Round 3 of my rapid tour of Calabrian football stadiums, my visit to the home of Cosenza Calcio provided a fitting end - pitting them against local rivals Reggina. Not that it’s a particularly vicious rivalry, but it, coupled with a slightly more considerate kickoff time, ensured that there was a better crowd than I’d become adjusted to.
The San Vito is located about 20-30 min walk from Cosenza town centre. Probably about the same, maybe up to 40 min, from the train station. It’s not a bad walk, though neither is it particularly interesting. There’s only a couple of bars/cafes on the way which naturally become very busy on matchdays.
One of these is actually the closest available outlet to the ground for purchasing tickets, though he warned if you only have an Italian Social Security number you won’t get one there, not through lack of trying from the lovely staff, but the system just won’t support it. If you go to the Cosenza Calcio store in the city centre they don’t seem to need this.
The 20,000 stadium is nicely sized, although only the main tribune is fully covered, not ideal given the conditions I visited in. Interestingly, Cosenza have different ultra groups located in both curvas, which actually works wonders for atmosphere as it’s coming from both sides. The tribune itself is actually nicely maintained, and while I’m not gonna lie and call the bathroom facilities good, I’ve seen much, much worse.
The main blemish on what is otherwise a really good little stadium is the catering, or lack thereof. It was one guy and his son selling crisps, juice and water. I understand that not selling beer for a ‘derby’ is a thing, but I mean pre-packed sandwiches or something! Because kickoff coincided with restaurant opening times meaning I couldn’t grab anything beforehand so was starving!
Overall, I actually enjoyed my visit to Cosenza’s home, you could potentially add another star if I could have had something to eat