Why Padova Ultras Are Boycotting Home Matches

DestinationCalcio.com, Dan Cancian David Ferrini here we're gonna talk about Padova and the ultras issue take us through, why are they boycotting the home games? at the Euganeo? So, basically from the start of the season Ilrus Padova and a fine group called Appartenenza Bianca Scudata which means belonging the oh yeah Bianca Scudata mean Padova's nickname belonging belonging to them yeah belonging to them they have decided to boycott on games to take a stance against the club's decision to move to the Euganeo 30 years ago so the Euganeo is a concrete structure which is looks really in Congress without you being nice there the Ultras might say something different did they use any different words? they used this yes they I think they described it as a monstrosity they described it as they they told me actually that they feel they've been feeling like unwanted guests in their own home for the past 30 years well that's not good you need your supporters to do to be there and and of course their name the belonging they don't feel like they are part of it they did they did not and the problem is the club apart according to them as not engaged with them to find a solution to this so basically they feel like they've been left behind by their own club the club has an approach of telling them we are a company you are the customer but the Ultras I spoke to told me if a company loses customers then has to take steps towards win them back and it doesn't they don't feel like this has been done and so the last resort is this their last resort or? it very much feels like a last roll of the dice obviously you know you don't need to be a neutral to understand they must be very difficult to choose not to attend the team they've been supporting on your life because the people spoke to there were people in the 20s but there were people in the 60s and they were there when the town had the side in Serie A back in the 90s yes thank you thank you and yeah they some of them had been syndicate holders since the club was in Serie A when they were still playing at the old Stadio Appiani in the middle of town and they just feel like as I said they've been left behind the the club has decided to move them away from the city away from the roots and that the location of the city itself is a very negative impact on the fan base because it's so difficult to reach the Euganeo you know you can't reach by public transport or you can as long as you're prepared to walk for 20 25 minutes afterwards you it's a 55 minutes walk from the middle of town which I did on Sunday after the game you had to go through that how much closer is the Appiani? The Appiani is I will say five minutes away from the Old Town and it's five minutes away from the Old Town and it's 10 minutes away from one of the most most visited tourist sites in in Padua Padova ultras told me that the reason why the move has been so detrimental is because the stadium doesn't feel part of the city therefore the club no longer fits part of the city people can't just go on a whim to the ground they need to plan the trip there in the car and that is a negative impact on the younger fans because they get there it's carpooling yeah yeah and then then when I was there on Sunday I interviewed Ultras in a car park and they do what Americans call tailgating which is driving to the stadi park in the car in the car park opening the boot and setting out you know picnic tables and bringing their own drinks and their own food because there is no drink there is no kind of facilities of any kind of vending machines there is nothing there is a little clubhouse ultras and a built for themselves and they paid for themselves so it's a sad state of affairs yeah for the supporters not just the ultras who we all know they're the die hard yeah but also just general families they have to literally pack their own lunch they do they do they do these the fastest pop they told me they build the reason why they build the structure to start with was because they wouldn't know when no way for female fans to use facilities if they needed there were no toilets outside the ground so they needed something for female fans particularly kids to use the to use the facilities and then this developed into something slightly bigger being I wouldn't call it a pub, but it has a feeling of a pub it's got beer taps and it's got two slushie machines How far is that away from the stadium itself? oh it's 500 meters away it literally is on an access road to the stadium and this is where the Ultras go on the home match days yeah there is a big screen outside they congregate there they sing the songs there's flares going off there's drinks so at least I've got drinks and food yeah yeah there's drinks been around there's they've got like a barbeque and where they do their own they prepare their own food and and they watch the games there on on a big screen I do believe that for some of the games they even have their own commentary they get a stream and they have won the fans doing the live commentary on site so it's commentaroake to a degree? to a degree yes I think but I'm sure that they're quite skilled the yeah the waxing lyrical there in the ultras clubhouse so you were taken in to that area yeah and you were you were welcomed in by the ultras you were I was yeah you are inside of there nowhere else is getting this is a Destination Calcio yeah Destination Padova Ultras with Dan I was very much welcome then they offer me they offer me beers they offer me food which I politely declined because I had already had a rather large breakfast in the middle of Padova but that's the story for another time okay maybe you can talk us through that on the Calcio Weekender? I will do I will do I can't give all the secrets away now I'm sorry go and check out all the other ones I should mention Calcio Weekender that belong you just came out today what all the other towns have been to already yeah so it's this clubhouse is decked in white and red part of the colours there's murals, there's graffiti it just feels like something for the fans by the fans which is exactly what it is. okay the big question here Dan is if you were neutral which you are walking in there and you had before you the two options to go watch the game in the stadium or watch it with the ultras in their club house arrangement what would you do I'll choose the clubhouse arrangement any day of the week and that is a message if you're listening out there Padova Calcio you might have to take that opinion in yeah if people are coming there from another town then or another country and they're opting not to go to a stadium especially I mean the message is there, yeah obviously the locals are boycotting it's interesting because one of the things I asked the Padova fans about fans I spoke to was what the reception from a fanbase have been like because we all know how tribal football gets so I thought maybe they their stance been mocked or yeah they're being ridiculed which quite the opposite ultras and actual just normal fans of other clubs have praised the stance because they themselves hate going to the Euganeo because it's a terrible experience even as an away fan away faster and housed in this end which is exposed to the elements and looks a fair distance away from the pitch it's about 70 70 80 metres away from the pitch is exposed to the elements again there are no facilities of any kind for them and lucky it was sunny on on Sunday well that was gonna be my other point because of all the places in Italy to have a stand exposed to the elements Veneto doesn't strike me as the ideal place to not at the roof over your head yeah oh yeah I mean it was it was an incredible experience to be there with them I ran into five Leeds finals as well Leeds fans on tour yeah Padova, where else? sister club maybe no? I don't know I saw a couple of stickers where they had bought, both clubs and well I'd rather the faster barclubs had stuck stickers there so there's definitely some sort of set the relationship of some kind so do you think there's a chance of a Google search for Lesds supporters Calcio Weekender in Padova? We've got more coming on that cause you're gonna write the piece I am and we're gonna elaborate on the topic it seems to be pretty bad at the moment for the Padova Ultras we sympathise with you yeah I know it's it's it's it's really bad for them and it's not just the Ultras it's just even like average fans who've been going for a long time It just feels very modern football you know like the moment when a club tells them that their customers. It's that disconnect isn't it and that's what Danny from Hull was saying the Atlanta fan from Hull yeah videos out on the YouTube channel as well he's saying that he's left English football he's still there he still watches his team Chelsea but he said he would rather sit in the away section with the Atalanta supporters at Stamford Bridge then in the home section with Chelsea's that is a massive statement to make yeah no it is it really felt he felt those feelings felt very much there with the Padova fans as well so there's the disconnect issue yeah there's the income issue for the club as well because they're not going to have that extra revenue, correct, because how many seats are they losing potentially? they're losing I would say about 2,000 seat instead whoever runs that clubhouse is Reagan in yeah well the thing is that they are not actually losing any money though because at the end of the files still some of them bought season tickets anyway and they're just choosing not to go whereas oh others have given up their season tickets so you will have to sort of look at you know at the exact figures there but that is definitely a loss of income for the club and so by creating this issue for the club itself whenever people watch part of a home games they're going to see they've got no home support in the Ultra section in that Curva, and therefore it really shines the torch yeah it is it's a visual it's a visual protest and it that's why I was told that they chose this kind of protest because it's even though obviously Serie C has limited exposure on TV it's the easiest way to show that there's something wrong because something that should be there that has been there for you know 50 60 70 years is no longer there and they that's as you said earlier is the last roll of the dice for them they needed something they need to make a statement they have done so but they feel there is no support from the club nor from the authorities either in terms of the city council so it's a sad situation is it a case of the buck has to stop somewhere someone hasn't spent the funds to make this stadium more acceptable for fans, better facilities bit of everything well with Euganeo, I think it's one of those stadiums that's felt cursed from the moment it started construction started in 1989 and it wasn't completed until 1994 considering the look of it is just a few concrete structures yeah that's slow even by Italian standards, I mean there are some eyesores across Calcio but these as to be one of the worst and the ironic thing is that I was told that the club and the fans and even the players agreed that Padova needed a new stadium in the late 80s but no one thought that this would be the stadium that they'll be moving to. sometimes you better off with what you've got yeah I think we're gonna look out for your piece coming out we will link that into the show notes once it is and we're gonna see how this situation evolves through this season and maybe just maybe you might be part of a part of a ultras away game somewhere cause they are still attending away games they are they're taking big big numbers away from home yeah I have to send you in bit of a face paint and whatever else that they need you know they do now though so you have to get a little some kind of initiation little bit of blood brother behavior I am terrible when it comes to needles and blood so sincerely up now but okay we'll see if the Ultras can let you off. maybe I could just do something like a big tattoo across the face Dan has pledged the big tattoo across the face to the Padova locals. I was trying to I was gonna say maybe I can learn the local dialect we're gonna see how this plays out Dan, yeah but we thank you for going in there it's an exclusive nothing else is is finding this information out it is an issue that I didn't even know about didn't think of so well done to you for digging around and digging your way through to the Euganeo on the weekend and more on DestinationCalcio.com com including Dan's part of Ultra's piece so stick with us thanks Dan no worries