A Football Guide to Naples
Following a recent trip to the wonderful city of Naples, we have decided to put pen to paper on a slightly different type of article than what we usually write. This article will serve as somewhat of a football fan’s guide to Naples. And now that the worst of the pandemic has subsided (knocking on wood as you are reading this), we will likely do more of these kinds of articles as we visit different famous footballing cities.
An early disclaimer before we get into the nitty gritty. This is how we experienced the city. You might be reading this and think to yourself “I was in Naples and it was an absolute sh*thole”. Or you might be reading this and thinking “You’d be better off staying in Sorrento and getting the train to the football in Naples”.
Both of those things might be true for you, but it is not how we did the trip and is not how our experience went. This is all purely based on first-hand experience.
Before we get into the football aspect of this wonderful city, here is some other helpful information for when visiting Naples.
Flying into Naples
Flying into Naples? You are in for a treat. The airport is unique amongst many major European cities whereby the major airport is right beside the city centre. Literally a 15-20 minute drive into the very heart of the city.
You don’t have to deal with a long train, a long bus or an expensive taxi into the city centre. Anyone who has ever been flying into “Paris” and landed in Beauvais or been flying into “Milan” and landed in Bergamo will know this pain. Ryanair’s idea of where a city limit ends seems to be very different to everyone else’s…
Anyway, grab yourself a taxi at the airport. It was a little messy outside in the queue and it seemed we might have been skipped a few times in getting our taxi by some returning locals. Welcome to Naples.
We are still convinced that the taximan might have been the mayor of Naples who drives taxis in his spare time. In the 20 minute drive from the airport to our AirBnb he had a passing conversation or shouted out the window to about ten different people. He also quite skillfully squeezed down the tiny Neopolitan streets that would fit no more than a person either side of the car.
We were dropped right to our door. A 20 minute drive. €20. Easy.
Where To Stay In Naples
We would recommend staying as centrally as possible in Naples city centre. Our AirBnb was just off the very popular Via dei Tribunali, about a two-minute walk from the world famous pizza restaurant “Sorbillo”. And yes, the pizza there is definitely worth the hype.
Via dei Tribunali is home to everything you could possibly want for a weekend city break - bars, restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, street vendors, tobacco shops, etc. It has all of the hustle and bustle you would expect from one of the main streets in the “capital” of the South.
There are no doubt some amazing hotels throughout the city, and even larger, more lavish AirBnbs scattered around the city too. But if you are after somewhere central and somewhere with a great vibe and atmosphere, set up camp near Sorbillo’s pizza place on Via dei Tribunali.
Other Things To Do In Naples
Pompeii
A visit to the famous old city is well worth it. There are several trains that go from ‘Napoli Centrale’ down to ‘Pompeii Scavi’. The train is only about 30 minutes which will leave you a short walk away from the entrance to the old city.
Pay for a guided tour or just take a few hours to go exploring the city on your own. Personal preference really.
Mount Vesuvius
The imposing figure of Mount Vesuvius is inescapable no matter where in Naples you are. There are tours where you are driven by bus close enough to the crater at the top. You can then hike the rest of the way to the summit to take in the stunning views of the Bay of Naples, as well as looking deep into the crater itself.
We got our bus from Pompeii up to Vesuvius, but there are also options to go from other parts of Naples. Total time you should allocate for this is about 3.5 - 4 hours. The view of the Bay, Naples, Capri, Sorrento, and more, from the summit makes the bus ride and short hike worth it.
Castel Sant’Elmo
If you find yourself wandering and exploring the city you will likely notice the castle up on the hill that overlooks the city. This is Castel Sant’Elmo. A relatively short, uphill walk from the port area up to the castle doesn’t take too long and the panoramic view of the city of Naples from up there is brilliant. Would recommend it.
We were even greeted on the way up by some Brigata Carolina graffiti when almost at the top. The Brigata Carolina are a Napoli ultras group founded in 1989 and they come from the famous Quartieri Spagnoli neighbourhood of the city.
But we all know you are here for the football stuff, so let’s get stuck in.
Maradona Square
What is now known the world over as “Maradona Square”, this is a small piazza in the Quartieri Spagnoli where a huge mural of Maradona was painted in 1990 following Napoli’s Serie A win. And quite simply, for any football fan going to Naples it is a must-see.
It is a steep, uphill 10-15 minute walk from Naples’ high-street Via Medina. On approach you will pass a few smaller art pieces of Maradona scrawled on the walls, almost letting you know you are approaching Maradona Square.
The square itself is small, flanked on all sides by towering, typically Neopolitan apartment blocks. There are a few stalls selling Maradona memorabilia, a bar with a few tables you can sit out on, and the walls are covered with all sorts of other Maradona and Napoli murals and graffiti. We were lucky enough to get a table as soon as we arrived so we sat down to have a couple of beers and simply admire this amazing piazza.
We watched a flow of people arrive, have their pictures taken at the mural, and some even left scarves and flags from their own clubs as a mark of respect to the great man. There was a table of around ten men next to us. We are not 100% sure where they were from, but they were speaking Spanish, so a good guess would be Argentinian. They had their own music speaker and began a series of Maradona-inspired football chants, most famously - “Maradona es más grande que Pelé”. The chants echoed around the small piazza, an amazing experience.
We stayed for about an hour and as one of us remarked - “It is possibly the coolest place I have ever had a beer”. A must visit.
Tickets for Napoli
If you are looking to get tickets for a Napoli game at the Diego Armando Maradona there are probably a multitude of ways to do so. Ideally you will know someone in the city who will be able to sort you out, this unfortunately was not the case for us.
We can highly recommend the ticket page ‘Get Napoli Tickets’ (@NapoliTickets) on Twitter. We reached out to Michele a number of weeks before the game and we had a series of conversations about tickets - things like price, where in the stadium we wanted to sit, likelihood of securing the tickets, etc. When we went, Italy still had a series of strict COVID measures in place so we thought it would be better to be safe than sorry and secure tickets as early as possible.
We met Michele at a cafe/bar, Saint-Honore Bakery & Coffee, near the stadium about 90 minutes before kick off. Tickets were handed over, having been previously paid for. The whole experience was seamless and if you are stuck for tickets for a big game, reach out to @NapoliTickets on Twitter.
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona
What a stadium!
It is very easily accessed by metro from the city centre. There are plenty of bars nearby if you fancy a drink before a game. We popped in for a couple of beers at Saint-Honore Bakery & Coffee, which was the designated meeting spot to get our tickets from Michele.
However we were advised to get ourselves down to the ground well before kick-off owing to COVID cert checks at the ground. The only negative to take from the whole experience was the amount of time it took to get into the ground. Kick-off was at 7pm local time, we arrived at our gate at 6pm. The queue was very long and it was very slow in moving. This was down to two series of checks - one for COVID certs, one for tickets. We did not get through to find our seats until 6.45pm.
But once inside, the experience was amazing. We got tickets in the famous Curva B, at the south end of the ground. A word of caution to ‘outsiders’ who are looking to get tickets and mix in with some of Napoli’s ultras. Do not get in early and take a spot at the front. Or do not try and move down once the game has started and mix in with the ultras. This is their section. They have their routines and sections, and generally they do not take too kindly to outsiders moving into their sections.
Get your tickets a little further back in the Curva and enjoy the spectacle from there.
The Napoli ultras were everything you would expect and more. There were around five capos dictating the Curva with their megaphones. There were huge flags waved non-stop for 90 minutes, featuring things like “Ultras Napoli”, silhouettes of Maradona, etc.
The selection of chants was endless, with even some end-to-end chanting over to Curva A and back. The one notable absence was away fans. No Roma fans were allowed into the stadium so that terrace back and forth that you usually get for a big game was absent. It is considered a high risk fixture with the potential for fan violence.
The game itself finished in a 1-1, with a Roma equaliser in stoppage time. I have never heard a silence in a stadium as big as the Maradona Stadium when the Roma equaliser went in. It was a deflating moment for Napoli on the night, and turned out to be pivotal in terms of their whole season.
Napoli lost to Fiorentina the week before this game. Then this draw with Roma was followed by another loss to Bari. Prior to these three games Napoli were neck in neck with Milan and Inter in a title race. This run of games ended their quest for a first Scudetto since 1990.
The game finished which was followed by a short walk back to the metro station. There was the usual heavy police presence which managed the flow of people into the station, nothing out of the ordinary.
To conclude…
There is something special about a one-team city. Places like Marseille, Dortmund, Newcastle are just some other examples. Naples is a football crazy city that did not disappoint. We are all also unanimous in saying that we have never seen a city as obsessed with an individual not from that country, regardless of its relation to sport, politics, music, etc. What the city of Naples and Diego Maradona have is truly unique.
Any groundhopper likely has the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on their list, and rightfully so. It is a throwback to the old-school style Italian stadiums with the steep curvas and running track encircling the pitch. Napoli’s fans are as passionate as you’ll find anywhere on earth.
A wonderful city with an amazing football team.