For some time now the desire to travel has pushed me to organize weekends away, leaving on Friday night and returning home on Monday morning, obviously always chasing that fortunate series of events that allow me to participate in as many matches as possible, but also to keep time available to see other interesting things, not only regarding the purely sporting sphere.
After a very complicated selection of races, between buses low costovernight stay and everything else, I make my final decision which intrigues me a lot, with three matches to follow: two already on Saturday, Alcione Milan-Albenga in the afternoon and Urania Milan-Juvi Cremona basketball in the evening, in the historic but modernized pale (although now called Allianz Cloud); while the following day he will close the circle with Cremonese-Cosenza in Serie B.
So I leave on Friday night by bus, darkness that induces sleep and I arrive at the Lampugnano bus station almost without realizing it and without daylight having yet broken. As usual, both to recharge and to wait for dawn, I decide to enter the bus station bar for a regenerating breakfast. At this point I would have two options: decide to take the metro, missing some stages along the way, or make it on foot, despite the really biting cold and the first rays of sun which are slow to arrive. Without thinking too much, I obviously opt for the walk towards “San Siro”, as Venditti said in a famous song of his.
I arrive in the stadium area, in the historic living room of Italian football in no time. It should be remembered that the name “San Siro” derives from the area where it is built, but the stadium is actually named after the unforgettable champion Giuseppe Meazza, who played both with Inter, where he had the highest number of appearances, and with Milan . He was also world champion with the Italian national team in the 1934 and 1938 editions. Meanwhile the sun comes out, consequently the visibility improves and allows you to observe the smallest details of this splendid facility. With complete calm and without anyone around, I have the opportunity to see many details that perhaps on the day of a match I would not have been able to grasp.
I arrive from the Inter Curva Nord side and I notice it from the beautiful murals that celebrate all the groups that are part of it, despite the recent decision to all unite behind a single banner, as well as writings and portraits for the unforgettable Vittorio, who tragically passed away less from two years ago. Once the tour is over, I can’t help but head to the opposite side: the Rossoneri Curva Sud presents the exact same landscape, with murals of the groups that compose it, certainly positioned differently but always on the same theme. Walking along Via Harar I notice other Rossoneri murals, much larger than the previous ones, until I reach the last mural located in Via Novara, of the Inter brand, i.e. the one that remembers the unfortunate Varese ultras Daniele Belardinelli, known to his friends as Dede, who passed away during the clashes with the Neapolitan ultras in December 2018. It is very interesting to closely observe all these works located in several points and also how the two fans respect each other’s spaces, which takes us back to the beginning of the Eighties, when that famous pact of non-belligerence that still exists today.
Despite the thousand memories, time gives no respite, and brings me back to today’s reality, in this case to the afternoon match at the “Kennedy” stadium, where two teams are facing each other who are literally amazing for the championship played so far: the hosts of Alcione Milano, undisputed leaders of group A of Serie D and the newly promoted Ligurians Albenga. The distance from the stadium San Siro There is very little that separates me from this structure and, once I have crossed the large and famous San Carlo Borromeo hospital, I take a road that takes me right in front of the facility. What I find in front of me is a real sports centre: it includes several football fields, also intended for other clubs; furthermore there are also some tennis courts and even a baseball field and a rugby field, where the various sports associations closely follow the kids of this new neighbourhood, which arose not so many years ago, at least judging by the buildings and the streets. Circumnavigating it I can see a small gem, a monument from times gone by and which still resists the concrete in the surrounding area, recalling the expanse of fields and country roads: it is the Cascina Lanterna from the 1200s, where the writer and poet stayed Francesco Petrarca in his Milanese past, discovered by pure chance while wandering around the sports complex.
After the classic external tour, all I have to do is finish my very personal tour inside, where I enter quite easily and where an attendant is working to arrange the playing field which will soon feature the two teams. The shape of the stadium is simple, being made up of just two iron stands: the local one, higher up and, a short distance away, the lower one intended for the visiting fans, just divided by a net. If Alcione were to join the professionals, it pains me to admit, he certainly couldn’t play in this structure, but would be forced to find another one. This explains the failure to reach the repechage last season, despite having won the play offs in their group.
Today the hosts find themselves facing the Bianconeri of Albenga, followed by its historic and warm fans, who had been missing from Serie D since 1989-90, when the category was still called Interregional. Considering that the city of Albenga has approximately 23,500 inhabitants, it is a luxury to have a fan base with a good number, but above all with such perseverance in following the fortunes of the team, which in its stormy past has started from the bottom several times after a couple of failures. Personally, I remember them very well in the past, mainly when in the pages of the historic magazine Super typhus, I found several photos of the Ingauni ultras (ancient name of the first inhabitants of the city called Albingaunum). Just before the kick-off it will be Gabriele himself, belonging to the VERY FAITHFUL Albenga, to give me some more information on his fans and today’s presence. He also tells me that two years ago he was among the promoters and founders of the Albenga museum, which shows how little the category matters and how important the relationship between fans and team is over time; something visceral made of sacrifices and traditions to be passed down to future generations.
Thanks to the kindness of the Alcione managers, in a short time I am already on the pitch and can have a more complete view of what is happening in the stands. The home fans don’t seem to have an ultras following, although the balustrade is full of banners most likely placed by the club itself. During the ninety minutes the local audience will practically never let themselves go and will always be very composed, perhaps even too composed, not even flinching on the most important occasions. Moving on to the guests, the bulk of the ultras arrive close to kick-off, all entering together in single file and very quickly arranging the patches on the fence. The predisposition is good because the main group INGAUNA ARMY is placed in the center of the sector, while i VERY FAITHFUL they are more secluded. Of note with the Ligurians is the presence of the Milanese friends of the Partizan Bonola with the banner BRB. There is also the Milan section of the Albenga ultras, present with a banner.
In the meantime, the match begins, Albenga is playing practically at home and during the match the support is always very constant, with the flag waved almost continuously and several claps made. The boys surprise me positively, since not having such a large number following them, they make up for it by singing with a good dose of intensity, without suffering too many drops or recording pauses. It’s just a shame that today there was no confrontation with another group of fans, but the match was too important for the standings and this was also seen on the green rectangle, with the two teams quite tense and the final result, stuck at 0-0, reflects this tension.
At the final whistle, applause for everyone, from both sectors, both for Alcione Milano who consolidated their lead in the standings and for Albenga who remained firmly in third place. I would like to see the Ligurian ultras again in the future, perhaps within friendly walls, in the historic “Riva” stadium where the Juventus team continues to make the spectators who still tread those historic steps dream and rejoice. As evening falls and the temperature drops further, I hurry back to my accommodation where, in addition to resting, I will charge my electronic devices: soon I will have to be active again to follow the Serie A2 match in that pale where Olimpia Milano was also lucky enough to write important pages in its history and that of all Italian basketball. On the other hand, fatigue always disappears in front of passions and what we like to do most.
Marco Gasparri
I like:
I like Loading…
2024-02-07 19:08:27
#Alcione #MilanAlbenga #grass
