At half-time of their Emilia-Romagna derby with Sassuolo on Saturday evening, Modena FC brought out two former players on to the Stadio Alberto Braglia pitch. It was meant to be three, but former Fulham striker Diomansy Kamara was otherwise engaged.

The duo were part of a special presentation, heroes from the club’s past that had given their all for I Canarini. The fans had been asked to vote for their past favourites, and four had topped the lot.

Giorgio Frezzolini and Alex Pinardi both strode on to the pitch to collect their framed shirts. Kamara delivered a video message on the big screen. Paolo Ponzo, the fourth of the honoured quartet, had passed away in 2013 at the age of just 41.

It was a scene befitting of a club, and a city, that strives to honour its past. Wherever you look there are nods to history in Modena, notes of pride in the institutions born out of the region.

Panini, the sticker album giants, were founded in the city, starting out of a house just off the Piazza Grande. The location is marked by a plaque and a bust depicting the acrobatic player made famous on its logo.

A few feet away is Bar Pavarotti, an establishment that shares its names with one of the city’s most famous sons. Another, Enzo Ferrari, is immortalised in displays around the city and even in hotels, along with models of the cars he created.

The city’s football club fit seamlessly into the tradition of celebrating the past. On their own website, a page on the club’s history is signposted at the top of the menu. It harks back to, amongst other things, the glorious season of 1947 when the club finished third in Serie A – still their high watermark. It goes on to list the members of that season’s squad. ‘More or less everyone remembers it’ the site boldly claims.

The stadium too, is something of a homage to bygone eras. Even on approach, the set of four floodlights in each corner stick out, like something from an old Subbuteo stadium.

The ticket office is attached to a derelict stand that still stands from the old municipal running track since tarmacked over. Its queues are longer than usual on derby day – a sold out curva and more than 13,000 fans makes it their highest attendance of the season.

Inside, security is somewhat old school. There’s no bag checks, no need to show IDs. The concrete structure gives the impression of having seen better days. The sun-stained yellow seats confirm as much. Inside, more nods to past glories, the walls plastered with pictures from their most recent trip to Serie A in 2003.

And yet, there is a sense that old is gold around Stadio Braglia. Punters mill about with pints catching up with friends, kids play tig – or tag, depnding on your geographical location – on the stretch of ground in front of the mainstand. Community trumps contemporary here.

After a drab first half, it is up to the owner to help inject some life into proceedings as he helps present the Legends chosen by fans with their shirts. Carlo Rivetti, the founder of Stone Island, took over the club in 2021.

His arrival has coincided with the first signs that this club is ready to take a leap into the current era. There has been a well publicised link up with New Balance, which took over one of the city centre’s famous establishments in February. A hospitality area at the foot of the main stand now exists.

Helping with that move has been a prolonged stay in Serie B. Now in their third season in the second tier, there’s a chance to build on the stability of consecutive tenth-place finishes. That has been with the help of current legends.

The squad now includes those who will no doubt be invited back one day to take their place on the pitch and be toasted by the Curva Montagnani. Antonio Palumbo is one such star, while Simone Santoro nearly wrote his name into Modena FC folklore here with a strike from the edge of the area that temporarily levelled things.

Ultimately it was a brief respite. Their rivals showcased exactly why their headed for an immediate return to Serie A with a clinical resurgence. With that the chance to land one on their rival evaporated into the balmy Emilia-Romagna air. They won’t get another shot next season either after their neigbour’s promotion was confirmed on Sunday.

For now, it’s still the past that holds the glory.