Whether we like it or not football is changing and “modern football” has not taken many victims bigger than Cagliari’s Stadio Sant’Elia. But now it’s time for history and nostalgia to fight back.
Throughout history, players, coaches and even owners have come and gone but the fundamental things that give a club its identity, such as its colours its crest and its home, rarely change.
Unfortunately for the Rossoblu in 2012 the Stadio Sant’Elia was forced to close when the local authorities declared the ground unsafe for the general public.
The Isolani were forced to move out of, what can only be described as, their home for the past 42 years, and move over 1,000 kilometres away to the Stadio Nereo Rocco in Trieste. Many Cagliari fans say that when the team moved they left their heart at the Sant’Elia.
Although plans were made for Cagliari to move back to the Island of Sardinia and play at the newly renovated Stadio Is Arenas it would never become home. Not only was the Is Arenas considered as nothing more than means to an end, it was also shrouded in controversy which led to cases of embezzlement, unlawful land ownership, miss managed planning permission and countless other misdemeanours involving everyone from Cagliari president Massimo Cellino to the mayor of Quartu Sant’Elena.
But now thankfully the Sardi luck looks to be set to change, as Sardinian media company Unione Sarda recently reported that a possible return the Stadio Sant’Elia could be on the cards with the club and local authorities working together to make the stadium fit to host Serie A matches as early as the 21st of September.
The Italian National Olympic Committee [CONI] will have the final say in the stadium’s future as they are will be largely responsible for the upcoming renovations. It is said that CONI have already had their proposals approved by the appropriate authorities and are just waiting for the plans to be rubber stamped before work commences.
Cagliari midfielder Andrea Cossu told La Gazzetta dello sport, “For us the important thing is to return to play at the Sant’Elia, we hope to return by 29th [of September] against Inter”
To re-renovate a 23,000 capacity stadium in less than a month would usually seem to be a pretty tall order but Cagliari and the Sant’Elia have history on their side.
In 1970 work began on building what was to become the Stadio Sant’Elia. Not only would this new stadium become home to a Cagliari side who where then the current Scudetto holders but it would also play host to some of Italy and Europe’s top athletics meetings. The new stadium was designed to be the pride of Sardinia.
More impressive than the stadium’s original capacity of 60,000, is the fact that the entire construction of the original stadium was completed in just 60 days, by anyone’s standards that was pretty rapid brickwork to say the least, bearing in mind that it has taken the city of Genova over 22 years to build a Metro line a measly 7.1 kilometres long with only eight stations.
Not only has the Sant’Elia proved that it can be built and redeveloped in in double quick time, it has also previously been renovated before with great success. In 1989 the stadium was refurbished for the Italia 90 World Cup Finals where it hosted three games.
Having been in Italy’s top flight since 2003 the Rossoblu have more than established themselves as a Serie A outfit and by securing a return to their spiritual home would make an ideal foundation to build on becoming a top side.
With the international break over, the Isolani face a difficult away trip to Florence where they will meet a strongly inform Fiorentina spearheaded by a rejuvenated Giuseppe Rossi, no doubt Diego Lopez will be calling on the services Davide Astori to keep tabs on his countryman. Astori should be fairly fresh despite being away with the national team after only playing the final 30 minutes of the Azzurri’s 1-0 over Bulgaria.
One promising sign ahead of Sunday morning’s fixture is that Chilean front man Mauricio Pinilla has a better scoring record against the Viola than he does against any other Serie A side.
With almost his whole squad free from injury and suspension Lopez will have up to 26 players at his disposal although the Uruguayan is expected to name the same team that lost 3-1 to AC Milan in their previous outing. With a possibility of Sebastian Eriksson coming in to replace Matias Cabrera, the 6ft 1″ Swede will offer a slightly more defensive option as the Rossoblu will attempt to stifle the Viola’s attacking threat.
