From Rome to the San Siro, English Fans Have Fond Memories of Italy

The paths of Serie A and the Premier League are set to cross again with Bologna hosting Aston Villa in the Europa League and Crystal Palace taking on Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League.

Villa beat Bologna 1-0 back in September, the first of five English victories in six meetings with Italian clubs this season, with Atalanta’s 2-1 win over Chelsea in the Champions League the exception.

English sides have the edge in the all-time head-to-head record with 121 wins in 294 meetings to their Italian counterparts’ 102 victories and 71 draws, according to RSSSF.

And while the revamped nature of the Champions League and Europa League has made matches between English and Italian teams almost routine, past meetings have shaped the history of European football.

From Liverpool beating Roma to lift the European Cup at the Stadio Olimpico in 1984 and their incredible comeback against AC Milan in Istanbul two decades later, to Manchester United and Juventus going toe-to-toe three seasons in a row in the late 1990s.

And again, Vicenza almost knocking Chelsea out of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1997, Arsenal trouncing Inter Milan 5-1 at the San Siro in 2003 and United vanquishing Roma 7-1 four years later.

Italy as a destination tops the wish list for thousands of English fans, to follow their clubs in European competitions, visit the San Siro or the Maradona as a neutral or ground-hop across Serie B and Serie C. We spoke to some about their fond memories of watching their team in the home of calcio.

Newcastle fan Ross visited the San Siro twice, 20 years apart.

In 2003 when we drew 2-2 at Inter, I was 23 and a few of us went over for a few days. We did the tourist stuff like the Duomo, and the day before the game we did the stadium tour. It was class. When you grow up watching Football Italia and remember Italia 90 – to stand there by the dugouts at the San Siro is special.

Looking back at that trip and the one two years ago (goalless draw with AC Milan), I’d love to go back. I’d love to go to a Milan derby, or one of the Milan teams against Juve or Napoli. That would be amazing.

Milan is a brilliant place for a trip. For the game a couple of years ago we got tickets relatively short notice and ended up travelling to Edinburgh, flying to Brussels and from there to Milan. We only got there the night before and I’d booked an Airbnb near Navigli because I’d read that was the place the fans would be. It was a hot September day and being down by the canal was a great way to spend the time leading up to the game. The atmosphere was fantastic – mainly Newcastle but the locals and people in the shops and bars were having a great time.

My son Joe was with me and he was 10. He loved it but maybe didn’t take it in as much because the San Siro doesn’t mean as much to someone that age. But for me, even now, it’s still amazing and we had an amazing day. From 9am we were in the thick of it, in the city then the stadium and it’s something I’ll never forget.

Manchester United fan Andy, 59, was a regular in the away end at Juventus for those matches in the 1990s and was back in Turin in 2018.

Football Italia fever was at its peak and memories of the Italia 90 World Cup were still fresh in everyone’s mind, which made the Stadio Delle Alpi a particularly interesting place to visit as it’s where England lost their semi-final to West Germany.

Juventus were the team to beat in Europe at the time and they had a stadium to match. I know the Delle Alpi had a bad reputation, but it felt intimidating and very loud on our first two visits. What we hadn’t really accounted for was that it was plonked at the edge of town and rather difficult to reach in the pre-Uber days.

By the time we travelled in 1999 we knew our way around town a bit more and convinced a taxi driver to take us from the central Piazza Vittorio all the way to the ground. It must have cost us a fortune, but in hindsight it was worth it to watch United’s greatest performance in Europe.

Juve’s new ground is a lot better in terms of facilities, and being closer to the pitch makes an enormous difference. It also felt much safer from a crowd standpoint, but nowhere near as intimidating. Turin as a city has also changed enormously, it felt a lot more welcoming in 2018 than it had done two decades earlier. It has so many great bars and restaurants dotted around the old town, it almost feels unfairly overlooked at times.

Martin, another United fan, first visited the San Siro in 2007 and watched his team lose to AC Milan. He returned two years later when United faced Inter and has been back in Italy as a neutral several times since.

The first thing I remember noticing was just how much bigger the San Siro looked in real life, it was way beyond anything I expected. And the noise inside, my God. I’d been to Wembley, Anfield and the Stadio Olimpico but nothing came close to the roar at the San Siro. It felt as though the entire ground shook each time Milan scored.

When I come here to watch Serie A, I enjoy getting to the ground early. You can get a pint and a sandwich from the kiosks outside and just wander around the ground, taking in all the colours and noise.

I like to see how awe-struck first-time visitors are when they come out of the metro and see the ground for the first time. It reminds me of my own experience and it feels like a sort of pilgrimage.

Charlie has been following Chelsea home and away for years and remembers watching them lose to Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in 2017.

Cracks were starting to appear in Antonio Conte’s second season so this trip had to be about culture, food and drink as much as the football.

Unlike any city I’d watched Chelsea in you would find yourself turning left out of a bar and strolling past a church built in 12AD. Trying to pack in ‘we’re here, so we have to’ stops like the Colosseum (immense) and the Trevi Fountain (impressive, but mobbed) with the usual away trip staples made a huge difference to the normal ‘have a beer in the big square then one by the river’ approach.

It was by Trevi Fountain where we made our first major find – my go-to whenever anyone in earshot is heading to Rome. We tired of the crowds and slipped into a sidestreet to Bottega Trevi, a bar and restaurant where huge pork joints hang from the ceiling and bottles of wine cover the walls. We had a sharing board full of meats, olives and cheeses that I still think about.

We spent some of the day of the match in Bar San Calisto then later, to the sound of a riotous home crowd, just about made out an Antonio Rudiger howler for Stephan El Shaarawy’s second goal.

After being held in the ground and making the trek back into the city, we made diversions into places called things like Shamrock and Druids – tried and trusted away-fan favourites with hordes of fellow travellers – and then found a late-night bar called Oppio, drowning the sorrows of the defeat with views of the Colosseum.

James, a Fulham fan, also watched his team lose to Roma in the Stadio Olimpico.

I watched a lot of Italian football in the 1990s so when Fulham got CSKA Sofia, Basel and Roma in their Europa League group, Rome was top of my list. I flew out the day before and we did the usual sightseeing – Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps.

In the evening we bumped into a group of Lazio fans who befriended us and took us to one of their bars. It seems to be the way, in a city with two teams, the rivals of the team you are playing support you. There was a city-wide alcohol ban before the game (unless eating) so a very, very long lunch took in plenty of Italian delicacies.

Roma fans were staging a protest against their board so many opted to boycott the game. With 5,000 Fulham fans in one end, and not many more Roma supporters rattling round that huge stadium, it was a strange but memorable first experience of watching my team in Italy.