Virtus Bitritto

Bitritto is a small town in the greater Bari area, and its football club, Virtus Bitritto, has always played in white and green, with an owl perched on a ball at the centre of the crest, a rare symbol in Italian football and a sign of local wisdom. In 2015/16, Virtus was among the clubs admitted to the Puglia Eccellenza, the top regional tier, in the same season and division as neighbouring Real Noci, a genuine provincial derby at district level. In the following years, the club lived the ordinary life of Bari's amateur football, rising and falling between Eccellenza and Promozione, always with a local squad and frequent derbies against clubs like Castellana and Noicattaro. This is football of absolute proximity, played on pitches where players have known each other since childhood and Sunday's results are discussed Monday morning in the town square.