Regular readers will know that I love a niche morsel of calcio. This particular story comes courtesy of two tales of woe, financial meltdown essentially, that took two of the great bastions of yesteryear top-tier Italian football to the depths as low as the sixth tier.
Now I have written about the fifth tier, and Bisceglie, as part of a five tier special, a couple of years ago, but going into the sixth realm is new territory for an article. Largely such a level wouldn’t be worthy of being written about, but when it is Alessandria and Casale, two huge rivals, this is something intriguing to bring to a wider audience.
It was one of the great rivalries of the Italian game. Sadly, this was the first joust at the fabulous Stadio Moccagatta for 12 years between them, largely because Casale’s fall from grace was in stages, whereas Alessandria’s implosion went from Serie C (third tier) all the way down to the Piemonte Promozione, Girone D in one fell swoop. Rarely will you find three sides at such a low level, let alone two, all of whom have a fabulous back story. But in this league, lo and behold, two of the three have a Scudetto title to their name; Casale in 1913/14, and Novese in 1921/22, a side from Novi Ligurie, who despite the name of the town, are also a Piemonte side.
While Alessandria has almost cornered the moniker ‘always the bridesmaid’ back in the day, you have still got to be reasonably good to nearly win things. Second place finishes, even a Coppa Italia final way back in the day for l’orso (the bear), a nickname for the club. That feat was nearly equalled in the modern era, going down on aggregate to AC Milan in the Semi-Final of 2015/16. They were, however, the first third tier side to get that far in more than 30 years.
The Eastern side of Piemonte is festooned with calcio royalty, and two great derby matches. I have already done the seven time Scudetto winners Pro Vercelli versus Novara, in a joust known as the rice field derby. Leaving one time champions Casale at Alessandria to complete the set for me. None of this Milan or Roma derbies for me!
Casale are from nearby Casale Monferrato, a club I briefly touched upon previously, as I visited their stadium ahead of an afternoon match at Alessandria in Serie C, then the rice field gang going toe to toe in Novara the same evening. That was a busy day!
When I was in Casale Monferrato, the gates of the Natale Palli stadium were open, so as I am prown to do, I just walked in. The team was training out on the pitch, and my clandestine photographing of the stadium was eventually noticed. A coach lumbered up the terrace to enquire. A copy of Football Weekends magazine was duly handed over, smiles broke out, and I was allowed to continue my wander around a ground dripping in nostalgia. At one point, someone called to me and asked if I wished to interview the manager. I declined to his great disappointment, but that would have been a little too over the top!
It was only fitting that my first ever Alessandria game should be in Serie C, as I often used to refer to them as Mr C. A bit like Carrarese and Pontedera, there wasn’t much you could rely on in life, but that trio were the backbone of the third tier. That notion has exploded now, with only Pontedera still bobbing along at that level. Carrarese are more than holding their own in B, while, as we know, ‘i grigi’ (the greys- after shirt colour), have slipped down a snake by three levels.
It’s ironic that potentially overextending themselves financially when they finally broke the glass ceiling and made Serie B was the catalyst to where they are today. It was a one season visit upstairs, a 21st in the club’s history, though, (complete with 13 in Serie A over a period 1929 to 1960), that started the financial issues.
Despite having Juve U23 as tenants at the fabulous Moccagatta stadium in C for a few years, the decline could not be arrested. They survived in C by the skin of their teeth two seasons ago, only for the roof to fall in at the end of last term, seeing a demotion to Serie D become altogether more painful, taking another two fathoms down hit, into the second tier of the local Piemonte regional league pyramid.
Casale, by contrast, found themselves in the fourth tier many a year ago, and the struggle to get out of Serie D, a level many coin as Dante’s circle of hell, just started eroding enthusiasm and doubtlessly finances too. They slipped from 4th level to 6th last season and failed to progress upwards. In the summer, they probably couldn’t believe their good fortune when Alessandria plopped into the league alongside them.
The financial benefit of having bigger gates and the stimulus of your greatest rivals alongside you doubtlessly wouldn’t be viewed as a negative. Put it this way, while Alessandria are still the best supported side in the league, with average gates of 1,000 to 1,500, seeing nearly three times that number at a nearly full Moccagatta, is testimony to the depth of interest in this local rivalry.
Thankfully, commonsense prevailed, and the authorities allowed the visiting fans to attend. This was in stark contrast to the madness of Cremona the day before, where, even the local fans didn’t know or understand why Cesena fans had been banned. In a rare piece of wonderful sportsmanship and solidarity, the Cremonese Ultras refused to sing or wave their banners, laying just a simple slogan on a wall outside basically saying football is nothing without away fans. Chapeau to that idea, but increasingly, especially in the south, at the whim of a bureaucrat, or police, away fans can be banned, sometimes at very short notice. Football is, after all, a spectator sport, and this simple notion gets lost here in Italy all too often.
Needless to say, while away fans were welcomed to Alessandria, the level of policing seemed excessive, even off the scale outside the ground. I doubt either set of fans were given the opportunity to be within 100 metres of each other.
The atmosphere was old school electric. Both sets of fans sang their songs and created a raucous setting for the game. Alessandria fans, understandably here in greater numbers, were more prone to lobbing insults towards the Casale faithful, but largely it was ignored, as they just continued with their Ultras medley. Perhaps if you have a Scudetto on the clubs CV, it allows for a morsel of greater grandure in their eyes. The winner of the most random choreography of the day went to Alessandria Ultras, who unfurled a drawing of a huge carrot. Underneath a banner merely said ‘Buon appetito’, essentially happy eating!
Pleasingly, no one changed to second, third, or even fourth kits for this one, giving the game a frisson of the unusual, with the unique grey shirt of Alessandria versus the Casale black, complete with its iconic big white star, a crumb of linkage to my Bisceglie tale at tier 5, the other big white star brigade in Italy.
There was no repeat of an incident in 1940 versus Venezia, where a referee asked Alessandria to change shirts as grey versus black was too similar for him? The authorities demanded he take an eye test afterwards, and it was discovered the ref was coloured blind. A mandatory test was immediately introduced.
The sides entered the arena to a cacophony of sound, complete with flares, fire crackers, and loo roll. It really was a sight to behold, even if these loud banging fire crackers would go off just as I was poised for a snapshot, and I would jump out of my skin.
Knowing this would be a golden ticket occasion, I decided to see if I could snag myself a press pass. To my great delight, one became two. A potential rail strike (called off late) meant my usual mode of transport had been substituted for the car of my buddy from Milan, Lorenzo. We sped down the autostrada to Alessandria, about an hour southwest of the city, parking up nicely on the right side of the stadium for a relatively sensible getaway after the game.
The greeting was warm, Sergio, the club historian and press box attendant, was on hand to give us our lanyards. Ahead of making our way to our seats, I recollected the memorabilia in the main stand cafe, and we both delighted in seeing so many images of old Alessandria days, a throw back to when life in these parts was a footballing hotbed.
Our press seats were right on the halfway line, and the views of all areas of the ground were fantastic. Alessandria have proper old school floodlights. As high as they come, and visible from a great distance if you are headed this way.
The city, population just over 92,000, is no small place, and by virtue, the potential for success is huge. It doesn’t really have any outstanding features that would draw a regular tourist in, but for football tourism, I am sure the Moccagatta ticks a heap of boxes.
By contrast, the opposition hail from a town just one-third the size of Alessandria, at around 33,000, putting into perspective their achievements back in the early days of calcio.
The game was cagey but surprisingly clean. It took until nearly the 70th minute for the referee to brandish a yellow card. Maybe that up and at them, in your face aspect, was the missing ingredient here. Shots were in short supply, particularly in the first 45, but Alessandria did register an effort on goal first, albeit as late as the 30th minute.
Casale seemed happy to contain and frustrate, yet their need was greater. They trailed leaders Alessandria by 4 points at the outset, and with games running out, just 8 to go, I suspect they needed the win more.
However, driven on by the large crowd, including extras watching on balconies with a fine view, Alessandria were the better team. That continued in the second period, when the Casale keeper excelled under immense pressure from both the action in front of him and the Grigi fans behind. One fire cracker went off right behind him, and as the announcer warned the fans, the keeper briefly feigned ringing ear syndrome. He knuckled down and kept Alessandria out. Well, at one juncture, a cleverly worked free kick saw him beaten, only for the flag to cancel it out. No var obviously, but it was a piece of play I shot a video, and everyone who has subsequently seen it feels it was harsh in the extreme.
Casale created the occasional opportunity. Once straight through, the lad hesitated for a blink as he contemplated what to do next, and the chance was gone. Here, in plain sight, was the difference between top class players and lower leagues, the speed of thought.
The Casale number nine is Walter Zenga’s boy. It is fair to say, maybe the sixth level might be too high for him. He was rank at best, rotten mostly. His colleagues didn’t necessarily want to pass him the ball, and while by a country mile he was the tallest player on the pitch, he isn’t very good at exploiting his height. Put it this way, when he trapped the ball, looked around and awaited the thud from behind to fall down, even the ref had seen enough of this gambit and blew his whistle to conclude proceedings.
It ended how it started, just as it had also concluded in Casale Monferrato earlier in the season. Twelve years in the wait, and two blanks to renew the rivalry. Will they follow each other into the Excellenza next term? Work will need to be done, especially by Casale, and if they can’t eclipse Alessandria, they will need to take their chances in the Play offs.
It was a privilege to have been at this match. I will forever be grateful to Alessandria for affording me this opportunity. If I head back to see this derby again, it would be nice to see it in Casale Monferrato. Someone, one day, will make themselves a hero and score in this fixture! Football still matters to both these fine sides. I will continue to monitor their progress, or lack of, as I have done for decades. I wish them both well.
GETTING THERE
Alessandria is south-west of Milan, little over an hours drive down the motorway. Going by train is slightly more complicated, as very few direct trains head to Alessandria from Milan. But it is easy enough to change in Pavia or Voghera en route etc.
The train station is around 20/25 minute walk from the stadium. Once on the street outside the station, take a left along the lengthy straight road. Google maps will guide you a simpler way, but walking out to the river and following it down will bring you to the same destination, albeit slightly more straight line and further.
STADIO MOCCAGATTA
The stadium has been home to the club since 1929. It is in terrific order, complete with some neoclassical features, especially the old entrance that leads to the away end these days.
Catering is available inside, usual fayre, but no outside catering vans, perhaps due to the police not wishing anyone to longer.
It can hold just under 6,000, and for this match, it was hosting around 4,200. The biggest crowd for some time at the old venue. Indeed, the crowd was confirmed as the biggest ever at 6th tier game the next day! Quite a feather in the cap, albeit quite how these two great clubs could sink so low is mystifying.
There was no souvenirs stall sadly, but this is quite common in Italy these days.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 