Beginners Guide to Italia

An article written for the February or March version of Football Weekends. Ideas for where and how to enjoy calcio.

I am sure many readers need no introduction to getaways in some European countries, but maybe Italy has slipped down the pecking order when planning a trip to catch some football abroad. 

Italian football has been through some rough times in the past two decades, violence in stadiums was increasing and the betting scandals of calciopoli which saw Juventus relegated really hurt. These events came at a time when money was flowing into other leagues, and while Italy didn’t stand still, it fell behind the other trio of the perceived big quartet. The shoots of a new Italian confidence are returning, even if like everywhere, that recovery is taking a knock during this pandemic. 

Many fans of Calcio in the UK came to the table when a bold move by Channel 4 brought Serie A into our homes in 1992 for free. The arrival of Paul Gascoigne doubtlessly inspired the idea, and when they aired the very first game, Sampdoria v Lazio, it was a 3-3 belter of a game. I became a tifoso (fan) of the Italian game a decade earlier, and even convinced my dad to get us a “squarial”, a natty smaller satellite dish of BSB so Martin Tyler’s commentaries could bring the Italian game to life. However, it was the passion and enthusiasm of James Richardson on his Saturday morning magazine show on Channel Four that sold a generation of viewers a love of Calcio. So whether you are a novice Italian fan, or a hardened Ultra, pour yourself a big frothy cappuccino, get a pile of papers (one pink preferably) and imagine you are sat at a cafe table just outside the Pantheon in Roma as we bring you the Beginners Guide to Italy.

HOW DO I GET THERE?

Obviously the quickest and easiest way to get to Italy is by flying. Before the virus nearly brought the aviation industry to its knees an extraordinary array of destinations were available, particularly if you were flying out of the many London departure points. Whether, Genoa, Trieste (which is nowhere near the city), Treviso, Pescara, Perugia, Ancona or Firenze survive as arrival points in Italy from the UK remains to be seen, but the bigger “hubs” Milan (Malpensa, Linate, Bergamo), Roma (Fiumicino or Ciampino), Napoli, Pisa, Bologna, Venezia and Verona will still be available. Direct flights to more southerly cities than Napoli will prove tricky, but if you are headed for the wonderful attractions of Puglia, a connection to Bari will get you there, or a train down the coast from Bologna, Ancona or Pescara. Similarly, if you are thinking of Reggio Calabria or Sicily, connecting flight to Catania would work, or a train south from Napoli.

If you are not in any hurry, or thinking to make for a multi-nation trip and tailor it around games in a variety of lands, the train is another option with stopovers, or a lengthy seat/bed on a night train via France or Belgium/Germany.    

WHERE DO I STAY?

That depends on which area of the country you wish to concentrate. There are a variety of centres where you could unpack your stuff in one room and use that city as a base to get about. Milan is cheaper to stay in at the weekend than during the week oddly, and offers a huge range of accommodations close to Milano Centrale station for ease of taking the train to an inordinate number of games for a day trip; Brescia, Bergamo, Como, Monza, Piacenza, Parma, Cremona are all easily accessed. Bologna is another fine option, especially as this region’s football teams are gradually increasing in the top two flights, but beware, unlike Milan hotel prices rise on the weekend as Bologna is an increasingly popular tourist destination. Alternatives for a slightly cheaper stay if Bologna is too expensive would be Modena (which will get you calcio and the Ferrari museum if that’s your bag) or Imola (similar third tier calcio club Imolese, or a car race, as the stadium is right beside the track!) From Bologna it will allow trips to see Sassuolo or Reggiana (the same city Reggio Emilia) , Modena and Parma north of the city, or Cesena, Ravenna, Forli, Imola or Rimini to the south. 

Roma isn’t so great for travel outside the city to games as there is a dearth of top clubs aside from the capital duo within an easy 60 minute train ride, but Benevento isn’t too far. The abundance of accommodation and the all year round tourism in the capital mean the prices are generally high at all times be it during the week or weekend. 

Pisa is a great base for Tuscany, not only is the airport minutes from the town, Livorno, Lucca, Empoli, Siena and Firenze are all easy to get to as well as the home side’s stadium being near the Leaning Tower . If you were looking for a base to catch some action in Sicily, Catania is a good option, albeit Palermo is quite a distance away, but Messina, Siracusa and just across the Straits in Reggio Calabria, Reggina are all easy to visit. 

HOW DO I GET AROUND?

In Italy, the railway services are fabulous, and the variety of options in terms of speed of train is also extraordinary. If you are going for a lengthier trip the Frecciarossa or Frecciabianca (fast trains) are always worth booking in advance as the prices rise like airline seats as they disappear. However, if it is just a slower regional train, buying on the day doesn’t impact the price. If you were staying in any of the cities mentioned above, to get to the destinations mentioned, you wouldn’t need a fast train, unless it allowed two games in a day etc.  

Just about all major teams are in a town or a city with a railway station, one or two exceptions exist, one in Umbria is third tier Gubbio, and another being Giana Erminio from Gorgonzola near Milan. Buses would be required, and good luck with sorting that out. The buses in Italy aren’t so easy to access proper information ahead of actually being at the bus station from my experience. Another option obviously is car hire, but whether driving in Italy is as crazy as they say I can’t tell you as my CV of driving abroad is restricted to the Faroe Islands, the Algarve and Uruguay, all very sedate!

HOW DO I GET TICKETS?

This is the big question, and one that is improving immeasurably in Italy now. You should be able to buy online ahead of going to Italy for most of the big clubs. Many have outsourced the ticketing to businesses like Vivaticket, and any club website will guide you where to purchase. Even when you are in Italy, far away from printing ability, companies like Vivaticket have designated ticket offices in every city, so if you are in Novara as I was and wanted a ticket for Hellas v Venezia in a few days time and knew I would have little or no time to stand in line to buy on the night, just pop into the Novara CD shop, and it’s sorted, even if it was the first time the lady had ever sold a calcio ticket for the Bentegodi in Verona!

The crucial thing about tickets in Italy is, if you are going to buy outside the ground on the day, allow plenty of time, as if the person through the tiny porthole at the ticket office can’t find GB on the countries list, you could be a while! It is a source of amusement to me now. Do not forget your passport either, as this document is crucial for them to personalise the ticket, and without it you won’t be allowed to buy, as a number of German fans discovered at Sassuolo when I was at the next window.  

Italy perhaps went over the top with ID checks and personalised tickets, but it has had a significant impact in making the grounds safer again, and form part of the revival of the game in the country. Together with the gradual buffing up of the grounds it has seen the return of families to the games in greater numbers, a crucial life blood for the future of calcio, so the ticketing ID requirements have been a success.

Unless you are wishing to go to one of the huge derby games, or a key fixture, the chances of you not getting in are pretty slim. Whether post covid times sees a rise in passion for the local team remains to be seen, but even then a sell out will be rare.  

WHAT IS MATCH DAY LIKE?

Well this is the thing, the ticketing and the security checks etc, while they have made the grounds safer, it’s been at a cost of losing a little of the edgy ways of the past. Argentina and Italy are closely linked through mass immigration over a century ago now and they were very similar in terms of atmosphere in the stadium. It is still a wonderful experience inside an Italian ground, but it’s just a lot less angry but that is no bad thing. Who wants to fret about trouble breaking out, or having to run the gauntlet at the end of the game.

You’ll always be able to grab a beer or a snack from a stall inside any Italian ground, or a van outside, but once into the stadium, the price of your ticket will determine where you have chosen to sit, or stand. The Curvas (behind each goal) are the areas of the stadiums with the best atmosphere, these are the cheaper tickets and home to the loyal fans and Ultras. Try an afternoon amongst the true fans of smaller clubs like SPAL, Cosenza or Hellas and you’ll be blown away by the noise, passion and pageantry. The same is perhaps true here, especially in England, where the bigger the club, the more sterile the atmosphere has become, as prices have taken a number of proper fans away from these clubs, because they just can’t afford it now. That said, you’ll still get a wonderful atmosphere in the San Siro or at Juve, but different from the slightly smaller teams, and the further south you go, the greater the passion grows. 

If you are looking for a more sedate seat but still engaged in the action, the Gradinata is the next best option, this is usually the stand or terracing opposite the main stand, which is known as the Tribuna, where silly amounts of money will get you a centre stand ticket. However, if it’s a hot or a wet day, this section in many stadiums is the only area that will save you from a soaking or heat stroke!

One thing to note, unlike in the cold lands of the north where turning up 20 minutes before the start is considered early, going to the ground in Italy is still an occasion, a chance to catch up with chums who they only meet here ahead of the game. I have been at games where the ground is three quarters full an hour ahead of kick off. 

THE LEAGUE     

Serie A runs “normally” from September to May, but that’s likely to get altered slightly, not just this season, but the imminent need to accommodate a winter World Cup. The league has 20 teams, and the games are spread out each round slightly more than normal just now because of the pandemic, but even when it’s good to return to the stadio, occasional Friday night fixtures, three separate kick off times on a Saturday and Sunday, together with a Monday night game are not unusual. So a long weekend could, if you were keen, bring you three or four top flight games.

That number could increase if you factor in the second and third tiers Serie B and C. There is usually a Serie B fixture on a Friday and a cluster of games in the afternoon on the weekend and maybe a Sunday night game too. In the third tier, they tend to have one game from each of the three divisions on a Saturday night, with the remainder of the games split between 14,00 and 16,30 kick offs on the Sunday, plus one solitary Monday night game. The kick off times on the Sunday are frustratingly close, almost guaranteeing it’s impossible to do two Serie C games on the day.   

So there you have it in a nutshell, the world of calcio is a beautiful thing, and as the clock ticks on, by the time you read this I will have gone 12 months without seeing a game in Italy for the first time in a good number of years. Making plans for when the good times return is one way of staying positive, and even if it isn’t yet safe or it becomes a situation where they can’t  welcome fans back in great numbers until 2021/22, I’ll be there as soon as possible and I hope I have whet the appetite for a post covid Calcio experience for everyone. The football on show now is fantastic, as Atalanta, Hellas and even newly promoted Spezia have brought exciting dynamics to their play to name but three of the eye catching lesser sides in Serie A. It’s a great country, dripping in history, culinary delights, wines et all, if you go, you won’t be disappointed.