Bologna

Ground: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara

Visits: 1

Date: 27th October 2014

Match: Bologna - Trapani 2-1 (Serie B)

Attendance: 15 180

Every year I make a trip abroad the last week of October. This year I would be free from work the entire week and I looked at different options. There were midweek league fixtures in several countries and cup matches in others. In the end I decided for Italy where fixtures in Serie A were spread out from Tuesday to Thursday. My plan was to visit Sassuolo vs Empoli (Tuesday), Fiorentina vs Udinese (Wednesday) and the finish off the tour with Hellas Verona vs Lazio on Thursday evening. Looking at flight options I knew there is a morning flight from Copenhagen to Bologna and since there is a televised match in Serie B on Monday evenings I didn´t book any flights until Serie B fixtures were confirmed. Luckily for me Bologna vs Trapani was chosen as the Monday match. I booked a return flight to Bologna and was looking forward to a nice week in Italy.

At 04.00 on Monday morning my alarm buzzed and two hours later I was at Copenhagen airport. At 10.20 I was then at Bologna airport. For this trip I was supposed to be joined by my German friend Jonas but unfortunately he had to cancel his trip because of illness. Without access to Jonas´ car I had to, on Thursday evening, change my bookings to hotels close to train stations and in Bologna my hotel was a 10-minute walk from the station. My room was not ready yet and I decided to take the bus to Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, the home of Bologna FC. The weather this Monday was really nice with sunshine and a blue sky and I was hoping for some decent exterior pictures of the ground.. The bus stop was right next to the ground and it was soon obvious Stadio Renato Dall'Ara was yet another old Italian ground which is in need of a redevelopment. Stadio Renato Dall'Ara was opened in 1927 and has a capacity of around 38 000. In the 1990 World Cup four matches were played at the ground. The most interesting feature about the ground must be the Torre di Maratona which is in the centre of the Distinti (East Stand). As I was taking my pictures of the exterior I was looking for an open gate but I couldn´t find one. Next to the ground there was a Lottomatica shop and I popped in to buy my ticket for the match. In Italy you have to show your ID to buy football tickets and when the lady in the Lottomatica shop realized I was from Sweden she said "I have always dreamt of moving to Sweden". Anyway, I bought a ticket for Tribuna Laterale and then had something to eat and drink at a nearby restaurant before going back to the city centre. Bologna is the largest city (and the capital) of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy and also the seventh most populous city in Italy. The city is also home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088. Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country.

At 18.20 I once again boarded bus #21 taking me from my hotel to Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. As always it is a great feeling walking up to a ground for an evening match when the floodlights are on, feeling the buzz and excitement. Before this match Bologna and Trapani were level (with two other teams) at the top of Serie B making this quite an interesting fixture. Trapani is situated on the west coast of Sicily and for a Monday evening match in Bologna I expected the away sector to be almost empty. That turned out to be wrong though, around 300 Trapani fans were in Bologna for this match. To me that is an excellent number. My seat was next to Curva Bulgarelli, the home end, meaning I couldn´t hear the Trapani fans very often. A packed Curva Bulgarelli was waving flags and singing and for most of the 90 minutes the atmosphere at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara was very good. Trapani scored after 3 minutes but Bologna equalized before half-time. In the second half it was all Bologna and in the 64th minute the home team scored the winning goal. 2-1 to Bologna and a great match to start this tour with. After the match there were plenty of buses waiting to bring fans back to the city centre, Italian organisation at its best! I was back at my hotel around 11pm and I quickly fell asleep.

Pictures from Bologna

palazzo re enzo