In our journey across Italy looking for the most interesting football stadiums in the country, today we’re headed south. We’re going the most south that we can as far as calcio is concerned – to the Angelo Massimino Stadium in Catania, Sicily.
This stadium meets pretty much all the rules and features of the grounds we have explored so far: The changing name, the athletics track, the multiple restyling, etc. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet, and get to see the whole history of this fantastic stadium from the beginning.
The construction of the Angelo Massimino began in 1935 by the architect Raffaele Leone, known for having devoted almost 50 years of his life to restoring the Cathedral of Catania. Originally named Stadio Cibali, after the neighborhood where it is located, it was the pride of the South for several years. It was a multisport facility, with a capacity of 20000 people (thence it was also known as the “Stadio dei Ventimila — “Stadium of Twenty Thousand”), one of the largest of its kind at the time. It featured two main stands and, most unusually, also a North Stands section.
The stadium included a running track around the pitch but, as with almost every stadium we have visited so far, the facility was designed to host various sports events, so that is understandable. Another trait that made it a unique venue was that the field measured 110x70m. Those were the official international dimensions that very few stadiums had back in the days, even less average Serie C teams like Catania.
The stadium orientation was also peculiar. Rather than making it perpendicular to the ground, to make better use of the space, the pitch was oriented according to where the sun rises and falls, so that the sunlight would never bother the players.
The Angelo Massimino was inaugurated in 1937 with a Serie C match between Catania and Foggia which ended with a victory for the locals.
The original name Cibali was short-lived: In 1941 – and it could not be otherwise, considering the period – it was renamed by the Fascist regime Stadio Italo Balbo after the then Italian Governor of Libya. Four years later, at the end of World War II and with the fall of Fascism, it returned to its original name. During the war, the stadium was targeted with heavy bombing, which damaged it and made the first restructuring necessary.
During the 1960s, Catania lived their first golden age as they played for six uninterrupted years in Serie A. Some say that enthusiasm surrounding the team was so strong that the stadium was at times filled with 40000 spectators. These are frightening numbers when you think about them today, especially considering that the South Stands had not been built yet at the time.
Catania’s rise and attendance numbers prompted the idea of moving the club’s home to another area and build a new stadium. That is something which is still heard of as of today, but no real step in that direction was ever taken.
Those were also the days when the famous catchphrase Clamoroso al Cibali! (“Unexpected at the Cibali!”) was coined. The exclamation, which has since become a calcio classic, was allegedly uttered by a radio commentator as he announced Inter’s shocking loss in Catania which costed the Nerazzurri a Scudetto.
It was the last day of the 1961 league and Helenio Herrera’s famous Inter paid a visit to Catania at the Cibali with good chances of winning the Italian title. The newly-promoted Catania side was already safe, sitting in a comfortable eighth position in the table. All bets were on Inter, and Herrera himself had allegedly referred to Catania as “a team of postal and telecommunication workers,” hinting at the four own-goals the team had conceded during the championship. This went deep into the Rossoazzurri players.
Now, it is difficult to discern what really happened from what fades into legend. It has been speculated that Catania players rejected some bribes to let Inter win. Some say that their coaching staff was expelled from the locker room and that the match was prepared by the players themselves, ignoring their coach. What is sure is that Catania went out to play as if it were a World Cup Final and comfortably won 2-0 despite being disallowed a penalty.
In 1982, 50 years after the stadium inauguration, the South Stands section was finally built, and part of the lateral Tribune A was roofed. Five years later, the North Stands were remodeled and modernized, bringing the stadium capacity to 35000. However, the most significant works were carried over in the 1990s – not because of the 1990 World Cup, for which Catania was not a host city – but rather in view of the 1997 Summer Universiade.
These works modernized all sectors: The two side stands were demolished and rebuilt and the stadium was adapted so that the athletics activities could be carried out in a more comfortable way – much to the detriment of the football fans, unfortunately, as their visibility of the pitch diminished.
In 2002, the stadium name was officially changed to the current one in honor of Angelo Massimino, who was the President of Catania for three separate periods until 1996, when he died in a car accident.
As of today, there are still doubts about the exact number of spectators the stadium can accommodate: Unofficial sources in Catania set its capacity at 40000 total and 30000 seated, whereas the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) says it’s 30000 in total. The National Center for Information on Sports Events, however, certifies 26000 only.
If we stick to the official data, on September 28, 2002, the stadium recorded a 28000 attendance, but in 2006 the sold-out poster was hung at 21000. In 2019, a capacity of 20000 seats divided among the 4 sectors of the stadium was set as official – but, clearly, that does not mean this is the maximum it can host…
With so many numbers, data, and sources, it is almost impossible to agree on how many people the Angelo Massimino can actually accommodate. One thing is for sure – it’s a pretty high number for a club who has spent most of its history between the second and the third division of Italian football.
In 2007, with the Rossoazzurri‘s return to Serie A, the Catania stadium was the stage of a tragic event. On February 2, after a regional derby between Catania and Palermo, an authentic battle between some local ultras and the police took place near the stadium. The atmosphere was already charged during the game, with incidents erupting both inside and outside the stadium. The police used tear gas and the game was suspended for 40 minutes – only to (inexplicably, given the situation) resume and end in a victory for the visitors.
That was then when dozens of violent people, with their faces covered, confronted the police. The incidents resulted in the death of police chief inspector Filippo Raciti, as well as in multiple people injured between both sides. Catania were penalized and forced to play the rest of the season away from their stadium and behind closed doors, a severe blow to the economy, and the team’s performance.
Catania are not traditionally considered a big team, and currently are not living their best days: Arrests for alleged match-fixing, multiple relegations, and financial problems took them far from the Serie A.
However, the Angelo Massimino and the non-violent part of their fan base are widely acknowledged by both local and visitor players as one of the loudest and most passionate venues in Italy: It’s just like the running track separating the pitch from the stands simply disappeared every time the home supporters start cheering for their beloved Rossoazzurri, no matter in what category Catania are playing.
Click Below to Visit Some More Temples of The Italian Football Cult:
The San Paolo Stadium in Napoli
The Luigi Ferraris aka Marassi in Genoa
The Stadio Olimpico in Rome
The Renato Dall’Ara Stadium in Bologna
The San Nicola Stadium in Bari
The Renzo Barbera or La Favorita in Palermo
The Ennio Tardini Stadium in Parma
The Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence
The Late Stadio Delle Alpi in Turin
Atalanta’s Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo