DERBY DAYS/SOCCER DERBY DI SICILIA/Palermo v Catania:The shocking crowd violence during an infamous tie between Sicily's two big clubs has ensured every meeting since is watched with some trepidation by the authorities

THERE ARE two Italys - politically, economically and culturally. One to the north, the other due south. Soccer has not proven immune to the divide.

While Rome is closer in almost every way, including distance, to the great northern cities of Milan and Turin than it is to towns in the far south - such as Catanzaro, which sits on the edge of the Ionian Sea - 15 of the 20 members of the Serie A are located in, or north of, the capital. Two more, Napoli and Bari, lie within a respectable distance of Rome, while Cagliari Calcio is, of course, based on the island of Sardinia.

And, at the southern tip of Italy, on the island of Sicily, are the final members of the elite club in the country of the world champions.

In such splendid isolation, a local feud was always likely to bloom. Derry City have no travel distances to complain about compared to US Città di Palermo and Calcio Catania. As the crow flies, Milan is closer to London than it is to Catania.

And the stars of the game have proven unwilling to fly south for the winter - though Luca Toni did come to Palermo and break their Serie A record by scoring 20 league goals. While Juventus and Milan exhibited the incredible talent of Roberto Baggio, Catania signed his brother, Eddy.

It has made tackling the big boys difficult and competing with each other even more important. In fact, this weekend's Derby Di Sicilia will only be their 11th meeting in the top-flight of Italian soccer, with the rivalry renewed in Serie A for the past three seasons. The derby, however, has been, at times, a most unwelcome guest at the top table.

The 104th edition of the Italian Championship began on September 10th, 2006 and a week later Sicily, and most of Italy, stopped for the first Serie A derby in 33 years.

The game was an eight-goal thriller, and, with the 5-3 home victory, Palermo, for the first time in their history, stood at the top of the Serie A table. After such a high, the return fixture was to provide a crashing low for both clubs, and for soccer in Italy.

Tensions throughout Italy had been building in the run-up to the second Sicilian derby of the season, particularly after the shocking death of a club manager, beaten to death during a riot at a Terza Categoria league match - an amateur league ten divisions below Serie A.

Worried about the February meeting between fifth-placed Catania and third-placed Palermo, the match was brought forward from the planned Sunday afternoon to the Friday evening to avoid a clash with the St Agatha celebrations. The patron saint of Catania once saved Malta from a Turkish invasion, and now Catania prepared itself for the visit of their most hated foes.

The away fans actually didn't arrive until the second half, by which time the visitors were already 1-0 ahead. The reasons behind the delay are unclear and disputed, but the impact the triumphant entrance of the Palermo supporters had on hard-core Catania supporters was instant, and within minutes police were replying with tear gas to missiles thrown from the stands.

Referee Stefano Farina had no choice but to call a halt to the game and when the tie resumed after three-quarters of an hour, Fabio Caserta equalised.

Local police prayed for a draw.

Instead, after an opening goal tinged with the suspicion of offside, what the police got was the worst possible result - a late winner for the visitors which looked like involving a handball.

Enraged, Catania supporters rioted again, ultimately, and tragically resulting in the death of a police officer, Filippo Raciti.

No derby meeting ever had such a direct and immediate impact on sport.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) immediately suspended all matches in Italy - including the national side's clash with Romania that Wednesday and the Italian government quickly passed a law enforcing new security measures, with many league matches going ahead in the weeks following without supporters in attendance due to difficulties complying with the new directives.

For Catania, however, the punishment was much more hard-hitting - with the Stadio Angelo Massimino closed for the rest of the season. The shocking violence that accompanied that tie has made sure every derby meeting since is closely watched by officials and supporters. The intensity, however, has remained the same and in their last league clash, in March, Catania recorded a stunning 4-0 win at Stadio Renzo Barbera in Palermo - their first away victory in more than 18 months.

The game included an early contender for goal of the season, when Giuseppe Mascara hit a volley from the halfway line over Palermo goalkeeper Marco Amelia (worth a look at www.youtube.com/watch?v= 6Q7Z4kw1-8k)

For Catania, added to the 2-0 home result the previous October, it was the ultimate humiliation of the side they share the island with. Even better, the six points lost by Palermo denied their foe a Europa League spot.

In fact, before the 4-0 victory, the last away victory by Catania in the Derby di Sicilia was 16 years previously, when both were toiling in Serie C1.

Already a legend for dramatically saving the club from relegation after joining Catania with just a few matches left in the 2007-08 season, the humiliation of Palermo sealed former Italy coach Walter Zenga's status. And then, at the end of last season, he managed to destroy his legacy at the club, by leaving Catania for their most hated rivals.

It has only added to the build-up to this weekend's clash at the Stadio Renzo Barbera (previously and still commonly known as Stadio La Favorita), where the Republic of Ireland lost to Egypt 0-0, and beat the Netherlands 1-1 during the 1990 World Cup finals.

The war of words in the build-up to the big match has already started, with Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini saying they will thrash their rivals, and the Elefanti director Pietro Lo Monaco responding by telling Palermo to bring it on.

As if they needed any encouragement.

Sunday, kick-off - 3pm (local time), 2pm (Irish time)

Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo