De Zerbi's 'ultra' roots and the Brescia connection at Spurs

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Roberto de Zerbi grew up as a fan of Brescia, where Tottenham's club record signing Sandro Tonali also played

There is a distinctly Brescian feel to N17 of late. While the Italian city's famous old club were effectively declared bankrupt this week, a footballing passion forged at Stadio Mario Rigamonti may be fuelling Tottenham Hotspur's revival.

Roberto de Zerbi, the manager who saved Spurs from relegation last season, was raised on the terraces of Brescia's 'curva' by his father, Alfredo, who was president of the supporters' clubs. De Zerbi says he was "born an ultra".

"My dad is crazy about football. He was one of the leaders of the Brescia tifoseria. At home, we lived and breathed football. He was the one who passed that passion on to me," the Italian told Salim Lamrani in his book Football According to Roberto de Zerbi.

Tottenham's Brescia connection runs through the playing squad too. Sandro Tonali, their new record signing, joined Le Rondinelle aged 12 and made his debut as a 17-year-old, helping Brescia return to Serie A before joining AC Milan in 2020.

"Brescia is so small. I had two weeks there and met him two or three times," he said.

"We spoke about Brescia, about the difficult situation facing our club."

However, Tonali's £100m move threatened to pose a contentious issue in Italy.

Amid mounting debt and financial problems, Brescia Calcio, owned by Massimo Cellino, were excluded from professional football by Italian authorities last summer.

They were replaced by a new team in Union Brescia, who have taken on the mantle of the city's club and play at the same iconic ground graced by Roberto Baggio and Pep Guardiola, as well as De Zerbi and Tonali.

Tonali and his wife were there to watch Union Brescia in the Serie C play-offs earlier this year - the club eventually lost to Ascoli in the final.

There were reports, however, that Cellino may look to revive Brescia Calcio in some format with the club, having trained Tonali, potentially due a percentage of his transfer fee - about £3.5m - under Fifa's solidarity contribution scheme.

But that prospect seems to have died after Brescia Calcio were wound-up in a court ruling, external on Tuesday.

As Brescia and their fans embrace a new era, the passion and footballing ethos De Zerbi learned through his father and those visits to Stadio Mario Rigamonti remain.

"Roberto's love for Brescia shaped his career," his brother, Rocco, told Corriere Della Sera.

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Published6 July 2025The adversity that shaped De Zerbi's principlesRosanna Pedrollo spent half a century working for Brescia, first joining the club's administration department in 1968 - she met De Zerbi's father, Alfredo, in the early 1980s through his work coordinating the supporters' clubs.

"Alfredo was a huge football fan. He was a passionate, fiery character and a wonderful father. He was a gentle person, but full of energy at the same time. Very polite, but never afraid to say what he thought, whether people agreed with him or not.

"There aren't many people like him in football today. Everything has changed so much. He gave his passion to the club."

Pedrollo remembers a four or five-year-old De Zerbi being mascot, when he would follow the side home and away with his father. 'Roby', as his friends called him, would also watch training sessions and prepare tifos for home matches.

He happened to be a talented footballer, too, playing a stone's throw from his idols for USO Mompiano, before joining lower-league side Lumezzane and then AC Milan at the age of 12.

His father "wanted so badly" to see him play for Brescia one day, says Pedrollo, adding: "That I know for certain, because he told me many times."

Alfredo got his wish when his son spent 19 games on loan at his hometown club in 2008.

De Zerbi got his first taste for coaching in the city too, helping a friend coach youngsters at ADC Mario Rigamonti, yet many of the principles that guide his management today took root through the adversity his family faced in the economic crisis of the early '90s.

His father was forced to sell their mat factory, as well as the home De Zerbi grew up in, instead moving into a small flat.

"We had to rebuild our lives from scratch," De Zerbi told Lamrani, who says the Italian remains "true to the ideals of his youth and to his working-class roots".

Indeed, the day after signing his first professional contract with Milan, De Zerbi says he was at the bank signing a mortgage to buy his parents a house.

"Coming from a modest background, success has never led him to abandon his principles or his values," adds Lamrani, who also worked as Marcelo Bielsa's disciplinary coach and interpreter at Leeds United.

"He has preserved the principles of solidarity and generosity instilled in him by his parents and has never renounced his social origins. He knows exactly which side of the barricades he stands on: with the people.

"He instinctively sides with the oppressed. That reflects his rebellious temperament, forged by his own life story."

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, De Zerbi gave the Brescia 'V' towards rivals Atalanta when they faced his Marseille side last season

Lamrani says De Zerbi "remains deeply attached to the people on the terraces" - and to his Brescian roots. That was obvious when Marseille welcomed Atalanta in the Champions League last season.

George Boxall, author of FADA! A Season in Marseille, who followed De Zerbi's time in France, recalls the Italian performing the famous Brescia 'V' sign towards the away end.

"I was born in Brescia, a hundred metres from the stadium; I'm a Brescia tifoso - it's in my family's DNA - and for us, playing Atalanta is like a fiercely contested derby; we'd be thinking about it from Monday to Sunday," said De Zerbi at the time.

"Roberto is a man of the terraces, a man of the people: straightforward, loyal and authentic," adds Lamrani.

"He loves terrace culture, particularly at working-class clubs such as OM. He grew up on the streets and absorbed their unwritten codes. For him, a person's word is sacred.

"He is generous by nature, giving of himself without reserve and trusting his instincts. He has little patience for selfishness or opportunism. That outlook is deeply rooted in ultra culture."

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