Until recently, La Spezia was mostly known for the picturesque Cinque Terre, and not for football. But nowadays you can even see Serie A football in the most southern point of Liguria at local pride Spezia Calcio. Ideal to combine with all the beauty the Ligurian coast offers.
That Spezia was promoted to Serie A in 2020 was already a miracle, but that the club maintained themself in the Italian elite quite easily was probably an even bigger accomplishment. In their debut season, they finished in a well-deserved 15th place. The club has a lot of goodwill among Italian football fans and Spezia doesn't have a real enemy. The Tifosi of Spezia consider the much bigger Genoa and Sampdoria as rivals though, but they are mostly in a big battle with each other.
With space for just 10.000 people the smallest stadium of Serie A, the Stadio Alberto Picco, is directly next to the harbour of La Spezia. Sometimes in Italy, you see smaller sides play in gigantic stadiums, but at Spezia, everything is quite modest. The stadium was not ready for promotion to the top flight. So much so that Spezia had to play the first six months at home in Cesena, more than 300 kilometres away from home.
The Stadio Alberto Picco is actually a bit of a mishmash of different architectural styles. The Tribuna Laterale has a remarkable gabled roof like you normally only see in the UK, while the curvy Curva Ferrovia reminds a bit of the old Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. The Tribuna Distinti and Curva Piscina are more square-shaped.
Eyecatcher of the stadium is the giant Renaissance-style entrance gate, between the Curva Piscina and the Tribuna Distinti. A big arch with two columns and a sculpture of an athlete on each side. The monumental gate dates from the 1930s, but has lost its function since. Back in those days, the Stadio Alberto Picco only had two stands. Nowadays, the Curva Piscina blocks the walkway.
In La Spezia, Alberto Picco is known as a real hero. Back in World War I, the young and brave soldier went up the ranks of the Italian army very quickly but died at the age of 20. Before the war, he was one of the driving forces behind Spezia Calcio and as a 17-year-old scored the first official goal in the club's history. As a tribute to him, the stadium was named after him, and between the Tribuna Laterale and the Curva Ferrovia hangs a plaque with his name and those other members who died in the war.
In the city centre of La Spezia, you'll find the NH Hotel at the Via XX Settembre. It's the place where the first team of Spezia usually gathers before home matches and where the coach to the stadium departs from. At important matches, they are usually accompanied by hundreds of scooters and motors on their way to the stadium, a beautiful Italian tradition.
You can buy your home tickets for Spezia on the official website of the club, or at Vivaticket, an official ticketing site for lots of events in Italy and also football matches of several clubs, among which Spezia. Very useful if you're planning to visit more matches or events.
The Stadio Alberto Picco is at the Via Nicolò Fieschi in the west of La Spezia, not far from the city centre. You can park your car along this way. From the train station La Spezia Centrale, it's just a 15-minute walk to the stadium. From here you can also catch a train to all the big cities of Italy, including Turin and even Palermo.
Images: Shutterstock
