Pythagoras Country

The poet and comedian John Hegley probably wouldn’t expect to get a name check in a story about Italian football, but because of him, Luton and Crotone are inexplicably and forever linked in my addled mind! He always said he tried so hard to get Luton into a poem, and while it’s largely a verbal gag; “Luton, Luton, Luton, how I think of you when I eat my croutons” is the joke. Crotone (pronounced crow-tony) was historically known as Kroton, and while it isn’t exactly the same sound as crouton, maybe you get my drift. They look similar! Do we have a fan friendship just waiting to happen here? They already have an honorary president in waiting!

The southern port city of Crotone was a Greek settlement dating back to 710 BC, when it was known as Kroton, and for a brief period the local football team also took that name from 1984/85 until a second bankruptcy event in 1991. Even the city itself has gone through a few names, with Cotrone the longest serving from the Middle Ages until 1928, when the “r” was moved to its present-day position. 

We are perhaps always looking for a way to distinguish ourselves from others, although to be fair, Doncaster didn’t embrace the notion that it had never actually been signed back to England post William Wallace plundering days, and could have traded off the notion of being a Scottish enclave! They missed a trick there, in my opinion, but I get it, Donny is forever Yorkshire.

In Crotone, they are mighty proud of their Greek roots, and banners at the stadium will often depict Greek icons. Right here in the city of Kroton, you will find one of the most famous mathematicians of all-time was born, Mr Pythagoras. Now, granted many a GCSE level student would like to forget about him, but i Pitagorici (the Pythagoreans) is one of the Crotone club nicknames, Indeed, as we’ll discover, they have a variety of colourful names. Whether the club applies Euclidean geometry to their formations remains to be seen!

Kroton was one of the most flourishing cities of Magna Graecia, reaching a population of between 50 to 80 thousand around 500 BC. Curiously, the population is still in that range, with 67,000 living in the city on the sole of Italy’s boot if you will, beautifully by the sea. The match in Crotone prior to my arrival was versus Siracusa in a Serie C clash. The rivalry will have been all Greek, as these two cities were amongst the jewels of that ancient civilization in modern-day Italian territory back in the day. A veritable Sparta derby if you will. 

It is said, “Never judge a book by its cover,” and the same applies to the notion of not judging a place by what you see out of a train window. Piacenza had caught me out on this point years ago, and my only previous sighting of Crotone came from a brief stop on a Taranto to Catanzaro train trek. The view from the station and the approach, etc, were views of sad, rundown, depressing buildings. It still is to be honest, yet over the brow of the hill and down towards the sea, the city paints an altogether more pleasant picture, but you have to walk nigh on 2 kilometres through pretty ugly stuff to reach the easier on the eye vistas.

Right now, the railway station is almost completely being done up. All I can say is, unlike Casarano, at least the sign for the city is still standing! Platform numbers are down, and so is the waiting room, toilet, cafe, and most fundamentals you would expect at a station. It will doubtlessly look good when it’s finished, but getting rid of it all in one go seems crazy. But beyond that upheaval and the appearance of streets leading into Crotone centre, the feel is more Latin American than Italian.

Downtown, central Crotone is truly worth the effort to see. The beach is a lot more quirky and attractive than a lot of resorts, especially down the Adriatic coast, with their 10 miles of golden sands and organised beach areas. This is a working city with a beach, but also a popular destination, perhaps more especially for Italian visitors, but I aim to help put the city on the map for the more adventurous Football Weekends readers. That said, as I discovered, the city is also a cruise ship destination, perhaps drawn in by the historical Greek/Italian influence. Vast swathes of American tourists were in the hub of the historical centre as I endeavoured to catch a flavour of this perplexing city. At the entrance to the castle stood a lady ready to flick the switch and perform to anyone willing to pay, where she was Pythagoras’s daughter, and regaled the American visitors with tales of yesteryear Greek Kroton.

As you will know, I am a regular in Italy, but Crotone might be the first time I have struggled with my thinking on a city. I love ports with Ancona, Livorno, La Spezia, Trieste, and Brindisi, are all my kind of places, but even now, I remain unsure if Crotone will enter that pantheon in my mind. It just goes to show that you can’t rush these things, let the atmosphere seep in.

I had chosen my accommodation a little out of the centre, a place called Amare. It was near the coast, something I always try to find in coastal resorts, but I hadn’t anticipated a fabulous room with a balcony and the view out to sea. It was such a lovely way to start any day, but particularly with the blue skies and the sound of the sea to ease me into the day, all very relaxing.

Ahead of the match, I spent the morning thoroughly invigorated by the Centro Storico (historical centre), as well as noting the curious colour of the rock in the hills behind the city. It’s quite dramatically different. Maybe Matera has a similar rock, but my mind was headed further away towards Arica and Iquique in Northern Chile, coastal cities on the edge of the Atacama. It is perhaps that end of summer dead looking scrub too that almost gives the hills an edge of desert quality.

The local football team has in recent years, truly been on a journey. From a sleepy hollow outfit that graced the third and fourth tiers largely, they finally reached Serie B for the first time in 2000. Thereafter, they had a yo-yo thing going on pretty much for the next decade with that level. However, after stabilising, they found themselves promoted to the top flight in 2015/16, finishing one point behind Cagliari, and nine ahead of Trapani in the top play-off slot of third.

The ancient Greeks would have been smiling, and indeed many a mathematician might well have been scratching their heads the following season, as 2 points out of a possible 30 to start their Serie A campaign, was one of the worst opening ten game salvos ever. They were in trouble all the way through, but chippered up, especially in the last 7 games, where 5 wins, including a last day 3-1 win over Lazio, saw them jump out of the relegation slots at Empoli’s expense, and live to fight another campaign. It was at the time, and to this day, viewed as some kind of footballing miracle, with Davide Nicole, the manager hailed a hero.

Lightening wasn’t to strike twice, as a last day loss at Napoli the next season sent Crotone back to B. They would finish three points below SPAL, and inadvertently, I had witnessed their match in Ferrara, where the loss on a very wet afternoon would prove pivotal. However, that wasn’t the end of the Serie A tales in the Crotone book of mythology, when two years later, they finished second again, this time to Benevento, and both clubs were back in the top flight after a two season absence. Sadly, in a Covid affected season, the lack of Gli Squali, the sharks (another nickname) support saw them finish second bottom, ahead of Parma, but also taking Benevento with them once more back to the second tier.

Neither club would ever get close to Serie A again, although Benevento gave it one last hurrah the following season, while Crotone, as often can be the case, couldn’t get the losing habit out of their mindset and back to back relegations saw them once more ensconced in the Serie C seas once more, appropriate for the sharks, I guess! Benevento joined them the following term, and neither has as yet looked like finding that winning formula to get out of the third tier yet, but in truth, such is the longevity of days at this level for both clubs, this almost feels like home.

Stadio Ezio Scida, with a 16,500 capacity, holds nearly 25% of the Crotone population, which is impressive, and it’s ready, willing and able to sustain another push for the bright lights of Serie A. Clubs from similar areas are often like Swiss weather vain clocks, when one struggles, the other is prospering. Crotone’s south Calabrian rivals Catanzaro, the regional capital to boot, has perhaps largely been the one on top in this corner of Italy. They are certainly on top presently, and like ships in the night, it’s a derby little played these days. Catanzaro’s five season spell in the top flight saw 7th and 8th placed finishes from the late’70’s to early 80’s, so they can still lord a 5-3 Serie A lodgings tally over Crotone, with a potential sixth and a long awaited A return potentially not far off. For Crotone, they can only fight their own battle and ignore the mood music from their hilltop rivals. Getting the club back into B will always be the aim, where most likely the derby could be played once more. 

The Scida stadium has one of the most peculiar main stand roofs I have ever seen. It sits high above the seating and isn’t connected to it in any way. On a windy, wet day, with no back panelling, you won’t find any shelter here. Having seen the ground many times on TV, with cameras in the main stand, that pearl of unusual was missing. Indeed, it’s only upon seeing the stadium in the flesh that I realised the dramatically high home curva is infact one of these quasi-permanent scaffold terracing.

I subsequently learned at the match that the stand roof is so far back and open because when the club was in Serie A, it housed another towering construction of scaffold seating. It was subsequently removed as they tumbled down the leagues, and because of that, it truly looks odd. Indeed, while it was merely a very light drizzle for 5 minutes during the game, it was drifting into the press area, suggesting a right old downpour would see everyone soaked.

In the days leading up to my visit to Crotone, the story multiplied. The club has been placed into special administration. Exactly what that means, I am unsure, but no fines or points deduction will be applied. Police investigations have discovered that the club has been infiltrated by the mafia! Calabria has a long association with the mafia, as well as Sicily across the water, and it appears the powerful ‘Ndrangheta mafia has extended its tentacles into certain operations within the club, mainly tickets and merchandise. A judicial administration will assist the club to get their economic business back within the club and onto a sound legal footing once more. Your writer will say no more on this topic, just in case!

In town for this one were Casertana, a favourite away day visitor for me. Indeed, the Campania outfit from Caserta has featured in FW at home, in Lazio at Real Monterotondo, in Puglia at Virtus Francavilla, and across in Sicilia versus Messina. Here I would see them in a fifth separate region, Calabria, and with Casertana on roster for a visit to Picerno in Basilicata in two weeks when I visit, the entire southern region map will have included them. Arguably, Abruzzo and Molise are missing, but given the regional nature of the game in Italy, it’s a rare day when Casertana would play there. However, without realising it until today, now it’s something I have started, I will keenly keep an eye out to see if I can extend this curious list that includes their visit going forward.

This was to become a mini farce of a game. Two red cards (last man tripping scenarios) for Crotone in the first half meant the short-handed nature of the home side saw them play cautiously. However, they also showed greater willing to run than Casertana, who obviously decided a goal would arrive just by passing sideways and boring us all into a stupor with such ponderous play. They did find the net, a nicely taken header with 20 minutes to go, but it was Crotone who take all the plaudits here. Twice they were clear on goal, and once a header that produced a finger tip save to push it over the bar. Casertana have a lot to thank their keeper for the win, on a day when he might have otherwise been able to lean against the post and smoke a cigar, a bit like the chap next to me in the press area!

The mentality of the visitors was questionable. The Campania journalists to my right were purring like Cheshire cats at half-time, but were left suitable crestfallen by the performance of the team versus nine men, and rightly so. Hilariously, the radio guys from Caserta ended up in arguments with the fans just in front of them, once even while live on air. At the end, it continued, but with less venom and more of a banter nature, thankfully.

The Casertana fans, who arrived 25 minutes late (I mean to say, what is the point in travelling all that way for an hours action?!), who were housed in the visiting section, an area of the ground that happens to be on the main road, sees access here closed to home fans. It forces those coming from the city centre onto an odd route to and from the stadium by virtue. In one of the photos from the game, you might see a very large light blue building behind the opposite low seated area. This is the local hospital, and to see hoardes of football fans inadvertently blocking the way for stressed patients and relatives en route to the hospital is extremely unusual.

I must also note that the number of plain clothes police in and around the stand, flashing a badge on their belt, was quite unbelievable. Exactly what their role was, I am unsure, but a bit like the police back home, when things started to get heated, none of them were to be seen!

It was quite a trip to Crotone. I write my articles with a degree of immediacy to capture the atmosphere and the flavour of any given place on the spot. However, with Crotone the city, I needed to sleep on my initial thinking, largely because it was all over the place. I had no idea what to expect, and upon meeting the city, it caught me off guard. It’s refreshingly different is my final assessment, and well worth a visit. Indeed, Lidiya likes the beach and the seaside front bars, as well as my accommodation enough to enquire as to when we will head down to Crotone together! That might just be a possibility, I wouldn’t be adverse to that. I would love to see another Crotone match here. Maybe if I return, I can finalise my thoughts on Crotone.