Saturday 9^th December 2023 – Serie B – Stadio Libero Liberati, Terni, Italy

I’m all for clubs being different, but Ternana Calcio, currently in Serie B, perhaps take the individuality to extremes.  One of the club’s nicknames is I Rossoverdi – the Red and Greens.  I can’t think of one other side that can lay claim to those being the primary club colours.  They don’t necessarily always make compatible bedfellows, but Ternana take it to a different level with most of the Stadio Libero Liberati decked out in red and green seats.

Ah yes, the Stadio Libero Liberati, another unusual aspect to the club.  Apparently, it is a multi-use stadium but I’m not sure what other sports could be played there.  It has a strange three, very shallow tier aspect that wraps around most of the ground, with the upper tier basically being a sun-deck.  At one end is a fenced in away stand, which sits so far back from the pitch that there is half a football pitch in between the fence and the goal.  Once upon a time there was obviously a running or cycle track around the pitch, now it is just weeds.  It is so bad that it is good. An X user, who saw a photo I had posted of the stadium suggested it wouldn’t look out of place as a Sri Lankan cricket ground.

The city of Terni, sitting on the borders of the Italian regions of Umbria and Lazio, was the first stop on a whirlwind weekend of winter sunshine, escaping the relentless wet weather in the UK.  Despite a lengthy delay at Gatwick as someone had to turn the air traffic control system off and on again (seriously, that is what they had to do to fix a software issue), our journey north-east of Rome had been smooth and we found the stadium, and a parking spot close by with thirty minutes until kick-off.

Home to the patron saint, Saint Valentine, who was a bishop here, the city of Terni was badly damaged by Allied bombing in the Second World War although most of the Roman architecture survived.  It isn’t really on the tourists map, but it is most definitely one on the real Italian Football Tourists map thanks to the unique look of the ground and the two sets of rival ultras, who stand at either end of the Tribune Distinti, one of whom is affectionately called The Freak Brothers.

Tickets were a bargain 13 Euro for the Saturday afternoon visit of  bottom of the table FeralpiSalo whose eleven fans, sitting isolated in the middle tier of the south stand, had made the long trip down from Lombardy.  The home side, as with many other sides in the lower levels of Italian football, had little in the way of honours.  Two seasons in the mid-1970s was their golden age, twice reaching Serie A, and for a period of time having Cesare Maldini as head coach.  However, by the early 1990’s they went bankrupt and had to reform in Serie D.  Today they are struggling in Serie B, coming into the game just two places above the visitors in the relegation zone. 

We had free reign to go where we wanted in the Curva Nord, naturally choosing to try to blend in with the ultras.  With my black jacket, shades and scarf on, I blended in.  I just bounced up and down on a plastic seat to complete the effect, randomly raising my arms in protest to something happening on the pitch which seemed so far away.  It wasn’t the best of games – neither side really troubled their opposing keeper.  We did have something to shout about just before half-time when Filippo Distefano put the home side ahead, celebrating in front of the ultras and then having to make the five minute jog back to the pitch.

The ‘Le Fere’, or the Beasts to give them their other nickname, got a half-time earful and were sent out a few minutes early for the second period.  According to Wikipedia the club ‘enjoy’ a rivalry with Perugia.  Based on the graffiti around the ground I would suggest it is a bit more than just enjoyment, and the ultras started a little ditty about the Perugia fans mother’s as the second half got underway.  Whatever was said at half-time it didn’t work as within a few minutes FeralPisalo scored just their eleventh goal of the season, thanks to Mattia Tonetto’s effort from close range to send the eleven away fans into raptures.

Their lead lasted fifteen minutes before Lorenzo Lucchesi slotted home after a swift break to put Ternana back ahead and this time it wasn’t a lead they were going to throw away.  Despite a couple of nervy moments as the sun sank behind the main stand, they held on and got their three points to lift them out of the relegation zone.

A picture paints a thousands words, or at least fifty in the case of the Stadio Libero Liberati.  It is certainly one to put on the calcio bucket list albeit one that isn’t the easiest to get to.  Our stay was brief, as we returned to the car, pointed it southwards and headed off into the night for day two of an Italian double (potentially, treble) bill.