I finally made it to Carrara! Four years ago I thought I was headed to the Stadio Dei Marmi, only to discover on the day of the game, it had been moved to Pontedera due to upgrading work at the stadium in Carrara. Thankfully Pontedera was doable too, but Carrara remained elusive.
My Eleven Sports Serie C subscription has long opened up a whole world of great stadiums, views, fans and action from all the leagues of the Italian third tier, that’s 54 clubs! One or two places have always stuck out; Bisceglie especially, as covered elsewhere in this edition, but Carrarese too came to my attention via this medium. I didn’t become so attached to the team, but the view from the Tribuna is awe-inspiring, and that was just from the TV.
Carrara is a famous town, however it has nothing to do with its football team, but more for its marble. The mountains that surround Carrara are full of the highest quality marble, and its extraction and production are big business for the town and neighbouring Massa. Indeed, the train line that stays closer to the coast, sees you travel through significant rafts, nee piles of magnificently white rock, ready for export and use more locally.
The extraction of the marble high up in the mountains gives the immediate impression of snow, but is merely scarred by centuries of mining. It is the view of these mountains at the Stadio Dei Marmi that is quite the stunning backdrop, and if a view was the reason for attracting me to Carrara, it didn’t disappoint. Sometimes a photo or a sighting on TV of anything that catches your eye can be a disappointment in reality, but that was not the case here, the sheer drama of these marble mountains is both impressive and inspiring.
In hindsight, it was maybe a good thing that Carrarese moved the venue in September 2018 as an evening game would have been wasted here. Under the lights with darkness all around, the marble mountains would have been merely lost in the night. Yes, I would have made sure to arrive ahead of the sunset, but I was only arriving in Italy that day, basing myself in Livorno, so I wouldn’t have arrived too much ahead of the game.
Perhaps in those pre-pandemic days it was easy to buy a ticket outside the stadium. As I write this article, I still have no idea how to buy a ticket for Carrarese. I wrote to the club but never received a reply, then that inquiry was surpassed when my great friends from Livorno decided they would join me in Carrara. Fabrizio works for the FIGC (Italian football authorities) based in Pisa arranging the lower level local leagues. Interestingly they don’t allow someone to conduct this role in their home city, hence this situation. However, despite being 2 leagues apart at the moment, well versed Calcio aficionado will know the huge rivalry between Livorno and Pisa. Curiously, Pisa remains the last big venue in Tuscany I haven’t seen a game from yet, but in truth Massese are higher up my “must do” list!
Anyway, Fabrizio, whose employment affords him a free ticket for whatever game he wishes to attend is friends with one of the staff at Citta di Pontedera, who were the opposition that day, and on the basis I was going to be writing about the match, he managed to get me a complimentary ticket, hence my uncertainty on ticketing. There certainly was no booth open anywhere to buy on the day. In truth, something is going to have to give on this point, in Italy and elsewhere. My interest and passion is wrapped up in Italian football, but its lack of basic communication is dreadful and even the lack of forethought of souvenir potential is poor. I was staying in Pistoia for six nights, and while there was no game, I had my eye on the local clubs’ natty new away shirt. I had written before travelling without success, and on my one day in the town I took a walk out the stadium believing someone would be around. There was, I could hear them inside, but pressing the office doorbell failed to elicit a response, so I stood outside and wrote another Email suggesting we could perhaps transact via my hotel, an establishment I know has been used by the club for pre-match relaxation, but of course, how stupid of me, I never got a reply, and the chance for that shirt has sailed.
Arriving at Carrara-Avenza station is a good old distance from the stadium, and even further from the centre of Carrara. A slight downward slope from the railway station is followed by one solitary right turn on the main road, under the rail tracks above and then it is up and up. This pleasant, wide boulevard goes on for kilometre after kilometre, and it never flattens out. The stadium is one of the easiest to find, it’s visible from this main road just one block behind on the right hand side. If you are wanting to enjoy Carrara pre-match, you either have to enjoy proper hiking, or seek out alternative modes of transportation as the centre of Carrara is more than a further 3 kilometres up the hill.
I met Fabrizio and Giada at the stadium, and we continued the journey to the very top of the slope by car, where the centre of Carrara is so close to the marble it almost feels you could reach out and touch it. Carrara’s constant slopes, and those white mountains gave me the feeling I was in a ski resort. The city (population 63,000) is very different from the many other places I have visited in Italy. There isn’t really a flat street in the city which is pretty unusual, but in the lengthy trek from the railway station to near the centre, unlike so much of Italy, Carrara is festooned with houses as opposed to endless apartments. Yes people have that alternative, especially nearer the centre, but the plethora of houses highlights the prosperity of the marble world back in the day, and it also spreads the populace over a larger area of the rolling slopes leading down in the direction of the sea.
The city centre is delightful, but on a Sunday, it is rather sleepy with a lot of restaurant alternatives either closed, or so booked up, even though many tables were empty, they were all reserved for a little later. We found somewhere to have a lovely plate of pasta before heading back down the hill for a 14,30 kick off.
If these articles are tenuously intertwined, Gianluigi Buffon is a Carrara boy, and a prominent supporter, even if he has never played for Carrarese. He is one of the high profile shareholders in the club following its solitary bankruptcy tale merely 6 years ago. There are certain clubs in certain lands, you just know that they have found their level, and despite their best efforts, they rarely, if ever change leagues. Carrarese are one of these teams, Serie C, the third level is their staple. Oddly Pontedera is another great bastion of the C world. Carrarese haven’t been in Serie B for 74 years, and whilst the occasional relegation might have blotted the CV, i Marmiferi (the marbles, one of the clubs nicknames) will more often than not be found in C.
The Stadio Dei Marmi has a 9,500 capacity, more than adequate for Serie C or B these days. The great view of the mountains comes from the main stand, the tribuna, but we were in the Gradinata with the majority of the fans on the opposite side. The ellipse design of the stadium gives the Gradinata the curious name, Baffo, meaning moustache, which I imagine has come from the shape of the terracing. Curiously the stadium has a moat, doubtlessly a legacy of yesteryear, but I am sure it is totally unneccesary now. The Ultra group are housed in a corner of the Curva, an extension of the Gradinata basically, where a slightly older brigade of passionate fans also do a spot of flag waving and attempt to raise the atmosphere from its slumbers.
Carrarese are a well supported team and despite the wheels showing signs of coming off a great start to the season, the Giallazzurri (yellow and blues, the club colours) were out in good numbers for this Tuscan tussle. I have written previously about the issues, especially in Tuscany where historic fiefdoms leave a legacy of distrust and rivalry. This was an unusual occasion, a mutual appreciation between the fans of both teams in one of these fan friendship gigs. Given how often they must play each other at this level, perhaps familiarity has bred genuine warmth rather than the usual contempt.
The numbers who had travelled from Pontedera (a town halfway between Pisa and Empoli) to the most north western part of the region might have been small, but the songs were full of admiration for the opposition, and after the game, both sets of fans were caught quaffing beer collectively. Now if that was known, why do the police insist on blocking roads, when it was patently obvious trouble wasn’t even mildly likely?! At times the policing of the fans is over the top in Italy, this was one of those occasions.
For the battle of the long established Serie C chums this wasn’t a classic, but both teams had spells of domination. Citta di Pontedera this season seem a little short on goals, and in the lead up to the game I had feared a goalless clash. Pontedera are partly owned by a football agent, who unofficially advertises some of his wares in the shop window whilst playing for the club. I say unofficially, because such blatant use of players is not allowed, and they are signed up for the season to the club. That said, judging on what was on display here, I can’t imagine cheque books of bigger clubs forming an orderly queue to sign any of these guys. As it was, a corner was nodded home early in the second half to give Carrarese the lead, and having been the better team up until that point, they then reverted to a defensive, time wasting tactic that worked, but only just, and never an attractive attitude to adopt. Pontedera huffed and puffed but they couldn’t unlock the yellow and blue wall. The home fans were delighted to see their charges back to winning ways, but it largely wasn’t pretty. The applause and the reaction of the players suggested they knew that they got away with one.
I enjoyed my day amongst the marble and the slopes of Carrara, but unlike certain other places in Italy, it neither had the wow factor (except those mountains), nor the pulling power that lures me back time and again like some places, for Calcio or otherwise. Carrara is an interesting place to visit, but make it a day trip from anywhere along the coast nearby. The ultra rich playground of Forte Dei Marmi is close, but more affordable accommodation in Viareggio or La Spezia will also give you easy access. I was still day-tripping from beautiful Pistoia, just over an hour and a half away albeit with a train change in Viareggio needed.
I will return to this area again one day to see Carrarese’s great NW Tuscan rivals Massese. They are one of those clubs I have kept an eye on since the ‘80’s, and despite spending vast swathes of the modern era in the Tuscan Eccellenza (5th tier), or below, watching them play is getting nearer. Fabrizio, Giada and I had a post match coffee and chat, whilst watching the two sets of fans enjoying each other’s company across the road at another bar as well as the Pontedera team bus headed south. I headed downwards towards the railway station with a big beaming smile. Fabrizio and I had enjoyed our afternoon and evening in Firenze for the Hearts game just days before, and here we were sharing a third game of 2022 after Grosseto in April. Football brings people together and starts friendships, that’s even more special than any game or city, but tie them altogether and the fusion is wonderful. I have been lucky in life, and I will forever be grateful to all my friends from far and wide, as well as just around the corner.
Getting there
Stepping off a train at Carrara-Avenza station is relatively easy to get to the ground. It is 2.2 kilometres away but all uphill. The station road leads down to the main road, turn right and hike on up. The centre is another 2.2 kilometres upwards, but if you have time and are carrying a light load, it’s a good workout!
Very close to the stadium are two bars, which is maybe just as well, as it’s a long trek to find any alternative.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 