US LECCE 0 v PERUGIA 0 - ETTORE GIARDINIERO - SERIE B 8/12
Getting there, getting in and what its like
Unione Sportiva Lecce were founded in 1908 in the city of Lecce, Apulia, though the club’s modern identity took shape after a series of mergers in the 1920s and 1930s. Traditionally playing in yellow and red stripes, Lecce spent much of their history in the lower divisions before making their Serie A debut in 1985. Since then, they have alternated between the top flight and Serie B, earning a reputation for passionate local support at the Stadio Via del Mare. The club’s strongest periods include survival runs in the late 1980s, the Zeman-led attacking sides of the early 2000s, and recent promotions under Marco Baroni.
Getting there - Beware, this venue is far off the beaten track. It’s 370 miles by road from Rome and an 8 hour train ride! I flew from Stanstead to Brindisi and from there you will need to travel into Brindisi to catch a bus or train onwards to Lecce which is about 30 miles away. Spare a thought for the travelling fans of Lecce and those who travel South to follow their team.
Getting in - Tickets via a friend of a friend for this one.
What its like - Lecce is a beautiful city in the extreme south of Italy, dubbed with good reason as “the Florence of the South”. The city centre is a maze of narrow streets full of bars, coffee shops, restaurants and boutiques. There are excellent Roman remains, fine churches and a clutch of interesting museums.
This part of Italy is quite sparsely populated so it might be tricky to put together a trip taking in several games over a weekend, but there are some Serie C teams in the region and Bari are currently in Serie B. My strong advice is to spend at least a day in this city, it really is lovely.
Unione Sportiva Lecce play in a stadium around 3 miles from the city centre and is served by several bus routes. The stadium is a large 1960s concrete bowl, with open, curved ends, a covered main stand and an open tribuna opposite. Apart from the main stand there is little cover. I sat in the Tribuna where the view was very good. Be aware that the stadium ends are a long way from the pitch and the Lecce Ultras occupy the upper deck of the Curva Nord.
This is a well-supported team and average 25,000 in Serie A which is still not quite at capacity. When Lecce play in Serie B there is plenty of room. The club tends to yo-yo between the top two divisions.
On match day, there was plenty of pop-up food and drink outlets outside the stadium. There were stalls selling memorabilia and there is also a well-stocked club shop in the city centre open daily.
Travellers of a certain age will be charmed to find that US Lecce play in Melchester Rovers’ colours ! The team nicknamed the “Giallorossi” adopted the Lecce city colours.
The match itself was pretty entertaining until 10 minutes from the end when both teams decided a draw was a good result and there followed a thrilling anti-climax for fans of sideways passing. A purely Italian football spectacle !
