Diadora And The Football Casual Scene

It would be remiss of Ultra Football not to talk about the casual scene when launching our collaboration with Diadora. A brand which is so synonymous with the very make-up of ultras and casuals alike. So when and how did a humble sports and leisure-wear brand from the north of Italy become the uniform for casuals across the UK and beyond?


Despite being founded in Caerano di San Marco back in the late 1940’s, Diadora really burst on to the worldwide scene in the 1970’s. A brand which was founded around the notion of high quality craftsmanship, they partnered up with the very best sports stars from tennis, athletics and football including Bjorn Borg, Giuseppe Gentile and Roberto Bettega. Aligning themselves with athletes who were at the very top of their respective games, as well as this aforementioned dedication to high quality production, resulted in a top-end exclusive product.


At the same time, English football sides, lead by Liverpool in 1977 were also spreading their wings and enjoying a sustained period of success across Europe. English teams won a total of 7 European cups between 1977 and 1984 and this meant English fans were setting off on journeys across the continent to follow their teams.


These English football fans came to the shores of Italy, France and Germany and found brands which had never been seen in the UK before. Diadora was one of these brands and during the late 70s, the Diadora B. Elite trainers were one of the most expensive on the market, which came with the prestige that football casuals so desired and in turn, these became a staple of the casual scene in the UK.

After casuals who supported the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest came back to the UK wearing Diadora tracksuits and trainers, retailers from these areas were known to travel with them and come back with suitcases full of the precious cargo. This enabled accessibility for those in the UK to purchase European trainers on their own soil for the first time and quickly the influence of these brands such as Diadora became apparent.

The brand has and still is committed to having all of their shoes made in Italy, and this made them a commodity which was hard to come by throughout the 70s. This exclusivity made Diadora iconic and wearing a pair back in the UK somewhat of a badge of honour for those who were in the know.

Diadora continue to stay true to their colours today, with clothing and footwear both still very much sitting around similar silhouettes and models that made the brand so famous in the casual scene all those years ago. It seems fitting, that Ultra Football collaborates with a brand in which football casuals and ultras wore so proudly on the terraces, and one which aligns so heavily with their own ideologies and inspirations.