La Spezia is located right on the border between Liguria and Tuscany not far from Cinque Terre, and the cultural centres of Pisa and Florence.
With a relaxing waterfront in the old port of the city, anyone can stroll by the yachts in the harbour of Porto Mirabello – the perfect starting point for any visit to this part of Italy.
Along the Passeggiata Costantino Morin is a peaceful walkway lined with palm trees. Football here, to be fair, can be someway from your mind.
Spezia are now a Serie A side – its white shirts now representative in the Italian top tier where the giants of this peninsula were welcomed to the Alberto Picco Stadio.
If the white shirts of Leeds United were a nod to the great Real Madrid, so the colours of Spezia Calcio are a nod to honour Pro Vercelli – Le Bianche Casacche. The Piedmont side were seen at the time of Spezia’s formation as the greatest example of a small town team who were able to beat the big names of Italian football.
Thus, because of Pro Vercelli a plain white shirt was adopted with black shorts and black socks – colours all be it in a modern variation which are still in use by Spezia today.
But if Pro Vercelli are Le Bianche Casacche so Spezia Calcio are ‘Aquile’ – the eagles. The idea behind the shirt colours came from Alberto Picco, a man born in Spezia on July 14th, 1894.
As a local politician he was part of the initial company organisation chart drawn up after the first Spezia meeting that is dated November 20th, 1911. But he was also a footballer, and lined up in the first ever XI of Spezia.
He also scored the first ever goal.
Alberto Picco however was destined to go down in the history of Spezia for an adverse fate – death on the battlefield in June 1915.
In honour Spezia Calcio entitled the name of its home stadium to him which was erected in 1919. Since 1922 a memorial stone at the entrance of the stadium remembers his name and contribution to the club.
But his name today is also emblazoned across the outer structure of the stadium – that structure which runs along the Via Nicolo Fleshchi.
If Picco’s name is almost all pervading so too is the name ‘Curva Ferrovia’. So called because behind it there was a the railroad link aligned to the naval arsenal. This area is home to the club’s hardcore fan groupings.
At the other end of the ground is the so called the “Curva Piscina” – where the away fans are housed via entry through a tunnel accessed from Viale Nicolò Fieschi. It rises on the opposite side of the Curva Ferrovia and is so defined because it is located in the area between the playing field and a swimming pool that is owned by the Navy.
The Curva Ferrovia was completely rebuilt in recent decades becoming the most impressive and dominant sector (and the most noisy) of the entire Alberto Picco facility.
Alberto Picco Stadium, La Spezia, Tuscany.
Stadium capacity: 11,466
Tribuna: 1,222
Distinti: 3,054
Curva Ferrovia: 4,014
Curva Piscina Locali: 1,965
Curva Piscina Settore Ospiti: 1,211