Experience Lecce

Lecce sit at the southern tip of Italy's heel, a baroque jewel of a city that improbably supports a Serie A football club. US Lecce, founded in 1908, have spent most of their history yo'yoing between divisions with the rhythm of a Salentine pizzica dance, occasionally springing surprises (a Coppa Italia semi final, a 4'3 win at Inter, several great escapes from relegation) and frequently returning to the lower leagues for a breather. The giallorossi (yellow and reds) are the only top flight club from Puglia in most seasons, which makes them the de facto representatives of the entire south'eastern region, a heavy responsibility willingly carried. The Curva Nord ultras are devoted, vocal and politically left'leaning, with a strong friendship pact with the Macedonian club Vardar Skopje and a long'standing twinning with Torres of Sassari. The fiercest rivalry is with Bari, six hours up the Adriatic by ill'fated provincial train, a derby loaded with regional symbolism even when both clubs were not in the same division. Visiting Lecce is unlike visiting any other Italian football city. You travel a long way to get here, the temperature in late summer can melt tarmac, the city is built entirely in honey'coloured pietra leccese baroque, and the surrounding countryside is olive groves, masserie (fortified farmhouses) and beaches lapped by both the Adriatic and the Ionian. Football here is a serious passion played in a context that feels closer to Greece than to Milan.

The Stadio Via del Mare, formally named after Ettore Giardiniero in recent years, opened in 1966 and was rebuilt for Italia '90. Capacity is just over 31,000, with an open bowl design, an athletics track between stands and pitch, and the distinctive curved roof on one side. The Curva Nord is the spiritual home of the Lecce ultras and generates noise that punches above the club's modest size, particularly under the floodlights of evening kick'offs. The Curva Sud houses away fans, with views compromised slightly by the running track but adequate. Concourses are basic, and queues for the (often warm) Peroni at half time can be long. Pre'match the surrounding car parks fill with tailgate scenes, families grilling bombette (small pork rolls) on portable barbecues. The stadium sits about two kilometres east of the historic centre, in a slightly anonymous suburb on the road towards the coast.