Casarano Fiesta

The name Casarano might not be a familiar name to you. Unless, of course, you scour the lower leagues of Italy, like me. There is an astonishing multitude of leagues, where the lower you go, the numbers become mind-boggling. If Casarano as club has passed you by, fret yee not, it is after all, 27 years since they last appeared in the professional ranks, a generation.

However, all of that started to change this season, and I had the tremendous privilege of being at the game that would clinch promotion. I don’t know why, but many weeks earlier, as I was planning my last calcio viewing roster of the season, I just had a feeling the Thursday before Easter fixture with Fidelis Andria could be pivotal. I hadn’t envisaged quite how correct my nostrodamus thinking would be though.

Once I knew I was headed that way, I was straight onto Mimo, my ex-Bisceglie media man, now a Puglia TV presenter in his own right. I had once been wheeled in front of a camera minutes after arriving at a Bisceglie game, and my rambling Italian that spills into Spanish with ease, must have had the viewing Puglia public chortling into their mid afternoon birra! I have no idea whether Claudia Carbonara was anchoring the show for Antenna Sud that day, but she, and her channel are a staple of my Sunday afternoon when I am back home. A regional version of what Jeff Stelling used to do, but more encompassing going into action clips and updates from the Eccellenza, the fifth tier.

Perhaps courtesy of that coverage over the last few years, I have become well versed in the top non-league clubs of Puglia, with Casarano always there or thereabouts near the top of Serie D. This year, they have taken it to a higher level, and despite having Nocerina snapping at their heels, they held their nerve and thoroughly deserve to be Girone H champions.

Across the entire country, they have nine fourth tier leagues, with only the winner guaranteed to step up. It truly can be Dante’s nine circles of hell to get out of!

Last season, I saw Cavese celebrating the title, where they had come out on top with once again, second place going to Nocerina. They chucked the play offs last season, and given the largely futile purpose of them, I imagine they might do the same this time around. Even with two Serie C clubs going out of business before the season was concluded, all that has done has reduced the relegation from one of the third tier leagues to a mere one side.

The king of every second letter being an A is Galatasaray, of course. Italy has a few pretenders of their own, but Casarano comes closest with 3 to the Turkish 5!

You might have already thumbed your atlas or Google maps to locate Casarano. It is now the most southerly professional club on mainland Italy (Ugento amongst others is further south, but they have never been in the professional ranks). We are after all two hours on a train (which is the flip side of high speed) south of Lecce edging towards the opposite western coast of the heel that is Puglia, although this department is more locally known as Salento. The town of Casarano is the hub for a very agricultural based community, and with a population of just over 20,000, the club draws support from the entire surrounding area.

The well-appointed and tidy Stadio Giuseppe Capozza holds 6,500. More than sufficient for Serie C, and acceptable for the next level up too, should the feel-good factor see things continue in the same vein next term. Should that happen, il rossoblu (red and blues, a lovely colour combination) will have created an exciting new chapter in the club’s history, as they have never been to Serie B.

Founded in 1927, Casarano have largely been in the lower leagues, but they do have 20 campaigns in the professional set-up before last leaving Serie C behind in 1998. During those C years, that level was split between C1 and C2, effectively third and fourth tiers. Two of the club’s four honours straddle those levels. The first was the highest honour on their roster, winning the Coppa Italia Serie C1 of 1984-85, then the fourth tier league title three years later, when in a two points for a win era, they created a new points record.

The trauma of that demotion hit them hard, as even in ‘technically’ the amateur level of Serie D (fourth tier), they suffered two bankruptcy issues in 2006 and 2012, before steadying and getting themselves organised and ready for this historic return to the third tier in 2025. In between these two meltdowns, Casarano did find some more success, though, claiming the Coppa Italia Dilettanti, a competition for fifth and six tier sides, in 2008/09. Winning this competition automatically gets you promotion to Serie D. They managed this again more recently in 2018/19 as well. Doing the Coppa C and Dilettanti success has only been achieved by Casarano and Varese, another club that has been too long in the doldrums.

One last fascinating morsel to the Casarano history was one of their managers during the 2001/02 season, Mario Kempes. This flamboyant and colourful character had a curious managerial CV, including a brief spell as a player-manager at Lushnja in Albania (although he never actually played). Before that, he started out in Java, as well as managing in Venezuela, and three clubs in Bolivia before pitching up in deepest Casarano, then giving up completely after a short spell at San Fernando in Spain. He never lasted long anywhere, nor managed in his own land, Argentina. I guess in the 7 years of trying to be a coach, the great player who scored 302 club goals in 555 matches for a variety of teams, a hero to this day in Valencia as well as Rosario Central, also bagged 20 International goals in 43 caps, including his memorable brace of goals in the 1978 World Cup Final, finally realised he wasn’t very good at the management game. It’s not for everyone, but rarely do ex-players of his stature have such an eccentric CV.

It was a gentle amble through rural Salento in the morning, observing the notion that sizable apartment blocks stop at Lecce. Then, things took a sinister twist. For the first time in all my Italian travels, when I saw the faded sign above the station, it said Ugento. I know enough to have realised I had missed my stop!

Now Ugento station is rural and basic at best. I was the only person there, and once I had got myself used to my mistake, the eerie silence had me looking round to see if any cowboy might be playing the harmonica on a rocking chair as in the opening scenes of Serge Leones, Once Upon a Time in the West.

For the record, Ugento station is 2 kilometres from not just the town but anything. Online, I saw a bus going back to Casarano, but I was never going to make it. The train back was a non-starter, as the next one was after the game had started! I needed to find a taxi. Again, online, I could only find a Casarano cab company, a one man business, I suspect, as he was all booked up until after kick off. As I walked into Ugento, I saw their small stadium, where they have been playing with the big boys this season in Serie D along with Casarano.

It was lunchtime, and everything was closed, and it took a while to find another soul. Eventually, I was guided to a tour operator shop, and it was go!  The chap then walked me round the corner, where he spoke to another man, and we all walked back round to where we started. He got car keys from the shop, and we were away. Casarano isn’t very far away, and within minutes, I was dropped off at the stadium. A taxi driver isn’t obviously his usual remit as he had to call back to Ugento to establish the cost. In the circumstances, €15 was jolly reasonable.

Having been dropped at the stadium, in hindsight, it was too early, and I had seen a nice square for a keepsake or two as we ventured through Casarano. The town is set on a meandering slope, nothing steep, save the post alighting at the station gig, but of course, I merely had the downward end of that bargain going back, more later.

The flags were out, Casarano had one focus, and that was on its football team. People were heading out to the ground with more than an hour to go, so I thought I better do likewise.

My name was on the list, which was pleasing, but no ticket or lanyard for the press here. Indeed, once into the stadium, it was difficult to know where I was supposed to sit. I eventually found the press area, but it was behind glass, and for taking photos, that was no use. I had a nice chat with two of the seasoned press men of the club, who recall fondly Kempes at Casarano.

I ended up standing up the back of the seats, squeezed in amongst those doing a similar thing, many of whom were youth academy players. It was a great view and an absolute privilege to be at this game, but Giuseppe, who had kindly arranged my entry, never showed, and his original request that the Casarano chairman wanted to meet me after the game thankfully didn’t happen. On such a memorable day for Casarano, I was the last bloke he would be looking to meet, but I hope I do the club proud with my article. A few copies will be headed to Salento.

The game started in a nervy fashion, with neither team creating very much. The cool wind and damp conditions perhaps weren’t conducive to slick passing. As it was, Casarano’s No77, who had cut a forlorn figure and at times with a lack of interest demeanour, obviously was just putting the left back to sleep, as he picked up a pass perfectly in his stride and drilled the ball low and hard into the far left corner of the net. We had lift off.

Casarano were totally in the zone for a party in the second half, and it didn’t take long for a thunderous drive to double the lead. In truth, at that point, Fidelis were not interested in the notion that a two goal lead can be a dangerous score. They seemed to alarmingly just give up. A morsel of showboat passing was spotted by Casarano, but who could blame them? The crowd loved it.

However, Casarano have thumped quite a few sides this term, many with big scores, including 8 and 6 goal hauls, but those were away from home. However, when a free-kick was headed home to make it three, any number was possible, and the volume just went off the scale. The Chairman was busy getting his special Serie C t-shirt on, with people all around  readying for the party. In the midst of these goings on, someone snuck in at the back post, and it was 4, but I missed it completely along with the majority in my vicinity.

The final whistle was greeted with great joy. Friends and family all joined the players and staff on the pitch. It took a long time for them to come out of their celebratory centre circle huddle, but they were finally off on a lap of honour just as I needed to leave. I was absolutely thrilled for Casarano. It can’t be easy being this far south and consistently performing to the highest level. Serie C will be a big step up, I hope they do well.

One footnote to my journeying. When I got to the Casarano train station, it was right on the edge of town with fields on one side, which wouldn’t give any indication that it was the stop for the biggest town in the district. More bizarrely though, the locked up, no one around, small station building and platform area have no signage saying Casarano! I felt a little better after my embarrassment earlier. It is, though, utterly unacceptable. The train makes no announcements en route, and then to have no sign?! Just to add one last morsel to this tale, a train arrived, then another from a different direction! Which was going where? These are obviously so infrequently used trains (unusual for Italy), I literally had to signal to the driver and ask as no one else was waiting, cue more, Ennio Morricone soundtrack.

Let’s not end on such a moan. Although it might be useful information if you happen to be headed deep into the heel of Puglia sometime. You need to pay attention, and some, if you are on these FSE train. They are a separate company from Trenitalia, the main rail business.

I look forward to seeing how Casarano gets on next season. I am staying in the vicinity for 4 weeks later in the year, so given the right fixture, I could be back. One thing is for sure, I won’t miss my stop!