Naples - Stadio San Paolo - Capacity: 72,810 All Seater

The San Paolo is one of the great stadiums in Italy, and is the third biggest behind Milan and Rome at the current time.  It was originally constructed in the late 1950’s, with a huge renovation carried out in the late 1980’s in time to host some of the most dramatic matches of the 1990 World Cup Finals including the Semi-Final between Argentina, led by local hero Diego Maradona, and the host nation which the South Americans won on penalties.  Previous to this the club played at the Stadio Arturo Collana in Vomero which is now the home of Internapoli who play in Serie D.
 
The stadium is a huge bowl, with a small lower tier, almost completely shaded by the upper tier that alone can hold over 65,000.  The stadium does have an athletics track which does mean views are poor from some seats. 

In the early part of this century the stadium has been closed on three separate occasions.  It lost most of its roof during some huge storms, forcing the team to play its games in smaller stadiums in the region.  Then in 2001 local flooding caused the stadium to be closed once again. 

Apart from the 1990 World Cup Finals where the stadium hosted five games including England’s dramatic win versus Cameroon, it was also used in the 1980 European Championships for three matches including the 3rd/4th Play-off game between Italy and Czechoslovakia.

Who plays there?
The long wait appears to be over.  After a long dark period in the lower divisions, Napoli are about to return to the top division of Italian football.  To think of such a return would never have been considered a few years ago, when the previous entity, SSC Napoli fell into bankruptcy and were forced to play their football in the Serie C regional leagues.

Like many of the famous Italian clubs, Napoli can trace their history back to an Englishman – William Poths, who worked on the cruise ships that travelled regularly from England.  Along with a few interested locals, they formed a sporting club in 1904.  In 1912 an Italian faction of the club broke off to form their own team called FBC Internaples – later to become AC Napoli.

In 1929 the team were admitted into the national leagues, finishing 5th in the 1929-30 season.  The pre and post war years saw the club yo-yo between the top two divisions, with ever finding any consistency.  In 1962 they won their first major trophy – the Coppa Italia when they beat Spal 2-1 and in doing so became the first team outside of Serie A to win the trophy.  In 1968, with a young Dino Zoff in goal the team recorded their best ever league position when they finished runners up to AC Milan, a feat they repeated in 1975 when they lost the league to Juventus.
 
In the early 1980’s the club found some consistency, finishing in the top four on each occasion until 1984 when the new dawn broke for the club.  In August 1984 the club pulled off a world coup – signing Diego Maradona from Barcelona.  Two seasons later they won the domestic double at a canter – delivering the Lo Scudetto for the first time.  The following season they finished 2nd in the league, but won their first European Trophy by beating Stuttgart in the UEFA Cup final.  The following season with Careca providing the fire power up front they won the league again.

Maradona left in the early 1990’s, as too did such talent as Gianfranco Zola, Paolo Di Canio and Daniel Fonseca.  After their 4th place finish in 1992, and a runners up spot in the Coppa Italia in 1997 the club entered a spiral of debt and decline, and in August 2004 they filed for bankruptcy with debts of €70m.  

During that summer the club were bought by film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis who vowed to return the club to the big time.  Their first promotion was in Serie C1here an average gate of over 30,000 saw the team dominate the league from day one in 2005/06.  In their first season back in Serie B they have steadily climbed the table and now find themselves on the verge of Serie A football again.  The current squad includes ex-Chelsea midfielder Samuele Dalla Bona and Paolo Cannavaro.

The stadium also welcomes the national team on a regular basis – the last time was in September 2006 when Lithuania were the visitors for a 1-1 draw in front of 50,000 fans.  

How to get there
The stadium is located in the western part of the city, not too far from the bayside.  The view across the bay of Naples to Mount Vesuvius is very impressive.  The nearest station to the stadium is Campi Flegri which is seven stops from the centre of the city on the FS Metropolitana line towards Bagnoli.  Allow yourself 15 minutes to complete the journey.  As you exit the station, the stadium will easily be visible up the hill through the trees.

For a more detailed view on Football in the Naples area, go to Footiemap.com.

Getting a ticket
The stadium rarely sells out these days, although crowds are definitely on the up from the dark days of Serie C and bankruptcy in 2002.  Tickets can be bought for most games on the day of the game from the ticket offices on the road up from the station.  Away fans are located in the Distinti Curve A, whilst the Napoli Ultras are best avoided in Curve B.

Tickets are also sold in the city centre from newsagents and in a number of sports shops from 14 days before home games.  Prices start from €18 for a place in the Curve.