Umbria is always perceived as the poor man’s Tuscany, with similar rolling hills and beautiful small towns and cities. In reality, it is the equal of its neighbour in every way, just lacking the literature of romantic travels of yesteryear and a leaning tower to truly put it in the shop window. Its capital is Perugia, whose hilltop historical centre is the equal of anything Tuscany can advertise, with perhaps the obvious exception of its art and architecture centre, Florence.
In football parlance, it is significantly smaller, but Umbria still has three clubs in the top three tiers. Two of whom might be more known, the aforementioned Perugia, who have even dabbled in Europe very occasionally, even playing at Dens Park, Dundee on that road. Ternana are their great rivals, from the city of Terni, somewhere I brought to life just after the pandemic for Football Weekends. Ternana have had spells in Serie A, mostly in the ‘70’s, but as I write, they are just ninety minutes away from retaining their Serie B status for another term, provided they avoid losing to Bari in the Play-Out second leg at home. Success in this clash will allow them to claim top dog status in Umbria for another season, but dropping down a level might bring back one of Italy’s tastiest derby clashes. I say might, because curiously a few season’s back, both were promoted but from different third tier leagues, the Central and Southern groupings, with Terni just that bit further south and closer to Roma. It was that aspect that proved crucial when lines were drawn for geographically making up the divisions.
The third professional Umbrian side is AS Gubbio, who are from a town of the same name in the North East corner of the region. Indeed, speeding along the highway from Perugia headed to Gubbio, the overhead road signs are constantly screaming Ancona, just 100 kilometres away out on the coast. It is a reminder that it will be ten years since I last saw a game there, and something that needs to be rectified in 2024/25, especially with Ascoli to play then too.
The original plan has been to spend the last full day of this particular Italian sojourn in Perugia, a city and a team that deserve to be brought to life for the magazine. The Giro D’italia was just a week away from rolling up the hills into the centre, and Perugia’s red had turned a lighter shade of pink to fit the bill for this prestigious cycling event. Of course nothing ever turns out as planned, and having rightly gambled on them entering the promotion play offs in round 2, having finished fourth, I booked trains and a hotel around a Tuesday night home match there. An unsuccessful attempt by Taranto to get 4 points back delayed matters by a few days, seeing round one get played on the original date for the second.
Finishing fifth, just behind Perugia were near rivals Gubbio, although maybe more like little brother than rival. With a population of just over 30,000 you have to salute such a lofty finish for a club who have consistently banged out upper to middling season’s in Serie C, and to be honest, that is probably about their level. This would be the clubs fourth play-off assault, the third on the trot, with the first back in 2016/17 when this extraordinary 28 team competition first started. In 2022/23 they progressed one round, and last season they made it to the third round, when it all becomes a National situation, only going out to Virtus Entella despite a 3-3 aggregate, courtesy of a very fair rule that a higher finishing club gets the advantage of any draw. Others should take note and implement this rule. A season to be defined by penalty kicks is just horrible.
Rimini would be coming to town, or indeed back into town, having played the last match of the regular season at the quaint Pietro Barbetti stadium in Gubbio. They headed back down to the coast with a right old thumping 4-0. Given this would be 5th v 10th, a mere draw was all that was required to see Gubbio progress. I am sure confidence would be high, but first I had to make sure I could get there and back from Perugia, as I need to be on a 6,30 train headed for Bologna to catch my flight the next day. With no trains to Gubbio and bus information online pretty shabby, the services of a taxi started to become a requirement. I had originally thought maybe merely a post-match taxi back to Perugia, but when the chap offered a reduced rate for a Perugia pick up and return, it was all too tempting, and I went for it. The Perugia bus terminal is a significant hike up the hill away from the railway station, and with my less than salubrious accommodation right across the road for my early morning train, the taxi was a winning idea. When I knew I would be in the hotel for less than 7 hours in total, a bed is a bed no matter the quality.
Gubbio is a stunning little town, a cross between San Marino (its main square is almost identical) and Arezzo, a nearby Tuscan gem of a city. The main square carried the same name as in Arezzo, Piazza Grande, and maybe that is where this notion fits in, but the buildings are very similar and the gradients in the hilly central area, dripping in yesteryear beauty as like Arezzo too.
A settlement here, in the foothills of the Apennine mountain range, goes as far back as the bronze age. It wouldn’t be a historic Italian city without a chequered past, but in truth, Gubbio seems to have got off lighter than most in terms of jousting for its honour. Indeed, a thousand of its citizens were togged up and sent off as knights on the First Crusade, where local tales tell that it was those from Gubbio who were the first to reach the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This is a sentence I have failed to write without images of Monty Python’s Holy Grail movie flickering in the old grey cells of my mind!
It’s a day trip kind of place Gubbio, hiring a car, or taking a bus from Perugia for an afternoon game will allow all sorts of transportation options. The town will afford enjoyable pre – or post-match delights as well as give your legs a good workout on the serious gradients as you amble. This is a little place that enjoys those visitors that make the effort to come. Souvenir shops abound, as well as plenty of options for food and drink. Sadly, once more, not a Gubbio Calcio souvenir anywhere, even inside or outside the ground. Given the red and blue colour scheme, I had been keen to add a Gubbio shirt to my burgeoning ICT -seque collection, but another failure on that count.
The weather turned decidedly thundery ahead of kick off, so I took shelter in potentially the nearest bar to the ground, about a kilometre and a Roman amphitheatre away. The bar wasn’t exactly full, but everyone knew everyone, and while I was just quietly supping my beer waiting for the rain to subside, I was alarmed that I couldn’t understand much of their banter. This region has its own Umbrian language which mixed with dialect accents was making it impossible to get a whiff of whether the football was up for discussion. The bar clients certainly ticked the box for the average age of most in attendance at the match shortly afterwards. Alarming in one sense, as fresh interest will be needed to keep such clubs going down the line. Yes, a small knot of youngsters were doing the Ultra thing behind one goal, but the sizable Rimini following showed which team hailed from a more football orientated town.
The well appointed Stadio Pietro Barbetti (capacity 5,300) has more roofing than many a Serie C venue, and that was a good thing, as while the rain relented enough to get to the stadium dry, it came on for lengthy spells, with the visiting Riminese taking the brunt of a soaking. Despite being wet, the away support was passionate, and whether it helped their team believe in themselves more after that recent humbling here, is unknown, but it certainly wouldn’t go amiss.
Gubbio started in slick fashion, moving the ball around and get in behind the full backs often. They looked like a team who had Rimini’s number, but the final ball, or poor finishing kept it scoreless at the break. As the clock ticked on, and with none of the home sides finery troubling the scoreboard, they started to retreat. After all, a goalless game after 90 minutes was all they needed. Rimini were never completely out of it, and competed well, but needing to score, the introduction of substitutions started bringing a more risky strategy to their defence as they endeavoured to find that killer goal. It duly arrived, perhaps with the centre-forwards only real effort on goal, but with just 5 minutes to play, a beautifully threaded pass into his stride was met with a lashed effort into the net, right in front of the delirious away support. The goal triggered a role reversal, with a frenetic conclusion, but Gubbio’s goal threat on the night had been tame, and they limped out of the play offs at the first hurdle, with considerable head shaking and muttering amongst their disgruntled aged fanbase.
Rimini as the lowest ranked survivor of the first round, ironically were back in Umbria at Perugia 4 days later for the next round. That one would end 0-0, where the red and white chequered ala Bristol Rovers kitted visitors couldn’t find that one opportunity to nick another win and progress.
Gubbio had been an expected treat of place and a very relaxed venue for a game. The old brigade will be back at the Barbetti for another campaign, and if they can finish as high as 5th again, it will have been another successful campaign for this small but very well run Umbrian club. I should be billing Taranto far extra angst and expense, but it worked out well in the end!
Football Adventures with James Rendall 