Cremonese booked their ticket back to Serie A with a play-off victory over Spezia. Here’s the lowdown on them ahead of their latest adventure in the top flight.

Who Are They?

At first, way back in 1903, they were a group of young football enthusiasts who founded Unione Sportiva Cremonese. More than 120 years later Cremonese are set to participate in just their ninth season of top-flight Italian football.

They are based in the city of Cremona, about an hour-and-a-half drive south-east of Milan. Just over 70,000 people call this place home.

Being known as the Grigiorossi makes perfect sense – they play in grey and red and have done since the 1920s. But they also go by Le Tigri (The Tigers) from time to time; a nickname used by locals born of an underdog spirit. And there’s something quite romantic about their other moniker, I Violini (The Violins), which stems from the city’s world-renowned reputation for violin-making.

What Can We Expect?

Well, what we cannot expect is for Cremonese to be as adventurous as they were in Serie B. Instead, we are more likely to see a repeat of their last foray into top-flight calcio. 

In 2022-23, they were rarely competitive in Serie A, finishing in 19th place, above only a Sampdoria side that won three matches.

They had spent more than €30m in summer 2022 on a dozen reinforcements, including Cyriel Dessers, Vlad Chiriches and David Okereke. Still, Cremonese could only manage five wins, with 21 losses and a goal difference of minus 33.  

If we then consider that Le Tigri have finished the past two Serie B seasons in fourth place, having barely recouped €7m of the investment, a bitter aftertaste still lingers in the mouths of most at the Zini.

Yes, Cremonese won the all-important Serie B play-off final last month. But over the the season, they were the fourth-best side by some distance behind the top two and Spezia, who bottled it at home when it counted most. 

Much of the credit goes to then-manager Giovanni Stroppa for his perseverance and patience with the club. But he has since departed. 

Enter Davide Nicola, who has been known to work a miracle or two over the past decade. On reputation alone, most wouldn’t normally bet against him given his record of saving the unsavable.

However, with only two new signings so far – Romano Floriano Mussolini, who has never played in Serie A, and the freshly-relegated Empoli midfielder Alberto Grassi – Nicola must walk on water yet again to survive in 2025-26. 

In defence, they will surely be breached, as they were three seasons ago, 69 times, when the promising Marco Carnesecchi stood between the sticks. New signing Pierluigi Gollini may mitigate the flow of goals. It’s marginal.

Tommaso Pobega is the only midfielder linked so far. More creativity is required. Further forward, Giuseppe Ambrosino could arrive from Napoli on loan, with Okereke and Felix Afena-Gyan returning from spells in Turkey and Serie C, respectively.

The fact the club has u-turned to re-sign veteran attacker Franco Vazquez, weeks after cutting him from the squad, is worrying. Vazquez, 36, topped their scoring charts with nine league goals.

At best, Cremonese may only just avoid the drop, something they have managed once (1993-96) from their last five promotions to the top tier.

Expect violins by late April in the city from which they’ve been made famous.

What Has Been Their Greatest Achievement?

Cremonese have been promoted to Serie A on five occasions without winning the Serie B title. In fact, they have only finished second once, meaning they have gone up despite finishing third or lower in the table.

The greatest period in the history of the club was in the mid-1990s when they had their longest run in the top flight despite Serie A being at the peak of its powers in global football.

Cremonese had single-season spells there in 1984-85, 1989-90 and 1991-92 but then stayed up between 1993 and 1996. They also lifted the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1993, seeing off West Ham, Derby and Tranmere on their way to the Wembley final where they beat Derby again.

Who Are Their Cult Heroes?

The late, great Gianluca Vialli is a famous son of Cremona and came through the club’s youth system. From 1980 to 1984 Vialli scored 25 goals for his hometown team, making more than 100 appearances, before moving on to Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea, as well as representing Italy.

The Stadio Giovanni Zini is named after the Cremonese goalkeeper who died in action during World War I.

Luigi Simoni was the coach who led Cremonese to promotion in 1993 and kept them in Serie A until 1996. He built a great bond with the club and the city but also went on to manage Napoli and Inter Milan. A popular player from that team was Riccardo Maspero. He was crucial in Cremonese’s success including a 10th-place Serie A finish in 1993-94. The midfielder played for the club from 1988 to 1994 and then again from 1995 to 1997.

Finally, Matjaz Florjancic was a Slovenian forward who joined Cremonese from Rijeka in Croatia in 1991. He scored seven goals in their successful Anglo-Italian Cup run in 1992-93 – a feat made even more remarkable when you consider he only managed four in Serie B that season.

Why Should I Visit?

Vialli’s hometown team and a city quite small but famous across the globe for making violins. This is a calcio deep-cut definitely worth a visit.

Cremona is home to the Museo del Violino and is the birthplace of Antonio Stradivari and many other legendary luthiers (makers of stringed instruments). In Cremona you can admire the luthiers who apply their trade in many local workshops.

The Duomo of Cremona is a marvel of Romanesque-Gothic architecture and the baptistery next door is a beautifully preserved building that is almost 900 years old. You can also climb the Torrazzo bell tower for panoramic views of the city.

You can enjoy a nice cafe or dinner without the hustle and bustle of places such as Milan or Florence. Try Mostarda di Cremona; a sweet and spicy fruit mustard that is usually served with meats and cheeses, native to the town. Torrone di Cremona is the sweet treat of choice; a type of nougat especially popular with locals around Christmas time.

Just down the road from Milan, Cremona is a different world. A peaceful tourist experience in a very walkable and small city full of wonderful local options. Revel in its authenticity. A dream for a weekend of ‘slow travel,’ an espresso on the river and even some top-flight Italian football to mix things up.