Photos and Words: Federico Farcomeni (@fede.farco on Instagram)
“Blue is the colour of sea, red is the colour of wine…” begins one of the main chants of the A.S. Sambenedettese faithful on Curva Massimo Cioffi at the Riviera delle Palme stadium in Italy.
Samb and Ascoli faced each other this week in the first “Derby delle Marche” matches in 39 years. A quirk of fate scheduled two games within four days, with the Serie C clash played first, followed by the Coppa Italia Serie C fixture.
San Benedetto del Tronto, home to Samb, is a seaside destination with around 47,000 residents.
Meanwhile, Ascoli, situated some 22 miles away, has a population of around 45,000, some of whom have summer homes in San Benedetto del Tronto for holidays on the Italian East Coast.
There is also no train station in Ascoli, meaning that its commuters use the San Benedetto station, and the two communities live cheek by jowl.
In the first encounter, the Serie C match at the Stadio Del Duca, Ascoli wrestled the upper hand, winning 1-0.
A few days later, in the second match, Samb got their revenge in the Coppa Italia Serie C, beating Ascoli 2-1 and knocking their near neighbours out at the Riviera delle Palme.
Now, both fan bases are as tightly wound as the San Siro-like twisted walkways at Samb’s stadium, and the rivalry will be a hotly contested topic on the morning train ride to work.
