Milling Around

To be completed after game on Thursday.

The Campania region is on the rise in the Italian football world. Sitting as kingpin over everything else in this corner of the country is Napoli, not just in terms of recent Scudetto success, but economically too. Its presence looms almost as large as Vesuvius does in this area, with everything sitting in the shadow of both. The immediate satellite towns around the Gulf of Naples will all doubtlessly have a fair percentage of Napoli fans in their midst. One of the closest, Torre Del Greco, lost its football team, Turris to bankruptcy just over a year ago now, while Pozzuoli’s side Puotelana were bought out. Maybe these declines are purely coincidental, or is it in correlation to the recent successes of SSC Napoli in the regional capital? But travel just a little further out, and you will find football thriving.

I have covered a number of the clubs in Campania, most recently Avellino in Serie B, who could yet make the promotion playoffs, along with Juve Stabia from Castellammare di Stabia which sits very close to Napoli. They are still on my roster of clubs to bring to life, and mid-April might have ticked that box, had it not been for a more pressing engagement at Stenhousemuir for my promotion seeking ICT boys! Benevento will be back in Serie B themselves next term, up as Champions of the Southern Region Girone in Serie C. Whether Salernitana and Casertana can join them will be revealed throughout the remainder of the season, with both having a crack at following them up via the lengthy third tier play offs. One level down, Scafatese are already promoted to the third tier, along with Paganese, who I wrote about recently, are also in the hunt, too. That just leaves today’s feature club SSD Savoia, who are one of the oldest clubs in the southern reaches of Italy, with a rich history as we’ll discover, and potentially on the cusp of joining near neighbours Scafatese and Paganese in the professional ranks once more in C next season. 

Savoia play their games in the Gulf of Naples town of Torre Annunziata (population 43,000). TA is the next conurbation down from Torre Del Greco as you edge out of Napoli and around the bay within Greater Napoli. This area has a history that is quite different in many regards from the rest of Italy. It  perhaps explains why Napoli, in particular, always feels more akin to Buenos Aires than even nearby Roma, for example. The moped is a dying mode of transport in many areas in Italy these days, but here in these satellite towns, the scooter is still the accepted and potentially easiest way to get about. The streets can be tight and hilly, making cycling a more exhausting and fraught alternative. However, for those of us who enjoyed Gomorra, set in this very area, the sight of a dark visored moped rider on a quiet street doesn’t half put the frighteners on you!

Torre Anunciata was flour producing country, with many a miller spotted in town back in the day. (A Rotherham tie-up is needed!). The local production of such a vital substance was honoured when the local football team got around to choosing their club colours, with white the popular choice. The club name though is perhaps in honour of the old Italian Royal family, the House of Savoy, with even the club crest having a whiff of the Royal coat of arms. That base point of something akin to the Danish flag, surrounded by a laurel and a crown, couldn’t be more royal if it tried. That said, uncertainty exists as to exactly why, albeit, at least two of the founders in 1909 had fought for the ruling family, with the battle cry “avanti Savoia” shouted as the troops charged forward. Those who prefer to detach the club name from any royal shenanigans will perhaps jump on the notio that the name was taken merely from the local cinema/theatre! Either way, that facility was doubtlessly named after the Royal family, so it’s all connected in one way or another. Interestingly, as the second world war was drawing to a conclusion, the club was forced to change its name for a passage of time to US Torrese, essentially the team of Torre. 

Back in the day, Savoia were in the vanguard of Campania calcio. Before a national championship was introduced, they would regularly win the regional top league, three years on the spin in fact, and would participate in a knock-out competition with other regional winners for the overall title. The northern powerhouses of Piemonte, Lombardia, and Liguria almost always served up the winner, but in 1924, Savoia, having lost 3-1 to Genoa in the first leg, they drew 1-1 at home. Genoa won the title, but the significance of that draw was that it was the first time that a “southern” side had not lost to a northern side. A small victory that eventually broke the mould, although in truth, even today, save Napoli, the south still isn’t competing at the top level as much as it potentially should. That north-south economic debate once more highlighted in the tale of modern-day Italian football.

The advent of bankruptcy, that stalwart of any Italian club tale visited upon US Torrese (Savoia post-war) in 1955, earlier than many of the modern-day scourges in the country. The stadium they were using, Campo Formisano was closing, and with it went the club. It was a chance to revert back to the original name once the finances were in place for a new run at the hill. Various owners came and went, but with a good period of stability seeing them largely dot about in Serie C2 (now D, where they are presently), but in 1995 a 2-1 playoff win over Matera in Foggia saw the club step up in the third tier for the first time in a decade. 

In 1997, the club went into a Serie B promotion play-off final with my boys Ancona. It was a match played in Olympic Stadium, Roma, far too big for such an occasion, but both sets of fans embraced the setting and turned out in good numbers. A hard fought tie saw Ancona prevail 1-0, regaining second tier football. Savoia continued to be competitive, and two years later, they managed to reach Serie B, beating Palermo in the semi-final and near neighbours Juve Stabia in the final to step up. Alas, they couldn’t get fully to grips with the higher level, and in finishing 19th out of 20, returned to C1 immediately. However, they have some memories that will last a lifetime. Having drawn with Genoa in 1924, in 1997/98 they beat Sampdoria at home, but perhaps the result that fans still smile about was the draw they achieved in the San Paolo (now Maradona), up the road in Napoli.

The following season, Savoia were at it again, jousting with the best of them to get immediately back to B. Palermo were thumped 5-1 en route to more heartache versus Marche opposition in the play-off final, losing out to Ascoli on this occasion. Subsequent campaigns followed a similar theme, overspending, chasing the dream, mild failure, then eventually another snake arrived, and they were down the ladder as fast as ever. The litany of bad owners and poor management in this century is just utterly depressing. In 2010, to coincide with the Centenary of this rich and colourful club’s history, US Savoia 1909 was back, and has stayed thus ever since. Frustration at not being able to get out of the 5th level, saw new owners listed on the Vienna Stock Market (partly fan owned too), follow a recent trend by fellow local clubs Nola and Scafatese in Serie D by buying the titles of a club within the acceptable distance in 2024, in this case it was ASD Portici, who played at the brilliantly named San Ciro.  

The rules regarding these “buy-outs” requires a club to continue to play at the bought out club for one season before bringing everything back to Torre Annunziata. So, after last term’s bedding in campaign, Savoia are back home at the magnificent Alfredo Giraldo stadium. In the summer they were placed into the last of the nine Girone, essentially a hotbed of Sicilian and Calabrian clubs, but despite lengthy away day treks, Savoia are right up there with the mighty Reggina, and perhaps less known Athletico Palermo (who doubtlessly have few if any fans) and Nissa another Sicilian club from Caltanissetta.

My visit coincided with a club I have a lot of time for, ACR Messina, yet another troubled side, but who have managed to eat away at a significant points deduction this term to give themselves a real stab at staying in the fourth tier and  regrouping for next season. It had all the hallmarks for a yesteryear classic, and the sides weren’t about to let me down.

The Giraldo is tucked away amid the northern apartment blocks of Torre Annunziata. If you are on a regional train from Napoli, alight at TA Citta, and not the next one down the tracks TA Centrale as it is much closer. Just to confuse matters, Torre is also on the Circumvesuviana network, run by a separate operator to the national carrier Trenitalia. It’s first stop named simply as Torre Annunziata, as opposed to the next one down the tracks Villa Regina, which is still TA as well. From either operator’s first stop in the town, it’s a 20-minute walk to the stadium. With a capacity of 10,750, you can see that this club really has the potential to be playing at a much higher level. If they were to get into C this term, who knows how much the owners will open the purse strings to have a real go and a return to B, but the first hurdle on that journey was overcoming a well organised visitor from Messina.