Club VIII - Venezia FC
Ask anyone what is the Italian city of Venice famous for & you will most likely get answers of; the canals, the gondolas, the bridges, the architecture, the Carnival of Venice, the Opera & so on. The chances of football even getting a passing mention are slim to none.
People going to Italy groundhopping or on a “football weekender” are likely to visit Milan’s two big boys, to see the Old Lady in Turin, to see the football-crazy, one-team city of Naples or even see what Sicily has to offer in Palermo or Catania. Again though, football in Venice is not likely to feature on the list.
But regardless of what most people would or would not do or say about Venice or football in Italy, we have the amazing football club Venezia FC.
The club that we know today as Venezia FC was founded in 1907 in Venice, Italy. “The club that we know today” is not written for no reason, we will come back to that a little later. Venezia FC made their footballing debut in December 1907, wearing a blue & red kit. The kit was actually changed in 1911 to avoid confusion with Genoa CFC who were formed in 1893 & had already made those colours their own.
There was a switch to a black & green kit, colours which still feature prominently on their kits today.
In 1913 Venezia started playing their home matches at their beloved Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo. This stadium has been the club’s home ever since & is in fact the second oldest continually used stadium in Italy, behind Genoa’s Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris which opened two years earlier in 1911.
The Pierluigi Penzo has a capacity of just 7450 & is probably more famous for the fact that it is far easier accessed by boat than on foot. As with most stadiums built in that period, it was made from wood initially with an upgrade to concrete occurring later in the century. In the 1960s it was regularly hosting crowds of over 20,000 but a tornado that hit the city in 1970 destroyed the stadium & it has never been reinstated to former size.
There have been several rounds of talks between Venezia FC & the city council about the possibility of extending or working on the stadium, which have hit roadblocks & have never materialised. It was always going to be difficult working with such a little amount of dry land.
Regardless of the stadium’s accessibility & the politics over a face-lift or an expansion, the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo, in a very tough category to stand-out in, is one of the most picturesque stadiums in the world.
If you are familiar with the “Who Are They?” section of this website, usually the teams that feature are often the bridesmaids & do not own a shimmering trophy room. This is also the case for Venezia FC. However while the world was at war, Venezia FC did have their moment in the sun.
Following an incredible two-legged final versus AS Roma, where Venezia came back from 3-0 down in the first leg to draw 3-3 & then subsequently won the return leg 1-0, they were crowned Coppa Italia winners in 1941. This remains the club’s only major trophy ever won.
While in 1942 they finished third in Serie A, behind AS Roma & Torino FC which also remains as Venezia’s highest ever finish. So owing to these successes the team of the 1940s is regarded as the greatest ever amongst fans of the “Winged-Lion”.
For the remainder of the century the club spent a fleeting number of seasons participating in Serie A, regularly being relegated & promoted between Serie B & Serie C. However with the arrival of the 21st century an unholy amount of bad luck & mismanagement has haunted this football club.
2002. 2009. 2015. Each year signifying a different bankruptcy for Venezia FC. Each year signifying starting-over financially. Each year signifying starting-over in Italy’s lowest tier. This is why to avoid confusion the term “Venezia FC” has been used throughout the article. When in reality Venezia FC was only born in 2015 & throughout its long history the club has also been officially entitled; AC Venezia, AC Venezia 1907, SSC Venezia & FC Unione Venezia.
However since 2015 things have been looking up for Venezia FC, with a lot of the upturn in fortune being down to American lawyer Joe Tacopina & a group of US investors who bought the club. They decided rather than try to revive what remained of the 2015 bankruptcy they started completely from scratch. As a group they had previous experience at boardroom level of a football club, being part of the AS Roma takeover in 2011 & the Bologna FC takeover in 2014.
With the boardroom & balance sheets in somewhat of an ordered fashion, Venezia FC were promoted to Serie C following the 2015/16 season. Then in the summer of 2016 they announced their grand ambitions as a club to the rest of Italy & beyond by appointing Filippo Inzaghi as their new manager.
Appointing Filippo Inzaghi as manager gave the club a lot more media attention | Photo Credit
The appointment worked a treat as Venezia FC were promoted to Serie B at the end of the 2016/17 season, followed by a totally unexpected (not to Inzaghi & this players) 5th place finish in their first season back in Italy’s second tier.
Progress as rapid as this never goes unnoticed & in late 2018 Inzaghi was off to take the manager’s job at Serie A club Bologna FC. Mid-table finishes followed in 2018/19 & 2019/20, which may seem disappointing in comparison to the 5th place finish in 2017/18, but looking at the bigger picture of consolidating their status as a Serie B club just five or so years into their existence, it is a solid marker of progress for a club that went bankrupt three times in thirteen years.
At the start of 2020 there was further restructuring at the club & Joe Tacopina was removed from his post by the owners. A man called Duncan Niederauer, who is the former CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, is now president of the club. Stability, at least from the outside looking in, seems to have come to Venezia FC & at the time of writing this article they sit fourth in Serie B, very much in the mix for promotion to Serie A.
However this raises the question again of their beloved Stadio Pierluigi Penzo & its small capacity. If Venezia FC want to further develop as a club, be promoted & maybe even consolidate themselves as a Serie A club, surely their future lies away from a stadium with a capacity of 7450 & that does not seem capable of expanding on.
Big decisions to be made soon.
Striking the balance between growing as a club & not abandoning your history & identity is a very delicate procedure | Photo Credit
As with any club, the fans are the heartbeat & it is fair to say that fans of the Winged-Lion have had to suffer and endure more than most. However they still have their own core nucleus of loyal fans, averaging just shy of 4000 fans in the last two full seasons where fans were able to attend (2017/18 & 2018/19).
The hardcore of these fans populate the Curva Sud behind the goal & their main ultras group is known as “Venezia Mestre”. Founded in 1987, any original members of Venezia Mestre will have seen all of the changes, bankruptcies, demotions, promotions & takeovers. Fan loyalty put through the ultimate test.
As with many ultras groups in Europe, Venezia FC have also struck a fan friendship with an unlikely ally. “Ultras Rapid”, ultras of Austrian club Rapid Vienna, have an official friendship with Venezia’s Curva Sud & Venezia Mestre.
A fan friendship across international borders | Photo Credit
While finally, something that has had Venezia FC in the headlines online in recent years has been around the launch of some of their kits. For football jersey & kit collectors all over the world, some of Venezia’s recent kits have been must-buy.
The recent kit partnership with Nike, coupled with some of the colour schemes, designs & the lack of a major sponsor plastered across the front of it in favour of “Venezia Football Club”, has sent collectors & football hipsters in general into social media meltdown. No doubt these sales have raised some much needed cash for Venezia FC as well.
Venezia FC’s 2019/20 away kit | Photo Credit
Venezia FC’s recent resurgence & apparent stability will be welcome news to fans of the club. The question now seems to be shifting towards; now as an established Serie B club, how can the club take the next step? Central to the answer to this question lies with the future of the club at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo & whether the club will need to leave its ancient home to grow, physically & metaphorically.
While Venezia FC remains at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo, it should be right at the top of any groundhoppers bucket list, to go see the Winged-Lion in action there, in the ancient city of Venice.