Arrival in La Spezia early in the morning. The weather isn’t the best, it’s drizzling, but the hope is that it’s only temporary, and that the warm sun that the forecast was hoping for will soon find its way. An abundant breakfast, in the warmth of a bar, is the best way to recover after a night spent on the train. Finally the rain gives way to a sun that, in flashes, peeks through the clouds that remain. Having saved what can be saved, I wander around the city waiting to go to the “Picco” stadium, where Spezia-Modena will be played today. It’s Boxing Day, in the midst of Christmas, people are walking, to work off the past two days of heavy libations, and I do the same with them but in a different way, admiring the shows offered by this city which seems almost pushed to the edge. sea from the mountains behind him. Although to be completely honest, the show that most attracts my curiosity is the one awaiting me in the stands.
As kick-off time approaches, with a bit of tiredness I finally enter the stadium doors. The grandstand is being renovated, so the regulars of this sector are diverted to the grandstand in front, including journalists and professionals. However, what this stadium offers is a beautiful sight, having remained almost intact over the years and retaining that charm in which the stories of football and cheering evoked by its stands blend with the landscape that looms over it. Thinking about what this basin seething with support could have been like in its best days is an exercise that causes quite a bit of nostalgia, mitigated by Spezia’s recent appearances in the top flight which have nevertheless allowed this square, consolidated in its tradition, to grow further thanks to the comparison with the greats of our football.
As the rain and bad weather return to the fore, the steps begin to fill up. Obviously there isn’t the audience for big occasions, due to the championship deficit of the black and whites, but the Railway curve offers a visual impact far superior to the performance of your team on the pitch, especially in the central part, where the faithful, those who are always there, gather and gather. Flags of excellent workmanship, always in the wind, their cheering is compact, bold and decisive for the entire ninety minutes. Good hands and prolonged choruses, overall they are the authors of a good performance both vocally and visually. Finally, there is no shortage of chants against Modena, obviously due to the certainly not idyllic relations with the neighbors.
Coming to the away sector, a large group of yellow-blue supporters take their seats in this segment of the stadium, offering a bit of colour, in the gray climate and clearly breaking the chromaticity with the surrounding environment since, as is known, Spezia Its social colors are black and white. In addition to flags and two poles, they also offer very good support with good peaks in the choruses on repeat, truly massive. Even the blows are very compact and the chants against Spezia are many and in some cases very strong. Overall a very positive performance on their part too.
In closing, I speak on my own behalf but I think I can also claim the right to speak on behalf of Sport People, I thank the Spezia club for their friendliness and for helping me in my work: it may seem trivial but in this football, bans, limiting regulations, absurd castles of bureaucratic uselessness often end up afflicting even those of us who talk about football. That of the stands, of the passion that spreads or spreads to and from the pitch. A grass field around which all these structures would never have been built if there hadn’t been all this passion from the fans. Those who are trying to create a desert around them should remember this: without passion it remains just a game, more or less beautiful depending on your point of view or the day, but much poorer in values and cultural, social and identity connections.
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