Finally, I was able to complete the Umbrian trio of professional clubs, perhaps saving the best, certainly the biggest until last. Welcome to Perugia, the hilly capital of Umbria. This region has long been sighted as the thinking man’s Tuscany, but from that read, it’s slightly cheaper! It does have or doesn’t, depending on your viewpoint, an inordinate number of Brits and other nations’ retirees residing here.
Perugia finds itself in the debate for the hilliest region capital alongside Catanzaro in Calabria. Perugia is less arduous to get to from the railway station, but it’s still a fair old hike. Whereas Catanzaro is that far up the mountain, you would need all day and dodge a lot of traffic to even consider walking up from Catanzaro Lido station down by the sea.
Towards the end of last season, I had booked my passage to Perugia, only to be thwarted by a play off delay courtesy of Taranto, who were looking to claim back 4 deducted points, thereby get a leg-up through a few routes of the lengthy competition. That was chucked out, but delayed things sufficiently to find no game in Perugia. At considerable expense, taxi to and from, I brought you the delights of Gubbio earlier this season. Incidentally, Taranto have 10 deducted points this season, and while they won’t make the play offs, the play-outs at the bottom end of the league could be delayed, I am just saying!
Determined to get to see a game at the Renato Curi stadium, I had earmarked a bit of a derby clash with Arezzo, just over the border in Tuscany. That was all fine until the realisation that in effort to discourage trouble, only Fidelity Card Perugia fans could apply online to purchase. I tried for a press pass, and while hearing back was less than 48 hours before the game, on the morning I woke ridiculously early on game day to fly to Roma, my inbox had a E press pass. I was very grateful and relieved. Getting tickets is increasingly becoming a stressful gig. I have been in Perugia a few times before, but this would be my first game there.
It was a glorious day when I arrived, and despite having already been on the go 12 hours, the sun was still shining, and I could feel a beautiful sunset from upon high imminent. So, I basically threw my luggage in the hotel room across from the railway station (handier for the stadium later) and set about the hike to the top of the town.
With a population of 165,000 or do, it’s no small place. Its history dates back to the Etruscan towns, with a university founded in 1308. The city is a cultural hub, famous for its various festivals, and as luck would have it, post hill climb, if a sugar rush was needed that day, I had landed in the right place, the Eurochocolate Festival was entering its final weekend. My goodness, I have never seen as much chocolate. Doubtlessly, these stalls will morph into Christmas markets once the sugary treats have either been sold or boxed away.
True to my suggestion, the sunset lit up the sky so beautifully. The vantage point of a hill top lookout was just perfect for enjoying it to the full. Many a local, chocolate muncher et al, had the same idea. Any fatigue I had been feeling dissipated at that moment.
The history of Perugia is more bloody than the chocolate would allow us to believe. The fiefdom thing was alive and well, with neighbouring Assisi (St Francis wouldn’t have approved), Foligno, Spoleto, Todi, Siena, and Arezzo were all sighted as ‘having a go’, which might explain the game versus Arezzo is coined as ‘il derby Etruscani’, and despite many a century having past, as I discovered, they don’t like each other at all. Oddly, Terni isn’t on the list, maybe a modern city by comparison, and while Arezzo is a big occasion, Ternana is the biggest, that is for king of the region.
The main hub of interest and photogenicity is twofold in Perugia, from those high ramparts looking across the rolling Umbrian hills, then down the main drag to the buildings that surround the Fontana Maggiore (Big Fountain essentially), with the jewel in the crown, the Palazzo dei Priori. Giving it a peek should certainly be a priority. The centre is extremely old, if buildings and walls could talk, I am sure they would have an inordinate amount tales of be-devilment to tell. It’s a fabulous place.
I had chosen the hotel by the station, as it is the nearest to the stadium, as well as being a slight downward trek to the game. I had stayed here for that aborted game in May, and while I wasn’t enamoured, I decided to go back. I was merely sleeping and off at 6,30 am the next day, but put it this was, if you like a morsel of comfort, or you’re treating your partner, don’t book Hotel Astor. Splash the cash and get a cab up the hill to an altogether better selection of accommodation. It’s OK, but a hotel is a service industry, and by staying, you aren’t the one who should be inconvenienced. On both occasions, I found reception to be dreadfully unpleasant, with the only plug to charge halfway up the wall in a tricky spot.
Perugia’s traffic is worthy of a mention. Perhaps the inordinate number of Monte Carlo style Grand Prix corners, it encourages a racing circuit comparison. The locals certainly subscribe to the idea that they might one day make Formula One. My goodness, they whizz around corners, with no thought for the next pedestrian crossing, with your writer hot footing it in fear they won’t stop. It also seems to have more filling stations than your average Italian town, which I found quite bizarre.
From the railway station, if you go left, passed a bus station of sorts, and follow the downward chicane left, then right, the road continues to drop away, then slants one final gentle left, leaving you on a lengthy home straight towards the stadium. I had paced this walk out in May, looking for some daylight ground photos, even if there was no game. Alas, it was all locked up, but upon returning, I knew exactly where I was supposed to be going, or so I thought.
I slipped by one police road block, then another, no one said anything. I turned into the gates for what I thought was access to the main stand, only to discover this was Arezzo only access. They moaned and mumped, open a gate or two for me to get through, but the way I approached and my burgundy winter coat had me pencilled in as Arezini, and when the press lady showed me to my desk, I had been allocated an away press place! This resulted in slightly biased banter with Arezzo people, who seemed genuinely shocked that I had seen Arezzo four times previously. I never once encountered a home Perugini press person!
The Renato Curi is a great venue, with a capacity when all areas available of 23,625. It looks tired in places, with the Gradinata opposite the main stand out of action, desperately in need of new seating etc. Two recent financial meltdowns in 2005 and 2020 won’t have helped. However, the other three sides are more than enough capacity for a team slightly struggling both on, and more sadly off the pitch. The numbers in attendance were reasonable, but I was expecting more. However, that didn’t stop both sets of fans from setting about abusing each other for the duration of the game. Hilariously, both sets of fans had come prepared with placards with just one mildly abusive word on it, and upon instruction, those in possession of these cards would gradually lift them one by one as the noise of that particular abusive ditty rose higher. It was all quite funny, having witnessed such antics on the odd occasion since the early ’90’s.
Perugia, I Grifoni (The Griffins- it’s on the badge), might be a name familiar to you. They enjoyed 13 seasons in Serie A, finishing a giddy second in 1978/79! This impressive feat becomes even more dazzling when I tell you that they were the first ever Serie A team, since the inception of a league format back in the twenties, to go an entire season unbeaten! Too many draws denied them a crack at lo Scudetto, the title.
While their was no prize for winning the Intertoto (I think 3 winners were declared each season), in 2003, they did progress to the UEFA Cup via this route at the fourth time of trying. They have had two cracks at this now defunct competition, the first after that stunning second place finish. One of these Euro adventures brought them to Dens Park, Dundee, lucky Perugia! They won both legs for a 3-1 aggregate, going out to PSV that season by the same aggregate reversed. Wolfsburg and Dinamo Zagreb were perhaps their biggest scalps.
Perugia’s need was greater in this clash. They had failed to beat Ternana recently, ending 0-0, so they weren’t for coming up short again, especially in a derby. They set about Arezzo in fine style, taking a deserved early lead. Arezzo, who are much better placed in the league, had more poise and finesse, but these attributes count for nothing if you can’t fashion scoring opportunities. They probably had the greater possession in the first half, but they were largely fruitless.
Perugia have two strong baron doors up front. They’d run straight over anyone, and while their enthusiasm was faultless, the number of fouls they conceded was remarkable. Just as I had written that note in my book, endeavouring to look professional and all that, of course, one of them put Perugia two up. Very often in Italy, at two nil, hostilities are tempered, and the opposition are invited on, and in this case, it merely added to the notion Arezzo could play all night. They did fashion a couple of close things, but Perugia had their number, and when the final whistle arrived, with the temperature tipping below zero, a rousing applause helped warm the home fans.
Five days later, Arezzo were back to the Curi to play a round of 16 Coppa Italia C contest. They had obviously learned lessons from the earlier encounter and beat Perugia 2-1.
Perugia Centro Storico is delightful; Photogenic and cultural. It might be the chocolate capital of Italy, and if you are here during the Choco Festival, you can literally watch its citizens eat itself!
Football Adventures with James Rendall 