I suppose it is hard for you English lads to adopt the italian version of fans the so called ULTRAS, but if you ask me, they revolutionized the way we fans should act in the stands with banners flags and pyros.
Maybe with the pyros etc but it was the old Spion Kop that revolutionised the way football fans get behind and support their team. This was in the early 1960s. The old Kop was more of an influence on football fans internationally that Italian Ultras. It was the Kop that started mass unorchestrated ad lib singing and chanting etc etc, especially when it changed to reflect aspects of the game in question (such as taking the piss out of a certain player or the score). It was also the Kop that began the massed scarf raising/swaying while singing their anthem which many many football fans worldwide now do.
The Kop isn't the most famous stand/fan section in the world for nothing. It became famous because it was revolutionary and unique. Italian football fans emulated a lot of what the Kop was doing in the 1960s and 1970s. I've even heard Roma Ultras say a lot of their stuff was inspired by the Kop when the Kop was in Rome for the 1977 European Cup final. The fans of Juventus and Inter Milan were certainly taken aback and influenced by the new type of support the Kop was coming out with when their teams played Liverpool in 1965/66.
To put it bluntly, the only thing that Liverpool fans should be emulating is the spirit of the old 1960s and 1970s Kop and nobody else. This is what happens on big European nights. They carry it off well.
The Italian Ultras are still great though, so no disrespect there. However, having said that, during the 2005 CL final the AC Milan fans were most definately outclassed and out numbered by the Liverpool fans. When things started going wrong for Milan, there wasn't so much as even a squeak out of them. Contrast that to the defiant half time singing of You'll Never Walk Alone by the Liverpool fans there.
