The Real Hardcore Fan Club: Cheers to the Talarico sisters of Naples

In 2024 Heineken are on a mission to redefine what it means to be a real hardcore football fan, shining a light on the many different faces that make up modern fandom and celebrating the many different ways they express their devotion to the sport they live.

In the first of our unique series of fan stories, we meet the Talarico sisters of Naples. Three siblings who are also fourth generation umbrella makers, applying their artisan craft to celebrate the achievements of their beloved Napoli. Cheers to the Talarico sisters.

Naples is a city rich with traditions and rituals. Often the devotion for club and culture are intrinsically tied here, particularly by the artisans within the city. The Talaricos are three such artisans… sisters; Olga, Monica and Maria are now the fourth generation of umbrella makers to run the family business in Naples’ famous Quartieri Spagonli. They are renowned for their hand-crafted umbrellas with their unique designs which take inspiration from the symbols of the city. From Vesuvius to San Gennaro, the lucky horn to cascading garlic, and of course… the city’s footballing icons.

To the real hardcore fans in this city, a victory in football means something more - it’s part of a much bigger story and a lasting sense of vindication over a feeling of historical injustice the city feels towards the rest of italy. Maradona is often likened to a saviour of the city for this very reason and why his god-like status is not too dissimilar to San Gennaro’, the city’s patron saint. It’s this unique relationship between players and citizens that has created such mystique around Naples’ football culture over the years.

In the city of the sun, set back in their quaint yet crazy little shop, the sisters have created bespoke umbrellas for every significant historical moment and player to grace the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, since, well… Maradona. This is how the Talarico’s show their support for both the club and the players, who have given so much to them and their city. Independent Neapolitan shops fill the streets of this neighbourhood, but only certain artisan owners have taken it upon themselves to regenerate this once dangerous place and transform it into what it is now.

The upcoming UEFA Champions League match against Barcelona, certainly fits the sisters’ criteria for a history-defining moment… potentially paving the way for the one trophy that still eludes them… and in their own words the one that would mean so much. “You saw what happened, when we won our third championship… if we won the UEFA Champions League… just imagine.”

For the sisters a win on the 21st against Barcelona is something they’ll definitely be celebrating, but the creation of an umbrella to mark the occasion will have to wait a little longer, until the final whistle of the second leg. Why? In a word… superstition; “We can only create umbrellas retrospectively of events and achievements from the players”...

Today, it’s almost as if the football club has become a way for locals to relive the traditions and superstitions of old, and these three sisters are no exception. Redefining football fandom in their unique way and debunking old myths with every umbrella they make.

If opening an umbrella indoors is believed to bring you bad luck, then the Talarico sisters' little store in Naples’ Spanish Quarter, has done quite the opposite for the team they and every Neapolitan adores.

As well as celebrating Real Hardcore fans like the Talarico Sisters, Heineken is looking to reward them for their efforts with a once-in-a-lifetime prize - seats at this year’s UEFA Champions League Final. To be in with a chance of winning this amazing prize, fans simply have to share their story of hardcore football fandom with Heineken via the Hardcore Fan Club Hub. A select number will be rewarded with tickets to the final at Wembley, plus a weekend experience in London.