Palermo is the capital of Sicily, a sizeable old metropolis in the north western corner of the island. Sicily is indeed no small land mass or population. Doing justice to the entire island would require a significant period of dedication. Even getting a proper handle on Palermo is more than a weekend gig in truth, but that was the window we had allowed ourselves as part of a wider island odyssey.
With a population of 675,000, and that’s before you get to the ‘greater’ outlying areas, Palermo is the third biggest city in southern Italy after Napoli and Bari. You know when a city has a number of commuter railway stations, it’s getting into the expansive category.
The main station, Palermo Centrale, does exactly as it says on the sign, it is right in the centre, just on the northern fringe of the main hub of the city. Via Roma is the main traffic artery of the centre, and it leads out between two lavish buildings as you walk directly out from the main door of the station. Whether you arrive by plane directly to Palermo’s Tyrrhenian Sea hugging airport, out at the self named Gulf of Palermo, or by train from Messina, unless you splash the cash for a cab, either arrival method will see you land at Centrale, as the airport rail shuttle is a 40 minute trek into this station.
Walking down Via Roma with the noise of endless vehicles, complete with its dirty appearance, can be a bit of a damper on the excitement of a new city, but glimpse left, occasionally right down the adjacent streets, and you will see morsels of tourist treats of historic Palermo to raise your spirits. I would temper that however, with the potential for vast swathes of people, and if on the most humid of humid days, like we encountered, too busy, coupled with hot and sticky isn’t a joyful combination. Sicily has, in the last years, exploded as a tourist destination, aided by airlines offering more direct flights to the island from a number of UK and other European destinations. You’ll struggle to find tumbleweed blowing through this city!
Don’t get me wrong, Palermo is very much worth a visit. It is dripping in history, and after all, the city is 2,700 years old. Its proximity to Africa perhaps makes it more understandable that some buildings give off a whiff of a Northern African or Arab influence. The Phoenicians are sighted as starting the city as far back as the 8th century, using the natural harbour by way of allowing a settlement to be built and subsequently grow. My goodness their is a veritable Who’s Who of names accredited therafter, with occupation and by virtue implied ownership over the centuries; The Greeks, The Romans, even more obscure groups, the Ostrogoths, and most magnificently, the German Tribes called The Vandals! The House of Savoy, the Bourbons, they’ve all dunked in and out too!
The rich tapestry of history is played out in Palermo’s curiously hotch potch architecture, culminating in the utterly stunning, and unusual Cathedral, a building that would not be out of place in Sevilla or Granada, tipping the hat to shared South European history back in the day perhaps.
However, the chances are, if you are reading this article, you are looking to combine the art of culture in the city with calcio, and the Renzo Barbera stadium is truly worth a visit. It is a gem. As you would expect in a big city, the stadium is nowhere near the centre. There are two easy solutions to getting there, which you can swot up on at the end of the article. Even if Palermo are playing away when you are in town, make a pilgrimage to the stadium if you can. An open gate, or a kindly staff member, might allow you an opportunity to marvel at the beauty of this facility, with its location beside significant hillsides just adding to the allure.
The club started out in or around 1900, founded as The Anglo Palermitan Athletic and Football Club. I suspect that was deemed a bit of a mouthful, and a few years later, they had shortened it too, Palermo Foot-Ball Club, with a quirky hyphen et al. The club played their first game in April 1901 versus fellow islanders Messina, winning 3-2.
Perhaps one of the reasons the sum parts of the club has never amounted to a proper hill of beans that such a population should allow, is mainly down to endless mismanagement tales, resulting in enough mergers to rival the different factions who once owned the city.
The club has enjoyed top flight action, on more than one occasion, but perhaps its glory decade isn’t as far back as you would think. Winning the Serie B title in 2003/04 saw ‘i Rosanero’, (the pink and blacks) promoted to the top flight for the first time in 31 years. It would last nine seasons, and give the fans some Coppa Italia final outings as well as a five European campaigns in that period, progressing to the UEFA Cup last 16 on debut in 2005/06 before Schalke knocked them out. The following season, perhaps their biggest scalp came in group stage qualification, knocking out West Ham 4-0 on aggregate. They failed to get out of the group that year, or indeed, in any of the subsequent attempts. A qualification defeat to Swiss side Thun on away goals in 2011/12 was perhaps symptomatic of a downward spiral, but not before one last hurrah of two further Serie A terms, following a one season drop down in 2014/15, which included a last day dramatic win to stay up in ’15/16, following a 3-2 win over Hellas Verona.
Protracted takeover shenanigans were dragging on around this time, and ultimately, the lack of any expedient transfer ended up taking the club with them. The delays saw Palermo drop into the third tier despite finishing third in Serie B in 2017/18. They were denied their place in the promotion play offs, placed last in the table, and effectively relegated. It was a huge blow for the club, but they have made it back to Serie B, where the ambition of the board and the fans will be to get back to Serie A as soon as possible.
I was in town for the visit of Cesena, a club who will always have my sympathies in such an encounter. Indeed, what I wasn’t to know ahead of the match was that both these Ultra groups are ‘friends’, with appreciative ditties being banged out from either end. This encouraged a marginally more vocal support for the visitors from me, especially in one snapshot second when Cesena tucked away what seemed to be the winner, (more later), but unlike in the San Siro on my first of 4 Cesena away day’s, no one rewarded my fleeting show of support with a Coca-Cola dousing!
The Renzo Barbera truly is a top-flight facility. Many a Serie A club must look enviously at what is on offer in the Sicilian capital. With a capacity of 36,365, a successful Palermo team even in the lower leagues will test that figure. It has been home to the club since 1932, but has been significantly buffed up, when in 1990 it was part of the Italia World Cup stadia portfolio. Originally known as Stadio Littorio, before becoming the Michele Marrone, then La Favorita, before settling on, in 2002 as the Renzo Barbera for the time being. This is in honour of the president who oversaw that memorable decade described above. Many, however, still refer to the stadium as La Favorita, as this relates to the area where the stadium is found.
It really is a beautiful ground, with every seat having a top notch view, and if the action gets dull, the sight of the overhanging mountains will add to the colourful panoply.
I don’t know about you, but when neither team turns out in home kit, you feel a cheat, particularly when it would have been my first sighting on the famous Palermo pink. My only sighting of them previously was at Ancona, where naturally, pink was deemed too similar to their red, and a rather bland white was the order of that afternoon.
Cesena were in all black, thus clearing the way for the classic pink shirt, but alas, they had just rolled out a new third strip, and the outfit was more akin to a dirty Bulgaria kit of yesteryear, sporting an off white top with green trim, green shorts and red socks. My Monty Python, Election Special skit was ruined; maybe the pink pussycat who took Barrow-in-Furness also took Palermo as well!
There was nothing to be done, it was what it was, but the entertaining way both sides went about this poignant Saturday afternoon’s play was a joy to behold. If Messina had paid respects to the passing of their long serving hero Toto Schillaci the night before, while Salvatore had never played for Palermo, this was his home city, he is one of them, and the sizable crowd truly gave a wonderful send off to the sadly departed hero of 1990.
VAR is three letters you rarely read in my articles as I do my best to avoid matches involving this nonsensical system. Unlike in the UK, second tier Italian games are covered by the VAR. It would reign down on this fine match in ways you just couldn’t imagine. Four times, twice each, both sides scored. Each and every one of them was taken away, with the most horrendous one being passive offside, in the incident where I let out a cheer for Cesena. My goodness, like Palermo fans earlier, players and fans rejoiced, only to discover a hand at the ear of the ref, and we all know what that means.
As goalless draws go, it had everything, including fake celebrations, but then I should have known it was going to be goalless, after all, following a 1-1 draw at Inter, Cesena have chalked up two previous scoreless encounters with me present, at Sampdoria and Siena. I will hope for better in the scoring stakes when I see them again at Frosinone before the year is out.
Both clubs have made a steady, if unspectacular, start to the season. Palermo, having found their B legs last term, will hope for better this season, and the returning Cesena, back from too many years in C, might just be happy for a midtable finish, then again, they’ll be dreaming of getting the derby with Bologna back. It has, after all, been more than 30 years, and that’s way too long for this classic to be off-roster.
Palermo is an interesting place. I enjoyed it, but unlike many other amazing Italian cities, it won’t lure me back as a tourist destination, but for another trip to the Barbera? Count me in!
GETTING THERE
If you are in the vicinity of Palermo Centrale railway station, take the left side exit as you come out of the station, and tucked down in the corner, under the trees before the bus station is the terminus for Bus No. 101. It even says Stadio on the front, and while it will take a while to get there, this is your easiest option.
I love a hike to a stadium, and this is a pretty straight walk, but from downtown, it is 5.5 kilometres. An alternative, getting a half and half compromise, would be to take a train to Palermo Notarbartolo, a 6 minute journey, followed by a 2.5 kilometre walk.
CATERING
There was surprisingly little outside the ground, especially when you consider the volume of passing traffic en route to the game. Inside, drinks, crisps and little else can be sourced.
One post-match scarf seller was sighted, but other than that, unless in the city club shop, absolutely nothing on match day at the venue. It’s a pretty common lack of forethought by Italian clubs, sadly.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 