The Roma Club Los Angeles: ''We have members from all over the world''

"Los Angeles is Romanista". Among Roma's biggest international supporters' clubs is the Roma Club Los Angeles. President Simone Giacometti tells us how he and the American members of his club manage to follow the team. 

How and when was your Roma club born?
"I've been here in Los Angeles for almost 30 years. I've known many Italians and in 2007/2008 I wanted to meet more Roma fans. I already had some Roman friends, but my brother, a small group we used to watch the games with and I found this Facebook group "Italians in Los Angeles" which was very active. It's where I met other Italian guys, all Romanisti. For example, I also met a guy from Bergamo and others from the north. They were Roma fans. We tried to organize to watch the games, usually in pubs, however, given the time zones, it was always difficult to find a pub that would broadcast the Roma game, especially because on Sunday football games are broadcast here. So here, they are, for example, at lunchtime, which coincides with the Roma games. So it was almost impossible to find the games. It was difficult to find a suitable space for us. We also tried for a time in a restaurant, which only broadcast the most important matches, however. After that, I created a Facebook group in 2010 "Roma Club Los Angeles" which grew a lot; currently, there are 450 of us in the group. The interesting thing was that they were not all Romans, but also American guys, Romanisti fans, and even people who have never been to Italy, just Roma fans. I met these great people who were real Roma fans. 2010 was the year that was a little bit more important because the group got bigger and we started looking for a permanent place to watch the games."

What do you think of the club right now?
"We are very happy with the new ownership. The Friedkin's, who by the way have a base here in Santa Monica. It is a production house of theirs very close by. So next summer when they come here for training camp, we hope for some important meetings."

What are your prospects for the Europa League? 
"For the Europa League, I think we have a very good chance, more interesting than the conference league with better teams and a higher level. Better teams mean you raise the bar which also counts as a stimulus for the players. I just hope the team improves what it did last year. I've been following Roma for 30 years, if we improve what we did last year, I can only be happy."

How do you organize during matches and what are your plans during the year?
"2010 was the year that was a little bit more important because the group got bigger and we started looking for a permanent place to watch the games. Eventually, we met this Lebanese guy who was engaged to a girl from Roma and was a Romanista. She had converted him to be a Roma fan. He used to watch the games in a "theater room" in downtown L.A. So we started too, renting this room and watching the games altogether, getting pizzas and eating all together. Then he moved and opened an office that was closed on the weekends but would open for the club to watch the games. So we started watching games in his office. His name is Anthony and he is the vice president of the Roma Club Los Angeles. We joined the Italian Roma club association. We are very happy with this membership because then we have someone who can physically go to the games to display our banner."

What do you think of the special one?
"Mourinho is a joy when he was at Chelsea or Real Madrid. Anyway, he always made the retreats here in LA at UCLA. We are happy for that but also for the image he brings to the club. Thanks to Mourinho, Roma is much more publicized and well known. And then, moreover, it's thanks to him that we were able to get all these important players. I don't know if another coach would have come up with Dybala, Wijnaldum, Matic, and Belotti, etc... A crazy buying campaign, surely also thanks to Tiago Pinto, but Mourinho contributed a lot."

How do you organize to make the club believe and what are the extra activities outside of the games? 
"To be a member of the Italian Roma club association we have to pay our dues. And to pay these dues we pulled up this membership campaign. For $30 members get a club scarf so that we can pay for the membership. Also, we organize these grills and lunches at the club. We spend days all together just to get to know each other and know who we share this beautiful passion with. So we use the membership funds also toward spending on these activities."