UNIONE SPORTIVA LIVORNO 1915 (Stadio Armando Picchi)

ECCELLENZA NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAY-OFF FINAL 1st LEG, U.S. LIVORNO 2-1 POMEZIA CALCIO, ATTENDANCE: c1,500

Whilst searching fixture lists to see if there was anything available to watch on the Sunday following the Fenix Trophy Final, I did find a few options but it involved a ridiculous amount of travelling. I even contemplated crossing the border into Slovenia but in the end I opted for a game on the other side of the country. Yes, it did involve a fair amount of travelling but nothing more strenuous that what I normally do each weekend in pursuit of a new ground to visit.

To put it bluntly, the attraction of this ground was that as recently as 2014, the Stadio Armando Picchi was hosting Serie A football and a few years earlier, in 2008, also UEFA Cup football. It was a no brainer as far as I was concerned. Train tickets were booked and off I went.

The train journey took over 4½ hours and involved changes in Bologna, Florence and Pisa. It was a pleasant enough experience with some wonderful scenery as the train meandered across the Northern Appenines.

Livorno is a port city on the west coast of Tuscany. Many ships Dock here but most people simply pass through to get to Pisa, a 15 minute train journey away. Being a port City, it was prone to attack in the centuries gone by, so the city is fortified and these medieval defences still remain to this day. I had time to wander the city centre and see them for myself.

The Football stadium is a good two mile walk out of the city centre and it was certainly useful exercise in the 32⁰c heat! Construction of Stadio Armando Picchi began in 1933 and was completed in 1935 and was originally named after Edda Ciano, the daughter of facist dictator Benito Mussolini.

Post war, the ground was known as the Stadio Comunale di Livorno before being renovated in the 1980's and then, in 1990, renamed in honour of local born defender Armando Picchi, who made his professional debut for Livorno in the 1950's before going on to make over 200 appearances for Inter Milan in the 1960's.

A football club representing the city has played at ground since it's inauguration and there have certainly been some highs and lows to say the least!

Unione Sportiva Livorno were formed in 1915 and were founder members of Serie A in 1929/30, even finishing runners up in 1943. Over the next 60 years the club yo-yoed between the top three tiers of Italian football before being liquidated in 1991 and forced to start again in the Eccellenza League, which is essentially the highest level of regional non-league football in Italy and sits below Serie D.

The club worked their way back up to and reached Serie A in 2004, the first time the club had been in the top flight since 1949. When the match fixing scandal engulfed Italian football in 2006, having initially finished 9th, Livorno were bumped up to 6th spot and a place in the UEFA Cup for 2006/07, where they were eliminated by eventual runners-up Espanyol in the round of 32.

The following season the club finished rock bottom of Serie A, having won just 6 games, and were relegated. The club returned to Serie A twice in 2009 and 2013 but their stay only lasted one season each time.

Having sold star striker Paulinho in 2014 for €8M to ease financial troubles, the club began to tumble down the leagues and by 2019 the club were in Serie C. However worse was still to come.

After finishing bottom of Serie C in 2021, Livorno were so deep in debt that they weren’t allowed to register for the 2021/22 Serie D season. The local council would not allow them to train or play at the Stadio Picchi because of unpaid bills. The club reformed in 2021 under the new name Unione Sportiva Livorno 1915 and were accepted into the Eccellenza League, 30 years after their previous liquidation.

In October 2020, things came to a head literally when Livorno ultras left a severed pigs head on the pitch, along with three Crosses, in a threat to the directors of the club.

Livorno are famous for their ultras. They are left leaning, no surprise really given that the Italian Communist Party was founded in Livorno. These groups of supporters came together under the umbrella of the Brigate Autonome Livornese (Autonomous Livorno Brigade) and in the past have clashed with the right wing element of clubs like Roma, Lazio and Internazionale and Veron. They even manage to irk Silvio Berlusconi by declaring his voters useless, leading to a fine for the club.

Today the ultras were a few hundred, stood on the open terrace as the sun beat down. The local fire Brigade had to turn the hoses on them in order to help cool them down. These tickets were €5 but I decided to pay top dollar for a seat in the shade in the main stand.

The heat was never going to lead to a fast flowing encounter, indeed Livorno made an appeal to the league to change the kick off time to later in the evening when temperatures would be cooler.

Pomezia opened the scoring after 3 minutes when Alejandro Cano headed home. The visitors looked like extending their lead through quick counter attacks. However gradually they began to slow the game down with a full repertoire of time wasting antics. There was even a melee in the tunnel as the teams left at half time.

The second half eventually began with Livorno on the attack and the were rewarded on the hour mark when skipper Giuseppe Torromino played a one-two to slot home the equaliser.

Livorno now had the bit between their teeth and pushed for a winner but Pomezia still looked threatening on the counter. As the game moved into the last quarter the time wasting antics got worse as Pomezia attempted to kill the flow and take the draw.

This led to the referee adding six minutes of stoppage time and in the last minute of said stoppage time, Pomezia conceded a penalty. Goalkeeper Matteo Pinna brought down Andrea Ferretti and the Livorno man stepped up to convert the spot. This gives the Amaranto a slender advantage going into the second leg in Rome next Sunday.

EDIT: The second leg finished 2-1 to Pomezia and 3-3 on aggregate. In the penalty shoot out Pomezia won 7-5 to gain promotion to Serie D for season 2022/23.