Pre Covid-19, my new goal every year was to pick a 10 day period over two weekends to fly back to the UK to see family and friends and do it where I could see as many games as I could. At least one County, either at home or a tasty away game and somewhere in Europe, tempting enough of a location to drag people along with me. I chose a period in February 2020 that incorporated my sisters birthday, who lives in London. After briefly considering a weekend in London and seeing County away at Woking, my attention started to focus on Italy. The great thing about Serie A is the fixtures are always spread out over the whole weekend, sometimes four days. The downside is they only confirm the days and times a couple of weeks before. I could see Fiorentina and Bologna, which were only an hour or so from each other, were both at home. As were Pisa in Serie B. How could my sister and family turn down a weekend in Florence for her birthday? They couldn’t.
Another irritating feature of Serie A is that due to a recent membership requirement for fans of all top flight clubs, it is now physically impossible to purchase tickets from overseas unless you are an Italian citizen. As excited as I was that Bologna vs Udinese fell on Saturday afternoon and Fiorentina vs AC Milan fell three hours later, (it was going to be tight) there was still a fair bit of anxiety to get through on whether I was going to get in or not. Research told me Bologna should be easy enough but Fiorentina have a habit of selling out against the big name clubs and that would prove more tricky. I’m also glad I did the research and knew I needed my passport with me to purchase a ticket. I’m assuming touting has been eradicated in Italy now as they even check your ID against your ticket at the turnstile. Whereas 15 years ago I relied on the gung-ho approach of searching for illegal purchases, things would need to be done in an official way now.
We arrived in Florence on the Thursday afternoon. I had two days to sort a ticket to the Viola. After dropping my stuff at our beautiful central Air Bnb, I managed to get a bus that said “Stadio” on the front and jumped off when I saw floodlights. Fiorentina are a team that I have always had a soft spot for since the Channel 4 days in the 90s. Basituta, Rio Costa, Effenberg, they had a great team back them and there was something alluring about their purple strip. Milan, I felt like I had a connection with due to my San Siro trip and the Champions League Final at Old Trafford, so it was a perfect match up. I considered going in the away end which would have been mental but I also felt I owed it to the hosts to get the full home experience. Research told me there was a shop that sold tickets somewhere close to the ground and after a couple of failed attempts, in buildings that looked like they might be right, I was directed to the correct place. Upon entering there were a few people in front of me and everyone was here for the same thing. I saw a lady buy tickets in the away end, that was exciting but I resisted. A man behind the counter was showing people seat locations on a stadium map. I started to get a rush of adrenaline, I was getting in. The options were limited but I decided on a seat in the main stand by the corner flag and close to the front for €70. The ticket was printed with my name on and my country of citizenship. Yeah, you definitely can’t tout these days.
I relaxed the next day with the family, taking in the beautiful sights, a city close to my heart as I had proposed to my wife like a proper romantic back in 2006.
Saturday morning arrived and the fam chose to come to Bologna with me, Mum and Step Dad to do tourist things and my sister to the game. This is where my sis came in very handy, she had studied in Bologna for six months in 2010 and was excited to go back for the first time. We boarded a train from Florence early in the morning and had time for a mooch around before the game. Research told me tickets were sold in a tourist information shop in the central square. We got two very easily, not the best location, behind the goal across from the main Curva but only €12 each. Bargain. After an exhausting climb up a giant tower that provided breathtaking views of the city we decided we had just enough time for an early lunch. Caroline, my sister was very excited to take us to a local back street restaurant that she frequented in college. If you ever get the chance, Osteria Dell’ Orsa is the name, a short walk from the main square. We wrongly assumed being early that it would be quick and easy. It was packed. Seemingly, everyone was after the same thing, their signature dish, Tagliatelle Al Ragu - basically spaghetti bolognese. It was worth the long wait, absolutely delicious. I knew from my trip to Milan, the most basic looking pasta dishes in Italy can be the greatest things you’ve ever tasted.
It was then game time. We boarded a bus to the stadium and jumped off at a large roundabout that looked fairly close. We walked around the ground soaking in the scene, motorcycles dominated the “car parks”, stopped for a tourist scarf and posed for a few photos. We saw the ultras marching down the street in unison, singling and waving huge flags. It felt good to experience a middle of the road Italian fixture rather than the biggest and best. Bologna’s stadium, Renato Dall’ Ara is quaint and picturesque, a large brick tower dominates one side and for any Englishman around during Italia 90, it was the scene of David Platt’s famous last minute volley against Belgium.
We took our seats on the less robust Curva, a spattering of Udinese fans to our left, making a right racket with songs and flags, carefully segregated by huge plastic looking barriers. 21,523 were there which looked pretty full from where we were sitting, certainly the main Curva was but it actually holds 31,000. Caroline took great amusement in the things that those around us were shouting. Italian swear words were coming back to her.
The Bologna coach is Siniša Mihajlović, a wonderfully gifted player from the 90s, most notably with Sampdoria and the two Rome clubs. In 2019, Mihajlović announced he had a rare form of leukemia and underwent a bone marrow transplant. Miraculously he continued as coach of Bologna and scows the touchline in unmistakably different types of headwear. Udinese opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a fine header from striker Stefano Okaka, who was leading the line along side the wonderfully named, Kevin Lasagna. Okaka jumped the hoardings in celebration and his teammates followed him as they lapped up the scenes in the away end.
We left a few minutes from the end as I was was on a time crunch to get to fixture two of the day in Florence and we missed an equalizer from Rodrigo Palacio. I was delighted to hear they scored as i thoroughly enjoyed the Bologna experience.
Bologna:
de Costa, Tomiyasu, Danilo, Bani, Mbaye, Dominguez, Poli (Juwara), Orsolini, Olsen (Baldursson), Barrow, Palacio. Coach - Mihajlović.
Udinese:
Musso, Larsen, Becao, Troost-Ekong, Nuytinck, Sema (Zeegelaar), De Paul, Mandragora, Fofana (Jajalo), Okaka, Lasagna (Walace). Coach - Gotti.
Goals: Okaka (33), Palacio (92).
Attendance 21,523
