Salernitana Playbook: Your Unrivalled Experience in Loudest Curva in the South

Salerno sits at the end of the Amalfi Coast, and most visitors see it only from a ferry. They miss one of the loudest grounds in southern Italy.

The club was born over a beer. After the First World War, sports fans met at a birreria, and the idea of a city club came up. The Unione Sportiva Salernitana was founded on June 19, 1919 at number 67 Corso Umberto I.

The first kit featured white and light blue stripes, because the founding president could only find those shirts, and the goalkeeper wore black. The granata colours came later, when beige shirts bought at the Resina market were dipped into a big pot of water and red dye.

The seahorse arrived during Salernitana’s first Serie A season. The artist Gabriele D’Alma gave it to the club in January 1948 before a home game against Juventus: a golden seahorse holding a ball in its tail, inside a granata shield. He had seen a seahorse caught in a fisherman’s net, fighting to escape, and he thought it matched a small club taking on the giants. The club has two mascots today, Ippo the seahorse and Granatiello, a lion in a No 10 shirt.

It has been a bumpy ride since. Salernitana has been refounded three times: in 1927 through a merger, in 2005 after financial collapse, and in 2011, when it restarted in Serie D as Salerno Calcio.

They were in Serie A as recently as 2023-24, but they are now down in Serie C. The crowds never left, though, and the Arechi still fills like a top-flight stadium. And the Curva Sud still sings like one.

Organised support dates back to 1977, and in the 2014-15 season the Curva Sud was voted the best curva in the third tier. Since 2010 it has been dedicated to Carmine Rinaldi, known as Siberiano, the late leader of the ultras. He died in 2010 at the age of 46.

The ground is changing. The regional sports agency has started the first phase of a large rebuild, with demolition in the lower tier of the Curva Nord. The overall project is worth €140million.

Under the current plan, Salernitana will move in August 2027 to a temporary 15,000-seat stadium at the Campo Volpe while the Arechi is rebuilt over two years. If you want to see the old Arechi, this is the season to go.

Here is everything you need to know.

Where To Stay

Salerno is long and thin, squeezed between the hills and the sea. The historic centre and the Lungomare Trieste, the seafront promenade, are at the western end. The stadium is at the eastern end.

Stay in the centre and travel out for the game: the city’s metro train runs straight to the ground. If you only care about the match, the Novotel Salerno Est Arechi on Via Generale Clark is a short walk from the stadium, with parking and a pool. It sits in a residential area, so plan to eat and drink elsewhere.

Where To Eat

Salerno eats from the sea. Look for anchovies from nearby Cetara, fried, marinated or stuffed, and mozzarella di bufala from the plains to the south. In the old town, Osteria dei Sapori in Vicolo Santa Maria de Domno is a busy seafood place with tables in the alley. It opens only in the evening.

La Traversa on Via Giovanni Ruggi d’Aragona is a small trattoria known for stuffed anchovies and aubergine parmigiana. It closes at 9.30pm and only lunch only on Sundays.

Near the Arechi, Pizzeria Salernitana on Via Salvador Allende is a family-run room with photos on the walls and inexpensive pizza, while Carminuccio a Mariconda on Via Tommaso Prudenza serves its pizza on a sheet of greaseproof paper. It opens only in the evening at weekends.

Where To Drink

The old town is the place for a drink before heading east. Via dei Mercanti and the lanes around it fill up on weekend evenings. Uvenude on Via Masuccio Salernitano is a small wine bar with a good list of southern Italian bottles. Around the ground itself, the bars are few and the crowds are big. Eat and drink in town, then take the train.

Sky Lounge Bar on Piazza Giovanni Nicotera in the Torrione district is a sports bar with cheap cocktails, generous aperitivo snacks and a loyal local crowd. It stays open late at weekends. Bar Pop Corn on Via Michele Vernieri is a neighbourhood sports bar with pizza and beer at local prices. It is closed on Mondays.

Don’t Forget

Tickets are sold at TicketOne outlets and online, as well as at Box Office 1 at the Arechi on matchday. Check the sale conditions for every match.

Merchandise can be ordered through the club website or bought at the store on Piazza Caduti Civili di Guerra.

Fan’s Shop di Giuseppe Nasti on Via Torrione is a must-visit. It has sold Salernitana scarves, books and memorabilia for years. It is closed on Sundays.

Did You Know?

Salernitana helped invent a position. In 1947-48, coach Gipo Viani used a new tactic called the vianema. He moved his defensive midfielder to mark the opposing striker, which left the centre-back free to cover anywhere in defence. It is considered the birth of the libero, later used by Nereo Rocco, Helenio Herrera and Giovanni Trapattoni.

Getting There

Salerno is on the high-speed line from Rome and Naples, so most visitors arrive by train. From the station, Metro Salerno runs east, with six stations to the Arechi terminus, between the stadium and the Ruggi hospital. Buses also run from the station to the Allende Stadio Arechi stop.

Naples Capodichino is the main airport for the area. Salerno’s own airport, at Pontecagnano, is linked to Salerno station by the Salerno Airlink bus, which takes about 40 minutes and costs €5. Its flight schedule shrank in 2026, so check what airlines use it.

Need Another Football Fix?

Campania is packed with clubs. Cavese play in Cava de’ Tirreni, one stop up the line, and the derby is one of the hottest in the south. Scafatese and Savoia are in the same Serie C group, and Juve Stabia are in Castellammare. Napoli are under an hour away by train.