The Eastern Seaboard

CATANIA

Catania, Sicily’s second city, sits on the eastern seaboard of this sizeable island. It is located in the shadow of Europe’s most active volcano, Mount Etna, which, on a clear day, adds some impress drama to the already picturesque skyline. Beware, it’s unpredictable nature can see the local airport closed at short notice, with flights usually diverted to Palermo. Trains buffs can enjoy the Etna circular route if that’s your bag, an infrequent local chuff, chuff that circumnavigates the spewing beast, at a safe distance, understandably. However, these lava lands are rich in nutrients, resulting in exquisite produce from his region.

With a population of 314,000, Catania is just under half the population of Palermo. It is an ancient port city dating back to 8 BC when it was the Greeks holding sway in this region of modern-day Italy. The city has withstood marauding armies for centuries, but ironically, it has been three major natural disasters that have challenged the city more than any spear wielding invader. A catastrophic earthquake nearly destroyed Catania in the 12th century, and then, of course, Etna has chipped in a bunch of times, most devastatingly in 1669 and then just 24 years later.

The last of these major lava destruction episodes prompted a significant baroque style reconstruction that acts as the lavish backdrop to the modern centre of Catania today. Magnificent buildings adorn the central streets and piazza, with the Cathedral, the Piazza del Duomo, and the Fontana dell’Elefante, all of which aided the city achieving one of those UNESCO labels.

The elephant is fully embraced in Catania, and having always been one of the local football teams nicknames, it has now been added to the latest reincarnation of Catania FC on the new badge. It is a club with a very fascinating history.

Catania featured in my first ever game in Italy at Cesena on the last day of the 1986/87 season in mid June that summer. With an over capacity, feverish crowd, largely all desperate to see Cesena reach Serie A. The forgotten story of this 2-1 home win was the relegation of Catania down to the third tier, and in recollection of the game, it was amazing how meekly they accepted their fate that day.

While Catania Calcio were only officially founded in 1929, English cargo ships are credited with introducing the game to Sicily some 20 years earlier. While Messina was the first city on the island to establish a team, the first match recorded was technically Messina versus an English vessel, but the crew were entirely from Catania, even back in those days!

The golden years of gli Etnei (the Etnans) is considered to be from 1953 to 1965, a period that included two promotions to Serie A finishing 12th in their inaugural top flight campaign in ’54/55. However, as you’ll discover, the story of Catania is a litany of highs followed by immediate and at times, depressing lows. Despite that commendable finish, together with Udinese, they were caught up in a financial scandal and both were demoted.

By ’60/61 they had dusted themselves off and were back in the top flight, where they stayed for six seasons. The eventual relegation saw a lengthy absence with the clubs CV having to wait until 1983/84 for another shot at the big boys. the return saw them promoted third behind illustrious more sides AC Milan and Lazio. It was a disastrous campaign with just one win, and only 12 points were collected.

They dotted around B and C for a while thereafter, with my own viewing of the relegation to the third tier at Cesena in 1987. Shortly after that the club were wound up by the authorities and they were even going to miss an entire season before the courts intervened and off they went again from as low as the club has ever been, the 6th tier.

All these previous shenanigans pale into insignificance along side the bizarre goings on of 2003! At the end of the season Catania were going back to C, but they complained about an ineligible player (who didn’t even play) on the Siena roster for a 1-1 draw with the Sicilians. The local court agreed and awarded the game 2-0 to Catania that forced a re-drafting of the league table where lo and behold they jumped out of the relegation slots. Chaos might have ensued (it usually does), but the FIGC didn’t just avert claims from Salernitana or Genoa who might have gone down, they saw an opportunity to aid the swift return of Fiorentina to a higher level. Viola had been relegated to the fourth tier for financial meltdown from Serow A, and having won that division, they now found themselves advanced two leagues on the grounds of “sporting integrity”, and the Catania affair had been its catalyst with Serie B being increased temporarily from 20 to 24 sides, although even now they have never reverted to just 20 clubs, settling on a 22 team second division.

This good fortune was the springboard for Catania’s last, and not insignificant hurrah at the top table, when two years after the above debacle they were promoted for a fourth time to Serie A. Upon the initial return in 2006/07 they had a brilliant start, sitting as high as 4th after 20 games. However, at a club where things can quickly change, a rare Serie A derby with Palermo in February saw a policeman killed while trying to deal with the Catania Ultras. It is almost as if this incident overshadowed the entire club until the end of the season, as they won just one more game, and gli elefanti (the elephants) fell to finish 13th.

That said, the club established themselves well in the top flight, and during this period they had some famous ex-footballers as fledgling coaches on their way to varying degrees of success, with Walter Zenga, Mikhail Mihaijlovic and Diego Simeone all at the helm at one stage or another. Despite the frequent change of coach the good times continued to roll, culminating in a 2012/13 record Serie A points haul for the club (56), a season that saw them just five points shy of European qualification.

In time honoured fashion though we are braced for the fall, and it came the very next season with relegation, the last time they graced Serie A, for now. The trauma of their five year stint at the top table didn’t stop in Serie B, with that all too common double drop, but even worse, they admitted to trying to fix five matches and the book was thrown at them.

A white knight from the USA was rumoured to be riding into Catania to save them from the abyss, but negotiations fell through and the club were declared bankrupt in December 2021, with their results expunged from Serie C. The recovery was swift, running away with Serie D in 2022/23, and immediately returning to the third tier. They are back with a dose of positivity that winning breeds, and the fans are with them all the way, buying into the potential that this is the start of something big once more, with more than 12,000 season tickets sold.

The Angelo Massimino stadium has more than sufficient capacity to meet the demands of the locals enthusiasm with a 23,266 capacity. It was built in that classical Mussolini style in 1935 with the now unused running track around the pitch recently covered in bright Catania blue giving the perimeter of the pitch a striking contrast. The stadium was re-named in 2002 in honour of the clubs former chairman who died in 1996. On my field reconnaissance trip to the ground, Angelo’s name high above the main stand was being given a little paintwork, as was much of the ground, just 4 days ahead of the big kick off.

A few days later a fabulous crowd was on hand to welcome their heroes back to the professional leagues, but the fixtures hadn’t presented them with a run of the mill opener. Instead they were going to have their metal tested right from the off by Crotone from across the water in Calabria, a club with significant recent pedigree, who doubtlessly have ambition to avoid playing bridesmaid once more, as they were to runaway winners Catanzaro last term, a more bitter pill to swallow given they are near rivals. Pre-pandemic Crotone had enjoyed two terms in Serie A, and while traditionally the club are a third tier stalwart, having sampled the big time, they want more.

The Catania fans are rightly proud of the clubs history and its four stints in Serie A. A significant length of wall opposite the Tribuna (main stand) has been given over to murals of heroes of yesteryear. They didn’t manage to make Serie B last term, and while they are competitive again, they look likely to stall in C once more this season, which is what their demanding fans would wish.

GETTING THERE

The stadio Angelo Massimino is easily accessed from the centre of the city, about 1.5 kilometres, largely gently uphill, but not an unpleasant walk. While it is just over 3 kilometres from the seaside main Catania Centrale stazione (station), it is easily achieved if you are daytripping from those fabulous coastal resorts Taormina or Siracusa.

CATERING

The stadium is in a largely residential area and aside from one small bar, you’ll be relying on catering vans or inside the stadium chomp for some food. Down town you will spoiled for choice. Try an Arancini, the classic dome shaped rice/vegetable filled pastry, it’s merely a snack but delicious.

Unlike some Italian cities, Catania is well well connected with its club, and a variety of stores in the centre have shirts, tracksuit tops and more, while the obligatory old chap with a stall for hats and scarves will await your custom ouside the stadium.

MESSINA

If you have back copies of Football Weekends, this city and club featured in the December edition (No. 106) given the immediacy of covering the passing of Toto Schillaci. Football on the island started in Messina, and many years on, he was one of the club greats. I was merely at the incredible Franco Scoglio stadium at night in the dark, and I was fully awate that it was one of the great venues of Italy, let alone Sicily.

This notion was recently confirmed when it features in a brand new book, an astonishing labour of love, European Football’s Greatest Grounds by Leon Gladwell. I had been involved in a small corner of his research, trying to prise information out of Faroese folk to add colour to his tales. I approached Leon to ask if we might be allowed to use a daytime image of the Messina stadium, and it is as presented here. What a magnificent venue, a day light match, is needed to be experienced here, albeit at a troubled club presently. Leon’s book is just a brilliant effort, especially when you consider, like me, he is merely an amateur. If your football book shelf doesn’t have a copy of this book, I would implore you all to consider it worthy of a place amongst the great useful reference books of our time.

SIRACUSA

Catania is an excellent base to peruse the eastern side of Sicily, a mid-point between Messina and Siracusa, but that isn’t to diminish the attractions of the other two major hubs on this coast. Indeed, Siracusa is a real gem of a city in its own right. Well, let me qualify that, the magnificent island attached by a short bridge, Ortigia, truly is.

The main body of Siracusa is a busy, regular city, but the old historical centre is the island, with its tight streets and compact walkways around the coastal fringes, all leading to the southern point, its fortress, where doubtlessly many a marauder was vanquished. Sadly, on our visit, this fortification was off limits with a Global Agricultural summit set to be hosted their the day after we left. It resulted in some odd goings on, including the clearing of all local drainage in the vicinity, which backed up and left an almighty stink in our accommodation that lingered too long.

A park in Siracusa in a nutshell brings the history of the city to vivid life. In this enormous area, you will find both Greek and Roman amphitheatres, with the Greek one still in use for plays and concerts to this day, which takes away an element of the feeling of its history, but the views out to sea from the top are impressive. The park features an array of modern art twists on ancient statuary, which are dotted around an expansive gorge area, including an extraordinary mural in a very deep cave. This area had housed imprisoned labourers back in the day, and they have left a legacy of artistic creativity to escape the dreadful working conditions to which they found themselves.

The local football team Siracusa Calcio 1924 have rarely set the heather on fire, with Serie C being the highest level thus far. With four bankruptcy episodes, it is easy to see why they have failed to get a foothold anywhere in the Italian league setup. However, shoots of a recovery are glimpsed now as the club were very prevalent last term in the promotion hunt back to the professional leagues. Indeed, they must be considered unlucky not to be in Serie C this season. Yes, they finished second, but only courtesy of Trapani having an astonishing campaign. Siracusa would have won most of the other Girone with their points haul. When my boys Ancona went to the wall again in the summer, a slot was freed up, and Siracusa were the main protagonists in line to step up in the eyes of most, but the FIGC, having let Juve and Atalanta kids into Serie C now feel duty bound to drip feed the rest of the big boys youngsters in at this leave should any club tip over the edge. It really is dreadful. They have no fans, play outside the region they are based, and all that happens is, they take a place that could be filled by a club with passionate fans, creating jobs in the locality, and giving cities like Siracusa a lift. While the club are in the top places again this term, something is missing. It is becoming more a slog this time around. A feeling of being let down I suspects pervades.

The stadium in Siracusa is about a 1 kilometre walk from the park with its ancient sights. It is pretty much a straight line across parts of the modern city, then down slightly to a fine venue tucked in amongst apartment blocks and a very old church right behind the main entrance.

There would be no game whilst I was in Siracusa, but an open gate allowed a full shuffle around. Thankfully, training had just ended, so no one was moaning about a camera being used. The old facade of the Stadio Nicola de Simone (the modern name), could not be more Mussolini if it tried, with its enormous arched marble entrance, complete with Stadio Vittorio Emanuele III emblazoned across the top. I suspect this is a listed construction, and no one is allowed to alter its appearance. Inside, the stadium holds just shy of 6,000, with a covered main stand and a hotch potch of old and new terraces. The surface is artificial, which allows for greater usage, as well as making life easier than trying to preserve a grass pitch in a very arid area.

I liked Siracusa, I will be back for a game one day, but in the meantime, I keep a regular eye on the clubs progress.

The Best of the Rest

Sicily is festooned with other clubs, with the vast majority of the best of them found in Serie D, Girone I. Three of the clubs languishing their along with Siracusa have all had moments in the sun. None higher than Licata, who were in Serie B when I started following calcio in the early 80s. They have never been close to that level since. Acireale have dabbled in C on occasion, as have Akragas, my personal favourite on the island, even though I haven’t made it to Agrigento yet, where the club plays. The Racing Club coloured kit is the immediate attraction. Sadly, Akragas are having an awful season, and at the time of writing, they are bottom of the pile.

Agrigento is gateway to some of the finest examples of ancient Greek temples on the island, but being tucked away on the southern shores, a good distance from all major transport hubs, it’s a trek, and I need to factor in more to time to get there next time around. The city will take the baton from Pesaro (covered in the last edition) as Italy’s City of Culture 2025, even more reason to head down Agrigento way.

The four previously mentioned clubs are joined by Ragusa, Nissa, Castrumfavara, Paterno, Sant’Agata, Enna and Igea Virtus in the fourth tier, making 11 of the 18 team league Sicilian, jousting with teams largely from Calabria, and the odd Campania side, principally to keep the rivals in that region at arms length from each other on occasion. Recovering from the most recent financial meltdown, Reggina, from across the Straits of Messina in Reggio Calabria, will be the main rival to Siracusa in the fight for the solitary slot in Serie C next term.