There was a time when Rimini was one of the hotbeds of British seaside holidays overseas. Certainly in the ’80’s that was the case, as I for one enjoyed a number of trips to satellite resorts on either side of Rimini; Riccione, and Cattolica to the south, and Igea Marina to the north. On occasion, whoever was with me in any given year, we would head into the ‘metropolis’ of Rimini. On one memorable expedition, a friend learned a very valuable life lesson. Delighted with his new Juventus shirt, the amount of hissing and animosity it caused quickly saw the famous old black and white stripes abandoned. I am pretty sure any interest he had in Juve died that day!
It took until 2018, potentially 30 years on from my last beach holiday in Italy for Rimini to finally be the chosen destination. I had often been curious why it had fallen out of favour with Brits, but then again, maybe Rimini tried to price itself higher to stop any increase in potential antisocial behaviour so prevalent these days in established European resorts for youthful visitors. Italy isn’t really considered often for a beach holiday, more a cultural expedition perhaps.
Waiting at Rimini airport for my then partner from St Petersburg, the arrivals board was screaming out which route the city had decided to follow. There were innumerable flights from different Russian cities, as far flung as Yekatrinburg and Volvograd. This was further confirmed when some restaurants didn’t even have an English menu, merely Italian or Russian! It was quite surreal, with the beach in particular, a lengthy beast it is too, just a sea of Russians. Tania certainly felt home from home, but post Ukraine invasion, such direct flights have stopped, and has Rimini once again needed to re-invent itself?
The beach area is quite a distance away from the main hub of the city. It is almost deliberately a separate place, but the locals will head down to the waters edge to enjoy the vast variety of restaurants and bars, especially of a summer’s night.
Rimini was once a Roman fortified town. An East Coast garrison to its capital much further west. Evidence of the Roman era is still visible, including the old arch/gateway and some of the remnants of the original city wall.
With a population in the region of 150,000, Rimini is not a sleepy hamlet. Indeed, its football clubs’ spectacular inability to compete at anything more than the third tier on a regular basis is quite strange. Further evidence, perhaps, that success does not always correlate with the size of the city.
Rimini is at the southern end of one of the richest regions in Italy, Emilia Romagna. Even in football terms, from Parma in the north to neighbouring Cesena in the south, and many a club in between, they have all had greater success than Rimini. We shall investigate further later.
I am sure many readers will potentially have briefly stopped here en route to San Marino. The buses for the hillock nation leave from just outside the railway station.
Rimini’s most famous son was Federico Fellini, a great film director in his day, an auteur to many an afficionado of cinema. His most famous film was La Dolce Vita (the sweet life) about hedonistic Roma, which includes an iconic romantic moment between the lead actors in the waters of the Trevi Fountain. He never forgot his roots, though, and he is celebrated in Rimini.
Football started out in 1912 under the name Libertas Rimini, a prefix that I can only think remains with Lucchese in the professional leagues of Italy. By 1916, Libertas had become FC anyway in these parts. The club essentially bobbed around the lower reaches of the pyramid, largely in tiers five to three, but in the late 70’s they had three terms in the second division, Serie B, albeit not exactly setting any heather on fire, finishing in the bottom half on every occasion until relegated.
Some thirty five years later they were back in B, perhaps about to have tbe clubs best ever spell. They certainly landed in the second tier at the right time, what with Juventus relegated for a host of dodgy shenanigans, and about to come to the Romeo Neri stadium (capacity now 9,768) and leave with their tale between their legs after a 1-1 draw. Perhaps some of those who hissed my friend enjoyed hissing the real thing that day!
They briefly led the table that season, but finishing 5th was a club high, never thus far having looked like being able to be repeated.
That overly familiar chestnut around in Italy, of over extending the budget, reared its unwelcome head, sending the club down to Serie D with a new name AC Rimini 1912 chucked in.
That situation didn’t sort out everything, and it needed another financial issue in 2016 to start to clear the air under Rimini FC 1912. They had to start from tier 5, the Emilia Romagna Eccellenza, and the club have risen back to C in the intervening period where it largely enjoys middle of the road campaigns year on year without, as yet looking likely to get back to B any time soon.
While the lower play-off slots of 9th or 10th look possible, Rimini have secured a place in the Serie C Coppa Italia final, where victory wouldn’t just guarantee play-off action, it would allow them to skip a few rounds. I last caught up with Rimini at Gubbio in play offs last season, where they had finished 10th placed, but went to 5th side Gubbio and won. They were knocked out days later at Perugia in round 2, however.
Arezzo the visitors to the Romeo Neri for this encounter don’t have the cup comfort blanket. By curious coincidence I saw them go down in Perugia earlier in the season in ‘il derby Etruscani’! However, they arrived in Rimini on a Monday night with a huge following, determined to climb a few more places in the league to get a more favourable play-off slot.
The determination was all with Arezzo, pretty much throughout this match. They thoroughly deserved the lead when it came from a well placed shot. However, despite a moderate mist lurking by the floodlights in the first half, no one could have envisaged the blanket of fog that enshrouded the pitch during the interval.
There seemed little chance the second half could start. I had come down from the back of the terrace to the front so that the lights might not affect things greatly, but the far goal was completely lost. The teams trotted out, the linesman did the net check, no one on the field batted an eyelid, and we were off again.
Ten minutes into this limited viewing experience, a developing Arezzo attack disappeared into the twilight zone, but a loud cheer from the distance confirmed a goal had been scored, the visitors led by two. Only the away fans would have seen it, but perhaps that is only appropriate.
The red and white Bristol Rovers of Rimini huffed and puffed, but they weren’t at the races. Expertly snuffed out by a thoroughly professional job from Arezzo. The local Ultras in a peek of boredom and cheeky chappy syndrome would light flares, whose smoke, mixed with the fog, very often meant nothing was visible at all on the field of play. Maybe they were doing us a favour. I had thought they were trying for an abandonment, but in Italy, that doesn’t serve much purpose, as all they would do is reconvene for what time remains to be completed. The two nil deficit was never going away!
The Romeo Neri stadium is a reasonable place. The running track is a nuisance, especially on a foggy night, but unlike many similar venues, it is in good working order and still used. A combination of total relaxation by the beach and a game would always be a winner here, but alas at the end of February even the sun wasn’t able to put in an appear.
GETTING THERE
Flights to Rimini might go from some UK airports, or Ancona to the south or Bologna to the north. Everything is possible, with plenty train options from either direction as it is on the main routes to and from Bari/Lecce area.
The stadium is just over 1 kilometre from the station, making a day game in particular, an in and out affair if that is what you wish.
CATERING
If you wish a proper meal, eat in town before heading the short distance to tbe stadium. There is beer, juice, coffee and a few snacks available inside, but no outside catering and no souvenirs. On a chilly night, almost every Rimini fan had a scarf, but where do they get them from? Not that I was looking anyway, Ancona and Cesena don’t much care for Rimini, so out of loyalty, no souvenirs for me!
Football Adventures with James Rendall 