In the southern reaches of coastal Marche and the vast seaside plains of Abruzzo, which is the next region down, football is on the up. In the vanguard, and leading the way are Pescara, who successfully negotiated many a round in the Serie C play-offs last term to step up to Serie B. Indeed, only Cosenza have played more matches from round one of the Play-offs. Pescara started from round 3, playing 8 instead of Cosenza’s 10 games to clinch promotion.
Bizarrely, their successful coach Silvio Baldini decided he’d had enough, vacating the position for Vincenzo Vivarini to step in. Vincenzo will forever have the freedom of Catanzaro, guiding them finally after 18 years back to Serie B, and seeing them to a second tier fifth place finish on their anticipated return. However, since leaving the Calabrian capital club, he had a very short stay at Frosinone last season, and things are already feeling pressured at Pescara, with the natives unhappy with his appointment.
In truth, for a club with the size and stature of Pescara, Serie B is the lowest level they should be regularly looking to attain. However, as we are all too well aware, in Italian football, more than most others, the game is open to the vagaries of charitable presidents or ultimately angry men when things don’t go according to plan. This summer, fans of Sheffield Wednesday and Morecambe especially can sympathise with such plight right now. One of the Italian clubs that could write a book on the comings and goings of owners, money, and implosion are Sambenedettese. They are the most southerly ‘big’ side from Marche, where Ancona is the capital, whose team are another team with more woes than I care to mention.
Samb (pronounced Samba!), as they are regularly referred to, hail from the delightful beach city of San Benedetto del Tronto, whose near 100,000 inhabitants (the city and its constituent satellite area) brings it pretty close to Ancona in terms of population numbers. When it comes to punters in the door, despite winning the “we went bust more than you” joust with Ancona 5-4 presently (although it feels an equaliser is just around the corner), Samb undoubtedly have the more loyal and significant following.
For sure, a club on the up has the ability to garner a greater following, but somehow Ancona’s constant issues has seen the support base eroded to the point of making it tricky to successfully see a full scale relaunch.
Both clubs, who started out in 1905 (Ancona) and 1923 (Samb), went 99 and 71 years respectively without any financial issues. Sambenedettese going to the wall in 1994 was one of the earliest clubs to suffer this now regular malaise. The next round of disaster that struck them in 2006 is one I am quite familiar with courtesy of a friend of mine, Fabian Yantorno, who left his native Uruguay and Bella Vista in 2005 to play for them. He was schooled and trained by the Montevideo club (that is how they get their talent), and he decided to seek fame and fortune in the Italian game. In a career with a litany of unlucky moves (Chester went to the wall before he ever played a competitive game for them), his first encounter with such a crisis was at Samb. Yet, because he stayed, and because he played without pay, as they all did, he ultimately helped them stay up (even though that summer they were still declared bankrupt). Fabian’s name is held in almost hero-like status with fans to this day along with the rest of that squad. The fans rallied, pleaded with the players to keep fighting, and to help, they brought them food and drink to help ease the pain. It was the unity that struck a chord with him, and to this day, now assistant manager at Defensor Sporting back home, he will always have one eye on how Samb are doing.
Indeed, on the eve of the match I was in town to see, I was in touch with him from San Benedetto, sending photos that doubtlessly pulled at the heart strings. He wants to return for a visit. In visiting the club shop (very near the railway station), the lady could obviously tell I wasn’t local. So, out comes a visitor book for me to sign! I was the first from Scotland, she says, but I saw Arizona and other American entries. Anyway , I mentioned I am friends with Fabian and her face lit up. He may only have been here that one difficult season, but she remembered him. “A handsome boy” were her words.
Last season, Samb won their 4th tier league and jumped back into the professional ranks of Calcio, carrying with them crowds of 10,000 regularly. These are the sort of numbers Ancona could only dream about, and yet from comparable populations, what gives Samb command over a greater loyalty? Let me explain.
The fifth coming of Samb, if you will, since 2021 has seen a noticeable involvement of the fans. The club badge, which has morphed through a variety of guises in recent decades, has since 2023 been a badge that looks like a hooded Ultra on horseback with a horn! It is very striking and completely divergent from anything the club has presented as a badge previously. It almost feels like a call to arms for the club and the fans to come together and be stronger together. Well, you know what, it’s working so far, but I have learned through calcio clubs, take nothing for granted. That said, the emblem isn’t an Ultra, but a loving reproduction of a statue that sits on San Benedetto’s waterfront in honour of the fishermen of the city through the eras. It is a striking piece of art.
Sambenedettese have always had the feel of a club whose history and status was once higher than it really has ever been. Brief spells in Serie B are the rather frugal sum of its parts. An element of this feeling is borne from the spectacular Riviera Delle Palme stadium on the outskirts of the city. With mini whirly-gig walkways at the ends of the Curva, the design was doubtlessly plagiarised from the San Siro, which affords it the look and the feel of something altogether grander than the reality. However, like the badge and the fans coming together, the stadium aesthetic works too! It is a thing of beauty, and in a world of increasing judgement based on looks alone, architect Vincenzo Acciarri was ahead of his time when his conceptual spin on Temple of Typhus. It was inaugurated in 1985 in a friendly against Lazio, and while it only holds 13,700, like the rest of the mystic surrounding this place, it feels a lot larger. Maybe Samb and its stadium is a mirage in a desert, a tall tale, or a figment of the imagination. However, despite my leanings towards Ancona, the next sentence might see me marched out the back of Stadio Conero and given a stern talking to. I like Sambenedettese and the city of San Benedetto del Tronto. They don’t like Ascoli either. We should be united, brother in arms against a common enemy!
The stadium name, Riviera Delle Palme, translates as Riviera of Palm Trees. It is not an underestimation either, San Benedetto Del Tronto teems with this most tropical of trees. Many of the roads in the centre are particularly festooned with a plethora of this species. Even in and around the stadium, the trees are given reverence and left to grow. In some parts of the ground, they tickle the concrete behind the stands with their branches. It’s a near 3 kilometre walk from the railway station, but as straight a walk as you will find anywhere. Also note, catering at the stadium is merely a variety of drinks, so if food is required, have something before setting off to the stadio. San Benedetto isn’t lacking restaurants to cater to divergent budgets.
San Benedetto has a reputation for being an extremely friendly place. On a wander around town ahead of the game, I inadvertently ended up having three separate conversations, stopped by locals. They were all very friendly and somehow very curious about my ICT shirt. The blue is too light for Sambenedettese’s darker strain, but they seemed to enjoy the effort that someone would travel to see their side. Further evidence to the notion that global groundhopping hasn’t caught on here! Sadly, none knew my team, something I need to work on!
In perhaps bizarre circumstances, my 2025/26 Italian roster would start back at Sambenedettese. Only this time, I had added a new element to the viewing, dragging my long suffering Ancona buddy down to the lower reaches of his own region for the first time in his life, to watch Samb no less. The “groundhopping” thing isn’t really my gig, but the low number of members of the Futbology app in Italy is testimony to a population that partly wouldn’t cross the road to watch another side, and also a considerable number of overly content couch viewers. Every professional game, and many in levels below can be viewed for a fee, or for free, and with the Ultras thing still gripping the game, many chose to lend “support” from the comfort of their living room, and herein lies a footballing conundrum for the clubs, and partly a rationale why bankruptcy lurks around every corner. A failure to invest in stadia upgrading, largely because the facilities are municipally owned is another huge factor. The Riviera Delle Palme gets away with it, she stands the test of time, but you can tell little money has been lavished on it, and this will eventually catch up with the club.
Carpi were down from Emilia Romagna for this clash, a team who enjoyed a brief one term waltz in Serie A a mere decade ago. Their original velodrome stadium wasn’t up to scratch, and they had to groundshare at nearby Modena. When a groundshare is required in Italy, pull the couch out and await implosion. That duly came along in 2022, but the club have bounced back to the third tier, which in truth is probably about their level. Here is the irony, with just 71,000 inhabitants, Carpi has a poorer ground (capacity 5,500) than Samb and whisper it quietly, a more spectacular CV! There aren’t many places in Emilia Romagna that I haven’t yet visited, but Carpi is one. Indeed, this would be my first ever viewing of ‘i biancorossi”, the white and reds.
On a windless hot afternoon, both teams tried to play with pace and skill, but as the match wore on, the action came in fits and starts. Sambenedettese are going to struggle unless they find a more coherent way of playing. They had moments of greater possession but save one cracking curling effort late on, their endeavours produced next to nothing. Carpi were the more accomplished unit and displayed enough tactical awareness to suggest they’ll be just fine this season. The only goal came with fifteen minutes to go, when a couple of neat passes sent the winger clear, and his effort beat the young Samb keeper easily at his far post.
The home fans were terrific all afternoon. They never stopped singing and showed no animosity to the team in losing. This was refreshing to see. After all, five games in, with five points on the board, isn’t a disaster, even if the last two home matches have rendered no points. Consolidation in the third tier is the realistic goal, but with such a huge following, expectations are always high in San Benedetto del Tronto.
Stefano survived his Ancona away day, sitting amidst fans he would never have dreamed of getting amongst. He did confess to the whole experience feeling weird, but he was suitably impressed by the stadium and the city. We debated long and hard on the notion of just why Ancona don’t have even half the loyal support on display here.
When Sambenedettese play Ascoli, I suspect away fans will be banned. This will be sad, as despite the obvious rivalry, it’s a spectator sport, and with two passionate sets of fans bating one another from either end, sparks would fly. Alas, like in Argentina, and maybe the close connection to the South American land has exacerbated this need to ban away fans.
If you ever find yourself on the eastern seaboard of Italy, consider this gem of a city and stadium for a stop off, you won’t regret it.
Football Adventures with James Rendall 