Anyone familiar with the Isle of Man flag will know it has a three legged symbol in the centre, and while not exactly identical, the angles are all different, Lake Como has three legs too, the Larian triangle as it is known . It was on the shores of this magnificent lake that I first experienced Italy, and wow, what a time to be anywhere in the country, let alone Como. As Marco Tardelli wheeled away after scoring the second goal of the 1982 World Cup Final, complete with his emotionally charged and iconic celebration, people started to take to the streets. Como went berserk, I fell in love!
You never forget your first love, and Italy has been a big part of my life ever since. When the FW magazine tour was potentially going to include a trip to Lecco, the notion of finally visiting the last leg of the lake appealed to me more than anything else on offer, although the fact Lanerossi Vicenza were going to be in town was also an attraction. Alas the Serie C scheduling meant this game kicked off too close to the main event, the game at the San Siro, unless of course you are mad enough to contemplate a taxi from Lecco to the San Siro, with every possibility you wouldn’t make the kick off. Of course I was going to do it, the Italian third tier is my world!
To all intents and purposes I should be a Como fan after the joy of that World Cup win, and I do have a huge soft spot for them, but other encounters in life have shaped my support in a different direction. The Sinigaglia stadium might be old and a little tired, but the lakeside location is fantastic with the views of the mountains from the home Curva quite a spectacle. It’s a venue that should be on any discerning Calcio fans “must do list”
While Como are quietly building something that might see the club back in Serie A in a year or two, the backing of significant money always helps, but it’s not quite going to plan so far this season. Needless to say, 20 kilometres east, Lecco are their biggest rivals, and while these two coming together might not have the impact or policing headaches such as feisty affairs between Atalanta v Brescia, or Livorno v Pisa, on a local level, Como v Lecco means a lot on the shores of the lake, although in the modern era it hasn’t been played that often though. Traditionally Como have always landed on snakes, as well as the occasional ladder (potentially a very long ladder right now!), while Lecco largely have managed to avoid all the pitfalls but also the leg ups too. These days Lecco are like Carrarese and Pontedera, the quintessential third tier team.
That said, in the club’s 110th year, Lecco are putting together quite a shift near the top of the league this term. The week before I pitched up they had blown a 2-0 half-time lead at Pergolettese, going down 4-2. A hammer blow undoubtedly, but maybe motivation to get stuck into the nouvelle riche (in Serie C anyway) of Lanerossi Vicenza at their picturesque Rigamonti-Ceppe stadium, as they were just three points ahead in third place going into the match.
Lecco is a smaller town in comparison to Como, with its population of 48,000 being just over half the size of its neighbour. Lecco might get the odd visitor, but it isn’t the hub of the lakes tourist industry, or the daytripping Milanese, who largely seem to favour Como. That said, while its lakeside amenities are lacking in comparison to Como, you can still enjoy lengthy walks by the shore of the lake, and in season, take boat trips up the eastern leg of this vast waterway. Having a less touristy edge makes it a more genuine Italian place to hang out, and surrounded by similar sumptuous and dramatic mountains, the views are rarely dull. In short, Lecco is a more relaxed place.
I was perhaps being harsh on Lecco Calcio earlier in my story, as up until the early ‘70’s they were lording it up in Serie A occasionally, with three top table campaigns, the last of which was in 1966/67. They also played 9 seasons in Serie B, the last being 1972/73, but since then, save a dip into Serie D, Lecco have been a bastion of the C world, (which until recently was the third and fourth levels known as C1 and C2). The trophy cabinet might not be chock full, but they do have a Coppa Italia Serie C trophy and an Anglo Italian Cup gong from the semi-professional era in the mid-’70’s.
Lecco’s stadium is very handily placed for a late arrival off a train from Milan, about 45 minutes south. I have never walked down off a rail platform into the underpass and seen signs pointing you in the direction of the stadium. It’s a brilliant idea, but also gives to the notion that it’s quite close, and so it is! As you go in the opposite direction through the tunnel from the majority (the central area is the other way), when you appear in daylight, turn right, follow the road round to the left, then left at the next junction, and it is either first, or second right depending on whether you are going to the home (second right), or away end (first right). The stadium is tucked in behind buildings, but once inside the Rigamonti-Ceppe, what spectacular views await.
This match was scheduled for 17,30, but in arriving the day before in Milan I had clocked that the January light started to fade just after 5, so in the interests of seeing the views, and getting some quality keepsakes for me and the magazine, I made sure I was in the stadium a good 45 minutes before kick off. I was amazed on a cool late January afternoon just how many had arrived ahead of me. A night game here would still be entertaining, but if you don’t get to gawp at the surrounding mountains it would all feel a little bit flat. An earlier kick off, or later in the season game and 17.30 would still allow the full ambience to envelop during the game, maybe even get a sunset. It is yet another spectacular backdrop to an Italian venue, up there with neighbouring Como, Sud Tirol and many others in the north of the country.
The ground is well looked after and rather compact (capacity 4,997), with the majority of fans housed in the main stand, with the next largest gathering on the home Curva to the left. The far side, the away end are rather shallow, but that is good as it affords full mountain views from the stand. The grounds name unusually has two surnames, Mario Rigamonti (remembered in the name of the stadium in Brescia too) who died in the Superga Torino air crash, and Mario Ceppi, who was a former chairman of the club. The impact of the latter on the club cannot be ignored, we are talking revolution. Under his tutelage, which started in 1948, Ceppi guided Lecco to those Serie A days, sowing the seeds of growth to allow it to happen from the club’s more regular modest third tier perch. No matter what happens to Lecco Calcio in the future, those glorious days can never be taken away, and retaining Ceppi in the stadium name will always remind future generations of those heroic times.
A fine crowd nearly filled the stadium for the visit of Lanerossi Vicenza, a club whose highs and lows would need an even bigger Snakes and Ladders board to explain, but they always have a considerable backing no matter where they go, and for this one, I suspect they’d sold the full away allocation. I did spot a few Vicenza winter coats in the home stand, having Diesel slapped on the back was a great giveaway, although given how the game went, no animosity was felt.
At half-time I was pondering quite how Vicenza hadn’t trotted off leading. However, taking off my red and white specs for a second, I soon realised that for all the possession, the Lecco keeper had been largely untroubled. The Lecco boss must have ripped into his charges at half time, sitting too deep and inviting Vicenza onto them, which immediately stopped after the break. If Lecco had collapsed in the second half the week before, that baton was passed to the visitors here, who got caught up in a rip-snorting eight minute period where Lecco went for the jugular with great success. It all kicked off with a penalty, before a second was quickly added, culminating in a brilliant third. The Lecco forward trapped the ball in the centre circle and cleverly turned his marker on the sticky surface. The outfoxed Vicenza defender caught up with the scampering forward and they were almost running side by side as the box grew ever closer. I can only assume he was already on a yellow and no effort to foul ensued, but that merely allowed the Lecco lad to smash a fabulous strike into the bottom right hand corner leaving the keeper no chance. After such a flurry of activity, the game settled down again, with Lecco happily conceding the ball and possession, but the heart had gone out of Vicenza, and after an hour they could have shaken on a 3-0 score as that’s how it ended.
It was a fabulous day out of Milan, I loved the ambience of Lecco, it’s fine wee stadium and a cracking match too. It was my first ever away Vicenza encounter, having seen them win 2 and draw 2 at home. Things can only get better for them, while Lecco are matching them stride for stride as both look to avoid the playoffs by finishing top in the chase for promotion. Despite this setback I still think Lane, as the Vicenza fans call the club, will get immediately back to B. Lanerossi won the Coppa Italia C which aids getting a pass through a number of early rounds in the play offs, a crowded 28 team field for one solitary place. Lecco finished higher at the end of the regular season, the highest placing of the club this century, and would only enter proceedings at the Quarter-Final stage, one round better than Vicenza.
Post match, as forewarned by the taxi company, roads were closed off to allow the visiting fans safe passage, but within minutes we’d hatch a new taxi collection point and we whizzed off south in the direction of the San Siro. In a cluttered field of attractions in Lombardy, Lecco might not be top of any list, but it is well worth a visit. I am increasingly drawn to lower league football, the real heartbeat of football and its community.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 