Amongst Italian clubs, two kits are almost globally unique, last month I wrote about “i grigi”, the gray shirts of Alessandria, so it seems only appropriate to bring “i grigirossi” (the gray and reds) of Cremonese to life this month.
The club comes from the delightful city of Cremona (population 72,680) tucked away near the southern boundary of Lombardy edging eastwards. It is on the banks of the River Po, a long meandering river, the longest in Italy, which stretches almost in a straight line from Western Piemonte near France to the Venetian delta. In winter the Po is infamous for bringing mist and fog to places along its route. It also adds the culinary delight of locally caught fish to the menu of a landlocked city.
The mention of Venice above is good, as they were one of many different rulers of the city, and while they might only have been here for ten years, those hard working Venetians quickly hunkered down and left indelible marks of the Kingdom in construction (probably aided by many an unwilling local). The history of Cremona then takes an usual twist as the city was then handed over to the Spanish, conquered briefly by the French before being passed on to the Austrians! If you throw in the first known settlers, the Cenomani (a Gallic tribe) around 400 BC, and then the Romans saddled up and set up a military post in Cremona, the city has had a veritable smorgasbord of cultures passing through.
Perhaps it was the Austrian influence that led the city to become world renown, but it wasn’t anything to do with US Cremonese! During the “Austrian” period, the city began to gain a reputation for its exquisite manufacturing of musical instruments. Two families led the way, the Amaro and Rugeri’s, but the latter day workmanship of the Guarneri and especially Stradivari families catapulted Cremona to the top of the violin crafting table. UNESCO seems to hand out awards like confetti (although as we saw recently, they can take them away too), but “the traditional violin craftsmanship” in Cremona was given the more unusual accolade “intangible cultural heritage” award in 2012. A long overdue acknowledgement of the city’s important contribution to world music.
Modern day Cremona doesn’t have a whiff of any of these International lords that once ruled, it is a very fine Italian city. The centre is a real gem of classic Italian architecture, with the Cathedral and its Baptistery, not dissimilar to Parma or Pistoia, but all three are in different regions and the stonework and colour schemes are all slightly different. There is more than enough in Cremona to warrant a full day trip, or longer. It is a nice, more tranquil base to stay and allows visits to nearby Mantova or Verona in one direction, and Milan in the other. It’s just over an hour by train to Milan, and with accommodation pricey, especially during the week in the Lombardian capital, it’s a good alternative. You’ll get a more genuine Italian atmosphere staying in a city like Cremona. If you are thinking of going Stradivarius shopping, bring your cheque book, but make sure you’ve secured a significant overdraft/loan as these instruments ain’t cheap!
An enormous silver Stradivarius greets your arrival in the city if you are arriving by train, as the little park outside the station immediately reminds you that it is musical instruments and not the football team that are famous here. If time is limited and your sole desire is to see a game, the stadium is easily accessed on foot from the station. Just turn left past the Stradivari statue and continue along the road nearest to the railway tracks which hits Via Brescia after a ten minute walk. A right turn and brief walk in the direction of the city centre, followed by first left, an almost doubling back angle e viola, the Stadio Giovanni Zini unfolds before you. The floodlights are mighty high, so they act as a good guide above the apartment blocks in the vicinity as you walk along.
The Giovanni Zini stadium is named after a club goalkeeper who died in WWI, and is a well appointed venue with a 20,641 capacity. The stand side in particular has nowhere to go as apartments are right behind it, and the away terrace is right on a road, but who needs to increase capacity here, it’s more than sufficient for Cremonese, even if they got back to Serie A. The surrounding area is largely residential, maybe the odd small local carry out shop/bar, but the walk from the restaurants and spacious bars of the centre of Cremona are not too far away, for pre or post match entertainment. Inside the stadium, kiosks will sell you standard fare, including beer. Aside from a small canopy over the back seats of the stand, all three other sides are uncovered, so if the likelihood is for inclement weather, be warned.
Cremonese were in the very first Serie A set up in 1929/30, but quickly nosedived into obscurity as the inception of a league pyramid saw bigger cities start to get a handle on this football lark. I grigirossi’s decline though was interminable, lasting for nearly 50 years before the club popped its head into a league worthy of note. The rise was then quite dramatic, and in 1984, 55 years after it all started, Cremonese were nibbling at the top table once more. Alas it was only scraps, albeit regular scraps with three one season visits in a relatively short space of time with 1989/90 and 1991/92 being the other two. A bit like the extraordinary number of armies that had invaded Cremona, they didn’t give up, they merely dusted themselves down, and on this occasion, it was fourth time lucky.
Under the tutelage of Luigi “Gigi” Simoni, who sadly passed away last year, the club had its golden period. By 1993/94 the club were back in Serie A, but this time, instead of crashing down immediately they managed to stay afloat for three seasons, with a club high 10th place finish in that inaugural term of the three. The springboard to the promotion had been a rare piece of silverware when they beat Derby County 3-1 to win the Anglo Italian Cup at Wembley in the clubs promotion season of ‘92/93.
The crash when it came with relegation in ‘95/96 was a horror show, with the club slipping down and down until they bottomed out in the old Serie C2 (4th tier) in 2000. However, in a classic game of snakes and ladders (without bankruptcy it should be noted), back to back promotions hoisted them back to Serie B, but only for a season. The club just couldn’t get out of the third tier and for 12 years they tried, coming close in 2009 losing a play off to fellow Lombardian club Varese. In 2017 the two “grigi” Alessandria and Cremonese gradually became the top two in one of the third tier regional “girone” or divisions. By February though Alessandria looked to be clear, however Cremonese refused to stop applying as much pressure as they could. When I was at a Saturday afternoon game at the Stadio Zini that season, a dreadful 1-0 win over a hopeless mob from Roma called Lupo put them a little closer until Alessandria hosted Prato that night. The strugglers from Tuscany came away with an unexpected 3-1 win, it was the result that broke the Alessandrian resolve and the whole weekend became pivotal. Buoyed by edging closer, Cremonese never looked back, and whizzed by their rivals in the table without as much as a backward glance. The club have been back in Serie B ever since, but as yet without setting the heather on fire at the top end, nor looking like relegation fodder.
Intriguingly the two “grigi” will lockhorns for the first time since 2017/18, and for the first time ever in Serie B this season, after the “always the bridesmaid” tag was finally laid to rest by Alessandria, coming through a grueling play off series of matches in Serie C to join Cremonese. A meeting of these two is a fixture I have penciled in for 2021/22 but perhaps the second meeting much later in the season with hope that travel will be easier, after all when are you going to encounter two clubs with gray as part of the classic colours coming together in a league fixture. “I grigi derby” is born!!
England fans won’t necessarily want to read this, but two of the greatest Cremonese players of all time were part of Robert Mancini’s backroom staff at the delayed Euro 2020 finals, and helped guide Gli Azzurri to the title. They are of course Gianlica Viali and Attilo Lombardo, both ex-team mates of Mancini at Sampdoria. Gianluca is a Cremona lad, starting his career with his hometown team in 1980. He played for the club for four years, contributing 23 goals from 105 appearances, and was part of that historic first promotion to Serie A in ‘83/84, when his abilities doubtlessly became more widely known and instead of playing in the top flight with Cremonese, he was off to start on a new journey with Sampdoria that would turn him into a Samp legend.
Just a couple of seasons later Attilo Lombardo arrived at Cremonese having started his career at nearby Pergolettese. He would also enjoy a four season stretch at the Zini, playing a part in the clubs next promotion to Serie A, but a bit like groundhog day, this merely alerted Sampdoria to his tricky winger skills and he too was off to Genoa to become a club legend as well. Attilo played 168 times for i grigirossi scoring 22 goals. The curious thing about both Lombardi and Vialli, they both played here, then Sampdoria, then Juventus, and ended up in London at roughly the same time playing for Crystal Palace and Chelsea respectively. The circle was fully drawn when Mancini decided to get the old gang back together to revive the spirits of Italy, from World Cup flops in 2018 to European Champions in 2021 is testimony to the work ethic and enthusiasm of all three of these guys.
With the new season just underway, Serie B like all Italian football will be relishing the return of the tifosi (the fans). It is a league packed with some great names of Italian football, where Cremonese, Vicenza, SPAL and Brescia will be joined by four great clubs from the third tier, Como, Perugia, Ternana (the Umbrian derby is back between these two) and Alessandria, together with Parma from the top flight, Gigi Buffon et all. The bounce for calcio could be huge, the joy of winning the Euros and the return of fans, it promises to be a great season, and if you are in Lombardy, give Cremona and it’s football team a once over. Personally you’d catch me here in a heartbeat over going to the San Siro these days.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 