On Friday, thousands of Bari fans gathered at the Stadio San Nicola to bid farewell to club legend Igor Protti. Jonathan Grade was here for Football Italia to cover this mournful night.
It was a very emotional Friday night in the southern city of Bari. Following emotional scenes in Livorno earlier in the week, it was now Valleys’ turn to pay tribute to Igor Protti. He is a player who made a huge contribution to the club in much happier times.
Bari as a club is in one of the darkest periods in its history. Despite recently being relegated to Serie C, fans have made no secret of their distaste for the club’s ownership. They are run by the son of Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis, but feel their club is being ignored by the family.
Sadly, the near-empty San Nicola stadium has seen constant protests and regular boycotts.
But all that was put aside on Friday as the club’s die-hard fans paid tribute to a man they considered one of their own. It was a very emotional ceremony led by a very emotional Michele Salomone.
Mr Salomone is seen as the club’s spokesperson. He has been associated with them for almost 50 years, both as a commentator and as a writer. He shared the stage with most of the big names from the 1993 promotion winning team. Former captain Emanuele Bigica, who was born and raised in Bari, also paid tribute to Protti as a moving montage of the club’s late striker’s goals was shown on the big screen.
Before the ceremony began, the Mayor of Bari, Vito Lessese, unveiled a plaque on Curva Nord and changed its name to Curva Igor Protti. It is where Bari’s ultras are set up on match days and where Protti always ran to celebrate his goals at the edge of the stadium.
For Bari fans, Igor Protti symbolized everything the club stands for. He lived surrounded by fans in the city’s Poggiofranco district and led a very private life, away from the media frenzy that always surrounds Serie A.
He joined the club from Messina in 1992 and after two seasons in Serie B (the second season was injured with a cruciate ligament injury), he finally reached Italy’s top flight in his 11th year as a professional.
In his first Serie A season, strike partner Sandro Tovalieri scored seven goals in his most high-profile season. That year, Bari upset some of Serie A’s biggest clubs, scoring victories over Inter, Milan and Lazio.
However, the 1995-96 season saw Igor’s Serie A career start in earnest. It started with him winning 1,000 bottles of wine after scoring a shocking goal against Napoli in the Serie A season. This will be the first of an incredible 24 times he has shared this season’s Capocannoniere title alongside Lazio legend Beppe Signori.
However, it was bittersweet as Bari would be relegated that season, making Protti the only player in Serie A history to be relegated in the same season while being top scorer.
An emotional night in Bari ⚪🔴 #Protti 🙏
via @jgrade74 pic.twitter.com/pi6K1679Nv
— Football Italia (@footballitalia) June 29, 2026
There was talk of him being called up to the Italian national team for Euro 96 that summer, but that never materialized. He was now one of the hottest names in Italian football, but after being relegated there was no way Bari could keep him. In fact, he would join Lazio’s Signori for around 3.6 million euros, which was a lot of money at the time!
In 1999, after a disappointing period in the Eternal City and then in Naples, Igor found a new home and returned once again to Livorno, where he also achieved legendary status. He is the second player in the history of Italian football to win the Capocanoniere title in Italy’s top three divisions, the other being Dario Hibner.
But last Friday was all about his accomplishments in Bari. His mural in Poggiofranco is decorated with flowers from visitors. He was so sympathetic to naked people that he was given the freedom of the city in 2007.
Livorno and Bari fans paid a beautiful tribute to a player they will always consider to be one of their own. Now it’s time for him to go to his final resting place. His ashes will be scattered at sea in his hometown of Rimini.
Grazie Mille Igor. You made Calcio shine more than I imagined.
Jonathan Grande is the author of Golazzo: The era of Italian football.
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