This article will act as introduction to a Lombardia Special which will replace the planned Euro 2020 preview for the June edition of Football Weekends to be published at the end of May.
Anyone who has been reading Football Weekends for any length of time will know from many of my articles that I love Italy. Indeed in a separate article on Como in this edition you’ll discover where that love started. It was a tremendous honour to be asked to write this regional guide to Lombardia, linking in with other contributors pieces on the capital Milan and even more poignantly, the beautiful city of Bergamo, the only major Italian city in the region that I have visited but missing a match on my football CV. Atalanta have been a revelation in the Champions League this season, and scoring goals for fun in Serie A before the game came to a grinding halt due to the virus outbreak.
They say for a certain generation in Italy after Torino’s great side were lost in a plane crash above the city, the vast majority of the country had Toro in their hearts. The same is said after the Munich air crash with Manchester United. So if Bergamo has been the worst affected city in Europe per head of population by Coronavirus (certainly at the time of writing), Atalanta should be, and will be embraced as a symbol of that suffering, and emerging from these darkest days. They might not know it yet, but Atalanta will help unite a grieving city. I for one will be cheering them from this day forward, with a few unlikely caveats should they ever play Anconitana, Cesena, Triestina or Arezzo again!
When the dust settles on this dreadful global pandemic, no matter what happens elsewhere, those of us in Europe will always remember with great sadness how it all unfolded at frightening speed in Lombardia. The unassuming town of Codogno has been sighted as where it all started, where one of the issues as to how it exploded so uncontrollably seems centre on being unable to trace “patient zero”, but I have also read doctors were seeing a rise of a weird pneumonia there as far back as November last year. If that is the case I have been lucky twice, as I was in Lombardia in both November and January. I have also been in Codogno, albeit a few years ago, a small commuter town on the main Milan to Cremona rail line, but a junction to change trains if you are travelling to Cremona from Piacenza by train. For the record Codogno has its own team in Girone B (group) of the Lombardia Eccellenza, the fifth tier.
Lombardia is a vast region in northern Italy with a population of 10 million, the most populous of the twenty that make up the Republic. It is the monied county, with the capital Milan home to 4.3 million, aside from pulling in countless thousands of visitors each year to enjoy it’s stunning Duomo and La Scala theatre etc when times are better. It is also home of the La Borsa, the Italian Stock Exchange, together with the accompanying financial services industry as well as being famed for its central role in the fashion world. I have to say I have a certain dislike for Milan, it’s difficult to explain properly, suffice to say it just doesn’t feel like proper Italy, a place to scamper through without undue dwelling for me. I have been at two encounters at the San Siro, both Inter home games starting with a 1-1 draw with Cesena when Massimo Agostini, Il Condor upstaged the hosts more illustrious German trio of Jurgen Klinsmann, Andreas Brehme and Lothar Matthaus in a buffed up stadium ready for the 1990 World Cup. Seeing Alvaro Recoba weaving his magic against Spartak Moscow in the Champions League was my only other game there, but such a privilege, as he bagged a brace in a 2-1 win.
The region of Lombardia encompasses the shores of Lago Maggiore to the West, and the western shores of Lago di Garda to the East, hemmed in up north by International borders beyond Lago di Como, and on its southern boundaries Voghera, Cremona and Mantova. The jewel of Lombardia is without doubt Bergamo Alta (high), the magnificently preserved UNESCO old town looking down on the modern, sprawling Basso (lower) area of the city, now a desperately grief ridden place, bearing the brunt of the Coronavirus epidemic in Italy. Tales of happier days with Atalanta follow this article, but in the meantime let’s go for a circular tour of the Lombardia region in a clockwise-ish route from Bergamo and back.
It might surprise you that the fans of Milan’s big clubs AC and Inter are not viciously opposed to one another. Yes they have a rivalry, but the highest alert derby of Lombardia has always been when Atalanta play Brescia. Given this truly awful situation, and the amazing coming together of people in the shared desire to see the back of this virus, would it be too naive on my part to think that the ultras of these bitter old rivals, from two of the cities with the biggest outbreaks and deaths might start a new period of harmony between them? I hope so.
Brescia is a charming city known as Leonessa D’Italia, (the lioness of Italy) and is about an hour east of Milan by train. When Covid-19 finally leaves the city behind the people who have shown great fortitude and courage will flock back in greater numbers to cheer La Leonessa as the Brescia Calcio are known. Football might drift into the realms of irrelevant at the height of such tragedies that we are all living, but upon safer times ahead, a real outpouring of emotion will be displayed and none more so than by fans the world over who have missed the beautiful game and who will rush to embrace their local football team, especially in this area of Italy. All Lombardian clubs will especially rekindle dormant memories and see considerable upturns in attendances, and historical rivalries might diminish.
When calcio was halted, Brescia’s return to Serie A was looking perilous, having resorted to a fourth managerial change, including a reinstatement of Eugenio Corini at number three for a few weeks having started the season as the hero who got the club back into Serie A. I pitched up at the picturesque Mario Rigamonti stadium for a fourth time last November when Torino took advantage of a mutinous mood in the stadium as Corini had just been sacked. Toro ripped Brescia asunder, and as the goals totted up, four in the end, the defiant cries of “Eugenio Corini” got louder and louder. Mario Balotelli was a man in a bad mood, eventually he was hooked at half-time. He is just the most recent famous player to don the blue shirt with the white “V” frontage, with Roberto Baggio and Pep Guardiola two other illustrious ex Bresciani. Serie B is where the club obviously feel the safest with more than half their entire existence played out in the second level. I am sure they look north to Bergamo with envious eyes at how Atalanta have pushed beyond just being a Serie A also-ran.
Brescia now has a brilliant underground system that will whisk you the considerable distance south of the railway station to the stadium in a matter of minutes. In my previous three visits in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s, Triestina, Ancona and Bari all failed to win, but seeing Franco Causio’s penultimate ever game for Triestina at the end of an illustrious career was a real high point. By the time this goes to press, it seems unlikely calcio will return in 2019/20, and as to what fate falls on a Serie A struggler at the cessation, it does matter, but in the grander scheme of life, La Lionessa will doubtlessly accept its fate, but given the suffering, relegation would be cruel.
The extremity of Lombardia’s eastern boundary can be found on the shores of Lake Garda at Salo, infamous for being where Mussolini ran a puppet state during the Second World War. In the footballing world it is home to third tier Feralpisalo, a club that has only been in existence 11 years after two fourth tier Salo clubs merged. They consistently joust at the upper end of Serie C if rarely threatening the direct promotion slot. They had a cracking run in the Serie C Coppa Italia this season, only to crash out in the semi-finals after extra time to the controversial Juventus U23 side, the sole “big” club with a second team in the Italian league. Whether Ternana v Juve U23 as the final will ever be played, who knows.
Well south of Lake Garda is Mantova, a city surrounded on three sides by lakes, and is famed for its imposing Ducal Palace. In the modern era the local club have never risen above Serie B, and even then largely at the wrong end, but in the ‘60’s they enjoyed half a dozen Serie A campaigns. I was at Stadio Conero, Ancona in late May 2010 when both the hosts and Mantova were scrapping for Serie B survival and a tense but exciting 2-2 draw was played out. In the end it didn’t matter, both went bust that summer! Both have struggled ever since, but Mantova were easily on the way back to the third tier this season when the virus called a halt, and a potential end to the season. The club went bust more recently in 2017, making for a near record fifth bankruptcy, rising once more as Mantova 1911 SSD. The stadium, the Danilo Martelli is a very well kept stadio on the edge of town with a near 15,000 capacity. My solitary game here was in 2007 in Serie B when Rimini ran out 1-0 winners on a dreich afternoon. I was back in Mantova in January, not for football, but to enjoy it’s central area around the vast Piazza Sordello, as well as indulge in the speciality dish Pumpkin Tortelli, none better than from Osteria Delle Erbe in Piazza Erbe. It is a relaxed city, always a nice place to hang out, and once this virus has been quelled the entire region of Lombardia will relish support from visitors once more, be it for football or otherwise.
Moving west from Mantova, the next big city is Cremona, another superb place to visit. It is most famous for the production of viola, with the stradivarius the famous instrument made here. As soon as you step out of the railway station an enormous silver statue of a stradivarius greets your arrival. The area around the cathedral is especially beautiful, with its facade of orange and white coloured brickwork more reminiscent of Parma, further south in Emilia Romagna, rather than anywhere nearby. Cremona’s proximity to Codogno meant it was one of the first towns in the firing line with the virus, but somehow the breakouts further north in Bergamo and Brescia eclipsed the considerable suffering here.
The local football team Cremonese have a rather unique colour scheme of red and grey stripes. They play at the very presentable Giovanni Zini stadio, about a 25 minute walk left of the railway station. They made a brief appearance in Serie A in the ‘80’s, but Serie B and C are where you will largely find them. They do have an Anglo-Italian Cup to their name, having beaten Derby County in the final at Wembley. I was at the Zini stadio in 2017 when i grigiorossi (the grey and reds) were closing in on the i grigi (the greys) of Alessandria at the top of the table for the solitary automatic promotion place. It wasn’t an ideal fixture against one of those hideous “here today, gone tomorrow” clubs near Roma, this time in the shape of Lupa Roma. They were going down anyway, and their only tactic on a scorching hot Saturday afternoon was to break up and stop play as often as possible. The relief 20 minutes from time when Cremonese finally broke their resolve was palpable, only for the time wasting baton to be handed over to the home team as they saw the game out. Prato beat Alessandria that night with a coupon busting away win, and they never recovered, Cremonese were back in B where they have been the last season and three quarters.
A little north of Cremona is the quaint town of Crema, home to third tier Pergolettese. They were enjoying their first season at that level when football stopped. The town was previously home to Pergocrema, but following liquidation in 2011, Pizzighettone moved to Crema and changed name to continue the fine tradition of football in the town. The compact Giuseppe Voltini Stadio holds just under 5,000.
In the south west corner of the region are two towns that I am yet to visit but both are prevalent in my thoughts as friends either live there or have family. One or two gaps in my grand tour of Lombardia have been filled with wonderful photos from my friend Matteo, an Edinburgh based fan of Genoa and Pavia, while my dear friend Claudia stays safe in Voghera fretting about the distance from her son in Trieste where he should have been having a lavish University graduation celebration. His day will come, getting through this crisis is the uppermost thought in everyone’s mind.
Pavia is a commuter town for Milan, a name made famous by the vast Renaissance monastery, the Certosa di Pavia. The local club FC Pavia have had a checkered history, where unusually before the modern Italian malaise of bankruptcy became fashionable they’d gone bust five times by 1958, having only started up in 1911. With just one further bankruptcy in 2016 during the second half of their existence it seems almost stable in comparison. Their sole title was a third tier championship in 1952/53 and a brief passage in Serie B followed. They came close to repeating the feat in 2008/09 going down narrowly to Padova in a play off. Pavia’s Pietro Fortunato stadio has a capacity of one shy of 5,000, more than sufficient for an Eccellenza club, essentially the 5th tier. Pavia’s bitter rivals are ASD Sant’Angelo Lodigiani who had a decade in the sun from the early ‘70’s in the third tier, when they played amongst others Atalanta at one point. They are now in a different Eccellenza division from Pavia so for now this rivalry is on pause.
A little further south from Pavia is Voghera, where the original team of town AC Voghera reached its pinnacle of three successive seasons in Serie B but relegation saw the club liquidated. There seems to be a correlation in Italy between reaching a higher level, relegation back down and going bust. Is it over extending to compete? The reformed club dotted in and out of the fourth tier, then known as Serie C2 before imploding once more in 2013. Their story thereafter is bizarre, if you are sitting comfortably I will begin! In 2001 the unassuming clubs of FC Casteggio and AC Bruni decided to merge and play in Casteggio. Eight years later, playing in the 5th tier but in financial trouble it was decided to move to Stradella, merging with SG Stradella, who themselves had only been a club for two season having taken over from Oltrepo Calcio, a club who had been made it into the old fourth tier of the professional ranks in the ‘80’s. The newly merged club tipped the hat to them taking the name ASD SBC Oltrepo. Four years later when AC Voghera (then known as Vogherese) liquidated after 94 years it created a gap in the bigger catchment area of Voghera and so Oltrepo and all its initials merged with an tiddly local club with a mouthful of a title; AS Accademia Team Anni Verdi Voghera, to be known as ASD OltrepoVoghera, playing at the 4,700 capacity Giovanni Parisi in Voghera. Following relegation back the Eccellenza tier in 2018 the name was reverted back to ASD Vogherese 1919, and they play alongside neighbours Pavia in Girone A. It’s a complicated game keeping track of club changes in Italy! Vogherese were in the promotion play off places when proceedings stopped.
Heading back north towards Milan you will come through the town of Lodi, which oddly this far south in Europe was once a Celtic settlement. It’s vital position on the River Adda eased Gauls into the Roman Empire as they were granted citizenship in exchange for allowing a Roman road to cross the river here. A subtle change of tactic by the Romans here! I am unsure what it is about black and white stripe shirted clubs being amongst the oldest in any given county but it is quite common, Notts County is one that springs to mind, perhaps more niche but TB Tvoroyri have the same kit and are the oldest in the Faroe Islands. Here in Lodi, the local team ASD Fanfulla are amongst the oldest in Italy, founded in 1874, albeit the usual more recent issues mean the current club are technically only five years old. The unusual name comes from Bartolomeo Fanfulla, a knight from Lodi who together with 12 other knights defeated the French in the challenge of Barletta in 1503, impressive stuff. Given Bartolomeo was a warrior, it will come as no surprise that Fanfulla are known as Guerriero, The Warriors, which should by rights set up a club friendship with Stenhousemuir! The tiddly capacity of 2,184 at Stadio Dossenina certainly rivals that of Ochilview. The clubs highs came in the ‘40’s and the ‘50’s with 13 seasons in Serie B in that period, although more recently they were awarded a Gold Star for sporting merit in 1974, but I can’t discover why it was given to them. The star certainly sits proudly on the club badge, and Fanfulla also won the Coppa Italia C in 1983/84, and this is when I push the couch out and hide, they beat Ancona in the final! They presently can be found in the upper reaches of their 4th tier division should the 19/20 season recommence.
Passing north of the capital, the greater Milan area is home to many small clubs; Pro Sesto, who I saw once in Serie C at Cesena; Saronno, a town more famous for its Amaretto liqueur, and Milan City to name but a few, but in Busto Arsizio you’ll find Aurora Pro Patria, a patriotically named club “for the fatherland” as Pro Patria translates from Latin. The club enjoyed 14 seasons in the top flight, but the last time was in 1955/56. They are now a stalwart of the third tier, and they have a particular rivalry with Piemonte club Alessandria, possibly as a fellow regular C club, but should Varese or Legnano make it back to the third tier, move over i Grigi of Alessandria, these are the real rivals. The clubs QPR, or Greenock Morton -esque kit is certainly unusual in a country where hooped football shirts are not the normal. Busto Arsizio is just twenty minutes from Milan Malpensa making it an easy option for an in and out flight and a game in one day! It is thirty minutes north of Milan itself on the Malpensa Express train line.
Five minutes from Busto Arsizio is Legnano, a town every Italian sings whenever the National anthem gets trotted out. This odd quirk comes from Legnano being the site of an historic battle victory of the Lombardia League over Frederick Barbarossa in 1176, with “Dall’Alpi a Sicilia dovunque e Legnano” being the line. While il Palio bareback horse race is most famous in Siena, on the 29th May each year the battle is remembered in Legnano with its very own Palio, a day that is a regional holiday for all Lombardia. Like so many of the teams we are dropping in on throughout this tour, AC Legnano enjoyed three Serie A campaigns starting in the 1930 when they debuted by beating Genoa 2-1. The last time they were in Serie A was in the fifties, a period of football history when this region of Lombardia was heavily represented in the top flight. Legnano’s colour scheme isn’t unique but lilac and white kit is certainly rare throughout the football world, with Fiorentina being the most well known wearer of such colours in Italy, albeit a darker shade. Legnano are in the 4th tier these days having been through the usual bucketful of financial issues. Just how will the lengthy gap affect clubs like Legnano once it is safe to resume playing? It is an unknown question for every club in every land, except Belarus it seems!
Further north up the western boundary of the region is Varese. In Italian football team names, “ese” at the end usually means “team of”, Udinese for example, team of Udine. Varese is an anomaly as the town is known as Varese, not just its football club. Despite having fallen on desperately low non-league league status now, Varese’s ultras made an unwanted name for the town last term when they teamed up with Nice and Inter ultras to cause mayhem against visiting Napoli fans outside the San Siro. It truly is hoped that such depressing moments will disappear when calcio returns. Varese were a regular Serie A club for a decade having successfully negotiated back to back promotions to the top table in 1964. It was remarkable that they survived in the top flight for a decade without as much as an undue great escape, but in those days the word consistency could easily have been added to the club name. Even relegation back to B in 1975 brought another decade in the same tier, but since 1985 it’s been largely tales of woe. Roberto Bettega and Claudio Gentile donned their Arsenal-esque red and white shirt in the Serie A days. The stadium is one of those velodrome rimmed grounds that proliferated Northern Italy especially, and with a capacity of 8,213 it adds credence to the idea the club is too big for Lombardia’s third tier on non league, but just when they seemed to have steadied and are ready to move up, they implode again and Varese’s game of snakes and ladders continues. The stadium is called Franco Ossola in reverence not only to an ex-Varese servant, but also one of the Torino players who perished on Superga. The town also was the home of Giuseppe Meazza, and we all know which famous nearby stadium carries his name!
Edging north eastward, Como is covered in another article in this edition of the magazine, a city that can be found at one of the two southerly tips of the two legs that make up the majestic Lake Como. The other leg is where you’ll find the slightly smaller town of Lecco, Como’s rivals. Lecco fans will probably chase me out of town for saying this if I ever get there to see a game, but they will forever live in the shadow of Como. Lecco have enjoyed three season’s in Serie A but 11 years after Como starting in 1960, a period when Como were in Serie B or C, and so this fierce rivalry has never had a top flight encounter. The 60’s and the early ‘70’s were Lecco’s heyday, but relegation in ‘72/73 from B was the last time the club were in the top two tiers. They can puff the chest out on one count however, unlike Como’s boom/bust days, Lecco have never been bankrupt. They were back in the third tier this season and got two feisty encounters with Como before it all came down.
A rogue third wheel in the vicinity of Lake Como are Renate, who are covered in my article on Como, as was Monza very recently in the February edition telling tales of a side on the cusp of returning to Serie B which would merely act as a pit stop en route to Serie A for this ambitious club. However, will this virus see this fast moving tale needing to slam on the brakes? It has to be said, of the 13 games I have watched in Lombardia, the two I saw at Stadio Brianteo were both the most thrilling, 3-3 v Ancona some years ago, and 2-2 last November versus Carrarese.
Next along our circle of clubs heading back towards Bergamo are AS Giana Erminio from Gorgonzola, a town more famed for its smelly, but delicious cheese. After a 105 years of under achieving Giana made it to the third tier in 2014/15 for the first time ever, and while they were bottom of the pile when the season came to a halt, the potential cancellation of the season might save them from being relegated. This season Gorgonzola has been home to Albinoleffe as well, a fellow Serie C club. With major refurbishments going on in Bergamo at Atalanta’s Stadio Atleti Azzurri D’Italia, the merged club from Albino and Leffe needed to find a new home, but Gorgonzola’s 3,766 capacity is in truth a better ground to create an atmosphere when they play.
Back in Bergamo, one other club shares the name of this traumatised city with Atalanta, Virtus Ciserano Bergamo, but the name is deceptive in that they are the reincarnation of Alzano Virescit (who played a season in Serie B), Aurora Seriate and Virtus Bergamo who had all merged at various points ahead of pulling resources with Ciserano in 2019. They play in Ciserano, a town on the plains just south of Bergamo, where they can be found playing in the 4th tier. The club represents the communities of Alzano Lombardo, Seriate and Ciserano little towns that have been absolutely devastated by Covid-19 very sadly.
So there you have it in a nutshell the main, and some of the not so main protagonists who play their football in Lombardia. A region that is going to have a sombre feel for some time to come. When all is clear and this virus is contained the world of football might look very different, not just here but everywhere. It is hoped that football clubs throughout the globe will survive, but in a country where summer bankruptcies are commonplace, we can only hold our breath and hope. The real heroes of this period in history are not the monied football stars, but the doctors, nurses, orderlies, policemen, supermarket staff, and everyone who has kept the wheels of essential services moving. I have two heroes in my own roster of Italian friends, neither of them in Lombardia, but Andrea in nearby Padova is working long hours as a policeman to keep the citizens safe, and Stefano in Ancona is working longer hours too in his medical supply company to keep hospitals replenished as well as looking after his elderly mother, I salute you both amici, I am proud of you.
As to whether there will be a backlash against excessive salaries for a footballer, only time will tell. That is an essay, or even a book in itself, but I do acknowledge many footballers are donating vast sums or pulling their weight in helping out where they can, every gesture is appreciated. It will be even more acutely appreciated in Lombardia where the motto “Noter an’ mola mia” is the local Bergamasco mantra to get through this horrendous period of history, “we don’t give up”.
If you have been affected by Covid-19, having had it, or lost a loved one to it, this article is dedicated to you, and especially to those we have lost. The football family is strong, and we join the Bergamsachi in saying “we don’t give up”.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 