Venezia FC: The club built on the water that rises to the top of Italian football

Most headlines and promotions are celebrated on an open top bus. In Venice, they do it by gondola.

However, after three bankruptcies in 10 years – each leading to readmission to the fourth tier of Italian football – all that could be about to change.

Promoted again to Serie A after a 19-year absence, Venezia FC are on the rise after an eventful period in the club’s history.

Their 10 men heroically held their own in last season’s play-off return final against Cittadella, before a 93rd-minute goal sealed the victory and sparked scenes of jubilation among players and staff at Pier Stadium. Luigi Penzo, just over a mile from the city’s iconic Piazza San Marco.

These scenes were somewhat overshadowed as players, joined by a parade of boats and greeted from decks as supporters showed their gratitude on land and water, took to the city’s canals for a celebration. unique of their achievement.

“This is how the club have always celebrated,” technical director and former Venezia striker Paolo Poggi told BBC Sport.

“To see the happiness in the eyes of the players, staff and owners and enjoy it with all the supporters on the decks – for me it was like a dream, it was a dream come true.”

Poggi, who both started and ended his playing career with his hometown club before taking on his current role, added: “If I think about this moment, I feel so happy, especially after a difficult year with Covid.

“In the last 12 years the club has had a lot of problems, big problems. We have lost a whole generation of supporters, we have lost the soul of the club. It was not easy.

“Fortunately, we are still here, but it could have been different. “

The unique celebrations in the streets and waterways that followed the promotion of Venezia portray a passionately supported club – but it is a club that too easily could have disappeared.

The 1941 Coppa Italia winners were relegated from Serie A in 2002 after their third high-profile campaign in four years, and a period of relative stability collapsed overnight as then-owner, Maurizio Zamparini, sold and took 12 players – plus the manager – with him to Palermo.

The club are set to start again in the fourth division in 2005, 2009 and 2015 when they were on the verge of financial ruin.

Yet after a third bankruptcy in a decade, its rebirth as Venezia FC in October 2015 would pave the way for three promotions in six seasons.

Saved by ambitious American investor Joe Tacopina, whose eye-catching appointment of former AC Milan boss Filippo Inzaghi as manager ensured successive promotions to Serie B, the club completed its takeover under the management of the current president and former head of the New York Stock Exchange Duncan Niederauer.

Coach Paolo Zanetti has since been rewarded for his contribution with a new contract until 2025 as Venezia hopes for a more certain future.

“I’ve never had the chance to play with the club in Serie A, so being part of it now means a lot to me,” said Poggi, who was born near the stadium and watched practices and games every week before his own career. has begun.

“Our goal now is to make the club known as the city is known around the world,” he added.

“We play in the second oldest stadium in Italy, on an island – it’s something unique in the world.

“We want our supporters to be proud of our football club because they deserve to have a strong club in this city.

“I think now anything is possible. The most important thing is to be in Serie A every season, of course. It’s a very crucial season and if we can stay in Serie AI, I think the future will be bright. “

The Pier Luigi Penzo stadium, Venice’s low-key home, hints at the difficult journey the club endured to reach Serie A.

Located on the edge of the main island of Venice, its modest capacity of 7,400 will be by far the smallest in the division.

But, surrounded by water on two sides and accessible only by boat or a walk through the famous city – which attracts over 25 million tourists in a normal year – it also hints at Venezia’s potential as a global brand.

Indeed, there is no better example of the club’s growing appeal than its latest collection of stylish home and away kits that sell out within hours of their release.

“The games are very different in the sense that we have to bring a boat to the stadium,” said Scotland forward Harvey St Clair, who joined the club in 2018 after 12 years at Chelsea, told BBC World Service.

The 22-year-old added: “It’s a very unique place to play our games and the stadium has a lot of character.

“All but one of the players live on the mainland, so we park our cars and take a big team boat all around Venice to the Penzo.”

Venezia is due to start their Serie A campaign in Napoli on Sunday August 22, although they will have to wait until September 19 to welcome top-level football again, against Spezia.

“I’m so curious to see how it will be, how the fans will be, how the new pitch will be, but for me the most important thing is that we play at home,” said Poggi.

“The walk to the stadium is the unique thing when you come to see a game here. There are plans to build a new stadium and in the future it may be possible but, for now, the stadium we have is something worth seeing.

“If the fans are as excited as we are, I think it will be a big party. I also hope for a result, of course.”