“With our fans behind us, anything can happen,” reads a slogan at the entrance of the Stadio Alberto Picco.

And for nine months, that rang true as Spezia reached the Serie B play-off final and dreamed of promotion, just a year after avoiding relegation on the final day of the season.

Walking through La Spezia on Sunday there was genuine hope, expectation even, that they could take the final step and return to Serie A for the first time in two years.

The smoke of flares engulfed the air from hours before kick-off against Cremonese, plumes of white, black and orange wafting across town and towards the Picco.

By the time Spezia trailed 3-0 with 10 minutes left, the pyrotechnics were more menacing, launched on to the pitch in anger by the ultras in the Curva Ferrovia.

But they also seemed to spark the Ligurians into life, Francesco Pio Esposito and Luca Vignali scoring to set up a grandstand finish.

The Picco roared and shook as it seldom must have done in its 106-year history, before pausing to draw breath as the final whistle went and with it Spezia’s hopes.

The silence was short-lived, as the Curva Ferrovia burst into spontaneous applause, acknowledging the players had given everything. On the night and during the season.

Esposito, the talismanic teenager who took Serie B by storm, now sat in the penalty box, staring at the fans. Too exhausted to walk away. 

“The fans were incredible tonight. It gives me the chills to think about their support,” his brother, Salvatore, said in the press conference.

Manager Luca D’Angelo added: “My biggest regret is not being able to give the fans what they deserved. We have an amazing, exceptional set of fans; they would have deserved to play in Serie A.”

Scarves held aloft, the fans serenaded their players, who stood in front of them. Some with their heads bowed, some politely clapping back, some just staring ahead in tears.

“We will always be with you, we are never going to leave you,” came the refrain over and over again, as defiant as it was loud.

Defiance was painted on D’Angelo’s face. “The ending is tough, but we have to accept it,” he said. “Cremonese were better than us over two legs, that’s the bottom line.”

Three years ago, Pisa lost 4-3 to Monza at the Arena Garibaldi in the second leg of the Serie B play-off final.

Then as now D’Angelo and Giovanni Stroppa stood in the dugouts, their own futures on the line as much as their teams.

Trailing by two goals nine minutes into the fixture, the Brianzoli came back to progress 6-4 winners on aggregate to snatch the final promotion spot.

Pisa, meanwhile, parted ways with D’Angelo just days afterward, only to recall him three months later after sacking Rolando Maran.

But his second spell in Tuscany lasted until the end of that season, before the club dispensed with his services for a second time.

Stroppa, meanwhile, swiftly burned through all his credit and was sacked six games into Monza’s Serie A campaign.

Neither manager had to travel far for their next role, Stroppa taking over at Cremonese in September 2023, with D’Angelo making the short journey north from Pisa to La Spezia two months later.

Here, it was D’Angelo who must have briefly entertained the thought of a miraculous comeback when Esposito and Vignali scored. But there was to be no miracle, no redemption for D’Angelo. 

For most of the season Spezia have been the only team capable of challenging Sassuolo and Pisa – that they did not last the distance says more about the Neroverdi’s and the Tuscans’ qualities than their own shortcomings.

Sassuolo’s performances this season come as no shock. Widely tipped for promotion in the summer due to their significantly stronger and deeper squad, Fabio Grosso’s team overcame a slightly sluggish start to meet those expectations, brushing aside most opponents in their quest for an immediate return to Serie A.

Conversely, Spezia’s promotion bid, much like Pisa’s, was a genuine surprise after finishing just three points above the relegation zone last season.

Spezia spent just one week outside the play-off spots this season and did not drop out of the top three after beating Cesena at home on September 1.

Their consistency is all the more remarkable when considering the club changed hands twice, with a US consortium led by Charlie Stillitano taking over from FC32 in April, just two months after the multi-club ownership group had purchased the Ligurians.

Spezia’s promotion tilt was built on a combination of a rock-solid defence, which conceded just 33 goals during the season, and of a prolific attack which scored 59 goals – the fourth-best return in Serie B behind Sassuolo, Pisa and Cremonese.

Of those goals, 36 have come on home turf at an average of almost two every 90 minutes, a decisive factor behind Spezia’s record of 12 wins in 19 games at the Picco.

If there was a glaring weakness to the Aquilotti this season it was their performances away from home, with just five wins and 11 draws in 19 attempts.

Much of Spezia’s scoring burden has fallen on the young, but broad shoulders of Esposito, who plundered 17 goals in 35 regular-season games. He continued his form into the play-offs, scoring twice in his four appearances.

Esposito operates with a maturity and confidence beyond his years and there does not appear to be any real weakness to his game. 

It is no wonder that Italy manager Luciano Spalletti described him as “a natural footballer with an eye for goal and a promising future.”

Powerful and rapid, Esposito already possesses the swagger of a player destined for calcio’s biggest stages. He cut a forlorn figure at full-time and whether he will remain at Spezia past the summer remains to be seen.

If the 19-year-old commanded the lion’s share of attention this season, his brother Salvatore proved just as important in midfield, chipping in with seven goals.

The man who makes Spezia’s engine room tick, the elder Esposito found the ideal foil in summer signings Adam Nagy and Francesco Cassata, who arrived from Pisa and Genoa respectively for a combined £1.4m.

They were part of a £4.7m investment, which also saw the arrivals of striking duo Antonio Colak and Giuseppe Di Serio from Parma and Atalanta.

Their signings were not a success, the duo contributing just three goals in a combined 20 starts, but veteran striker Gianluca Lapadula proved far more effective, scoring four in 13 after joining from Cagliari on a free transfer. 

A loan signing from Juventus in the summer, Stefano Gori, meanwhile, kept 14 clean sheets in 27 appearances including the play-offs, despite being dropped for 11 games between December and the end of March. 

Gori’s cause was helped by playing behind Ales Mateju, Petko Hristov and Przemyslaw Wiśniewski, arguably the best back three in the division. 

The hard bit starts now for Spezia, with D’Angelo hinting at a summer exodus.

“This season has been very intense,” he said. “I think some players deserve to go to Serie A because they’ve shown their worth. I’m not thinking about the future right now because there’s a huge disappointment to process.”