements of old ultras culture that football has good reason not to romanticise.
But if you visit Bergamo today and stand opposite the Curva Nord, you’ll understand why Claudio Galimberti remains significant.
Have you visited the Atalanta stadium? If so, what did you think of it?