Football’s Awesome Tifos

The story of the huge hand-painted banners created by football fans around the world, aka 'Tifos'.

Football’s Awesome Tifos

Tifos are large-scale banners, or coordinated ‘mosaic’ displays from hardcore (‘ultra’) fans at football matches. They can be months in the making ahead of important games, but are then only on display for a matter of minutes before kickoff. These essentially ephemeral creations are an incredible show of devotion from the fans, and the origin of the word is Italian, from the manic fever brought on by Typhus i.e. The ‘Tifosi’ are the most passionate supporters, those with the most manic levels of support for their club.