I am sure we all have a favourite novel. Perhaps elements of the narrative resonate with you, and normally it is something personal within the text that adds to why we are drawn to any given book. My favourite novel, The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles has one element that ticks that box for me, but in another passage while he muses on the finite nature of life, he enquiries how often we will recall certain moments in life, maybe just a handful, and yet as he suggests, we all go about life as if it is limitless. Translated into Italian football, one club always keeps cropping up in my viewing roster, therefore my thoughts, and a side I have no particular attachment to either, but Paul’s words always come to me every time Lecce appears in my world!
On this particular sojourn, a second visit to Lecce, it was no coincidental return. The city is a coastal gem in the deep south on the eastern coast of Puglia. It is situated close to the base of the heel that is boot shaped Italy, and my idea was largely to bring this unheralded jewel of Italy to a wider audience. However, it also would allow me to regale tales of my pre-digital trip to the city, where, tucked in the away section with the Anconetani (Ancona fans), that game was always going to be a stadium visit with no camera. So unfortunately, I have no snaps from that 2003 joust when Lecce and Ancona were going for Serie A alas, more later.
Has a team on your travels ever inadvertently cropped up on your CV of viewing on a regular basis as the away team? Lecce has been fitting that bill for me in the last few years, but further back it didn’t start brilliantly as potentially my first ever Lecce match at Cesena was called off the night before the game due to an unfortunate death in the Puglian side’s backroom staff. The poor chap had been electrocuted. However, since I started writing about Italian football regularly, they have been the visitors at Livorno, Ternana, and most recently last season at Roma. The funny thing is, even when I haven’t seen them, the name just keeps cropping up.
My first ever game in Italy back in June 1987 saw Cesena win and head into a three way play off, with Lecce and Cremonese where they all played each other once. That still didn’t sort things out, with Cesena and Lecce needing to go again on neutral soil in early July to sort out that last Serie A place! Of course there was no internet back then, and I wasn’t willing to wait a week to find out from the Guerin Sportivo magazine that would eventually wind its way to Edinburgh, so I phoned Sambenedettese’s stadium in San Benedetto Del Tronto and got the news I wanted, Cesena had won 2-1. I had little or no sympathy for Lecce back then, but the almost constant creeping of the club into my viewing, as well as the beauty of the city, had long put it on the “must return to roster”.
Maybe giving it a twenty year break was sensible as that May evening back in 2003 I was livid, mostly with the local constabulary. It fudged my memory of the entire city too, and goes down as one of the most uncomfortable games of my life, although masonry dodging at the Centenario, Montevideo amongst Racing Club de Avellaneda fans, along with post match bricks at Velez (amongst the Nacional fans), piss wading on the stairwell in La Bombonera, Boca (Racing Club away brigade), and needing to run down the road after Ancona v Ascoli to escape the rampaging Ascolani after they lost the derby were all scarier!
Back in 2003 I had decided to stay in Lecce and marvel at the city, while my mate Claudio was on one of the buses amongst the fairly weighty Ancona support headed far south for this promotion game. Both clubs were still in the mix with three games to go. The buses arrived in the Lecce too early, and this being Italy, the police didn’t want them at the stadium ahead of time, opting for the bus equivalent of a plane going into a holding pattern, taking them on escorted circling of the city. Considering the fans had been on the buses for hours, and were now being kept on board in considerable heat, as soon as the doors of the parked convoy swung open, some of the Ultras went straight for the police and fighting broke out, proper aggression too, it was terrifying stuff. Innocent old me was merely pacing around outside the away end like a spare thumb waiting for Claudio to step off a bus when it all kicked off.
The game went the wrong way, with Lecce winning 2-1. They were on the cusp of going to Serie A with two games left, whereas Ancona now couldn’t clinch a place in the penultimate match versus Venezia while I was still in Italy. The incidents outside the stadium before the game had put the local police in no mood for being conciliatory, and having kept the fans on the buses prior to the game for too long, the punishment was to keep us inside the stadium for well over an hour after the game! When gates were finally opened, riot gear clad police created a corral to filter the fans on the buses one by one. The only issue was that I was staying in Lecce, and we were all being pushed towards the buses, with little opportunity to chat with the masked men. Thankfully eventually Claudio’s pleading worked, and a gap opened up between bodies, and I was pushed through. It was one of football’s least favourite moments for me, and also the most surreal. As I turned the corner and headed towards the city and my hotel, everybody had long gone. It was, after all, nearly midnight. I am almost sure I walked the lengthy road back into Lecce without seeing anyone, let alone as much as a car!
That unsavoury incident might have temporarily detracted from my enjoyment of Lecce, but the next morning, I was delighted to see the Ancona team breakfasting in my hotel. They would score dramatic late goals at home to Venezia to win 2-1, the best night of all my games in Ancona. That left the club just needing a point in Livorno to return to Serie A. The mission was accomplished with a 1-1 draw, sparking great joy, but Ancona going to the top table that second time around would tip the club over the edge, and it is debatable whether it has ever truly recovered since.
Once I became regularly involved in bringing Italy to life for Football Weekends, Lecce started floating into my plans again, as it truly is a fabulous city amongst the many beautiful cities in the country. I had even earmarked it for an early season game v Inter at the start of the ’22/23 campaign, but in the height of the Italian holiday season, not only was the temperature high, hotel prices were off the scale, and I ended up in Ticino, Switzerland. Yes, Bellinzona was cheaper than Lecce, significantly so, bizarre!
Having passed up that opportunity, an autumnal trip the following year saw the temperature down and also the hotel prices too. By sheer coincidence, instead of Inter being in town, it would be a first ever viewing of AC Milan for me, a big old game that was guaranteed to get a near sell out crowd in the Stadio Del Mare.
I opted for the same hotel, and in the taxi from the railway station, the driver informed me Lecce were staying the night in my hotel! Of course it wasn’t a high enough grade for the likes of AC, but obviously considered the best way for the giallorossi (yellow and red) players to relax ahead of the big match. All I can say is, I hope they got more sleep than I did! With the TV still blaring next door at midnight, I headed to reception to enquire as to when noise in a hotel becomes anti-social. He came up and could hear it as soon as the lift opened. A knock at the door and various phone calls later, no reply, so I was offered an alternative room! It is the first time in my life this has happened, so at nearly 1am, having got up at 3am the previous morning in Edinburgh to travel, I finally got some shut eye.
With a population of 95,000 Lecce is the second city of Puglia after Bari, although in the modern era, in football parlance, Lecce are wiping the floor with rivals Bari. They have even managed to temporarily halt the “yo-yo” tag, having comfortably stayed up last term, and looking reasonable again this term, albeit aided by a really fabulous opening few weeks when they were jousting with the big boys at the top. AC were still hanging around the top places as they wheeled into town, but a challenging ninety minutes was anticipated.
Lecce carries the weighty title of “Florence of the South”, and while it takes a lot to beat the Tuscan capital, the beauty of old Lecce in the centre of the city does bear-out comparison, it is dripping in Baroque architecture. In Piazza Del Duomo, it is hard not to marvel at the cathedral and the surroundings. The narrow, quaint streets are a welcome relief at the height of summer, being in the shade, while the unearthed, sunken Roman amphitheatre is spectacular too.
Stadio Ettore Giardinero- Via Del Mare to give US Lecce’s home its full name was built in 1966, a stadium that can’t be attributed to Mussolini for a change, but being a municipal facility, the obligatory running track is present. Originally it held merely 16,000, and on 2nd October that year Puglian rivals Taranto visited to inaugurate the stadium in a league match, with Lecce winning 1-0. The following year a touring Santos, including Pele, played a friendly here. In 1976 the first of two significant improvements increased the capacity to 20,500, and with Lecce being promoted to Serie A in 1985 for the clubs first historic top flight promotion, a vast extension buffed the capacity to 55,000. In 1988 when the World Cup venue bidding was being undertaken, the Via Del Mare (the more common name) was the 6th biggest in Italy, but overlooked in preference for the newly constructed spaceship style stadium up the road at rivals Bari. With the need for numbered seating etc these days, the capacity has been trimmed to 40,670. Largely a more than sufficient capacity, even for Serie A, but when the big boys come calling, the stadium can be almost full.
As mentioned, despite starting out in 1908, Lecce took until 1985 to debut in Serie A. It lasted just one season, and that Cesena v Lecce play off in 1987 precluded an immediate return, but they made sure of a return the next season. It set the pattern of yo-yo-ing, a far cry from the 17 consecutive seasons in the third tier from 1959 to 1975, but getting caught up in the 2012 Scommessopoli (match fixing scandal) saw the club relegated back to the third tier, which truly is one of the hardest levels to get out of in Italy. Innumerable play off defeats as close to promotion as the semi finals meant another extended period in the wilderness. Fabio Liverani was the coach who came along in 2017 bringing the club not one but two promotions to get back to that B-A-B gig once more. It happens so frequently it is almost life re-affirming when Lecce do the yo-yo thing, not that it is ultimately what the fans truly want, but being the principal club of Puglia I am sure allows for local bragging rights.
So having booked my passage and hotel, all that remained was to snag a brief. Easier said than done with AC Milan visiting, and that fabulous contempt for the paying customer Italian clubs display with little to no information as to when tickets would be on public sale was available. Five days before the game they were online, but exactly when I have no idea. I was checking almost hourly, but when I got back for my 10 am check (11 in Italy), only 6 tickets were left?! One at €130, five at €230!! I went for the ‘cheap’ option, easily the most expensive ticket of my life, but frustratingly high. I expected a good seat for that money, but like all seats in the stadium, they are cramped pieces of plastic stuck to concrete. Just to add insult to injury, the goal (where ironically every goal was scored), could only be viewed through a glass screen. I was far from happy. Rows 1 to 3 are never sold as they are too low to see over the perimeter glass surround, but with the ability to put your legs on the empty seat in front, I opted to move at half time.
Italian fans are being ripped off, treated like dirt, and expected to pay excessive sums for a dreadful viewing experience. Something needs to change, but it won’t because idiots like me pay the money and we go, and the clubs get away with it.
As it was, the match ticket was nearly worth every penny. I say nearly, but for 65 minutes this was frozen mince on a stick, AC led 2-0 without as much as looking good. Lecce were just horrible, maybe the hotel gig had been troubled for them too. Out of pretty much nowhere, they headed home a corner to reduce the deficit, and despite horrendous squalid showers, soaking everyone except the Tribuna where I was, the Stadio Del Mare erupted. The atmosphere helped breathe fire into the home side, and Milan had no response. The equaliser was swept home, and the place went nuts, absolute bedlam.
With a tight schedule for a train to my next evening game, I was up the back of the stand watching added time. Lecce were going for the jugular, the win was on. A long kick out, headed on, then, oh my goodness, the most majestic long- range biff I have seen in a while, Lecce had won it! If bedlam was the previous word, carnage and elation rolled into one broke out unrestricted. The guy standing next to me was so excited he started hugging me! The entire Lecce team goalkeeper et al, ran the length of the pitch and the considerable distance of the track to the Ultra curva to celebrate. Wow, it was worth every penny, but hang on, all that time waiting for the players to return and play out the last seconds gave VAR time to find fault. A push in the knock on header they say. I have seen it, and had it been at the other end, no foul would have been given. VAR should only over rule the ref for offside, penalty incidents or serious foul play. If the ref thought it was OK, it should stand. Instead we are all aware how ‘political’ VAR is becoming. To be fair it works better in Italy, but right there, right then, the agony, the anger. A glorious draw, but it should have been more. What an end to a game. I drifted away feeling cheated, as many doubtlessly did, but you could also feel the pride too. This Lecce side can compete with the top sides, they maybe just need to start earlier.
Getting There
Lecce is accessible by air from Brindisi or Bari, with train or bus travel south. Alternatively, trains from as far north as Milan or Bologna will whisk you down the eastern seaboard, or from Roma across country.
The stadium is a good 4 kilometres from the railway station, a flat walk, but if you are travelling this far south, make sure you enjoy the city as well as a game.
Catering
The stadium is on the edge of town, so no local bars or restaurants are even vaguely close. The stadium will sell you a beer/juice or a packed of crisps, but a poor selection. The city will give you enough options pre, or post match.
Like many clubs in Italy, the idea of a match day club shop is an alien concept, and no stall outside was spotted selling scarves either.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 