The Chequered Flag

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Monza is synonymous with Formula 1. A mere 12 kilometres from downtown Milan, every summer the masses descend for the Italian Grand Prix. The lure of Lewis Hamilton and an afternoon with ear plugs in wasn't on offer on a cold December morning. The plan for the morning was already in disarray. The local Government offices at the Place of Lombardy let you ascend to the top of their tower for a panoramic view for free. Well, most Sundays they do ..... but not today. A small notice affixed to the door basically said closed because it was a Bank Holiday the previous Friday. We looked skyward. The tower was crossed off the agenda and we walked down to Porta Garibaldi railway station. The whole local area is being developed. Out with old and in with the new. Flats and offices. There wasn't a soul about. I checked the time with the Man in the Middle for the umpteenth occasion on this trip. I had inexplicably left my watch at home, so I was reliant on others. We figured we could make the 1022 train to Monza. 2.20 Euros later we had a single on the S Train to Monza. Train tickets in Italy are strange and confusing. The machine will let you buy for a specific train, but in reality none of the tickets on the local regional networks are valid until they are stamped. Trenitalia tickets are large. Trenord tickets are small. The ticket machines are side by side. The stamping machines are often different too. We always opted for the Trenitalia option, largely because it was much easier to see the validation stamp. I have been caught out before. An unvalidated ticket equals a fine, which Mr Italian Train Conductor seems to take great pleasure in extracting from you. Their eyes are immediately drawn to the validation section, before they even check the destination on the ticket. On this occasion, the tickets remained unchecked on the 15 minute journey.



The glamour of Formula 1 town is in short supply at the main Monza railway station. The usual undesirables were hanging around under the watchful eye of the local boys in blue. We wandered up to the town centre and things improve. I was a little surprised to see that all the shops were open for business and customers were out doing a spot of Christmas shopping. The shops themselves suggested money. The top brands all seemed to have a presence, so the style conscious locals can indulge. The weather was overcast, but sunglasses were not the exception. Montcler and Colmar puffa jackets were the preferred choices. I had never heard of the latter and a glance at the prices of the window display in their store suggested I won't be getting a close acquaintance an time soon.



Monza was originally a walled town and withstood an impressive 32 sieges. Alas, there is little left today. The centre is pleasant enough for a stroll and as with most Italian urban centres littered with churches. The pick is the Cathedral of St John – aka Duomo – which was partially covered in scaffolding. The exterior façade was therefore somewhat spoiled. We ventured in for a warm. A service was underway. The white marble exterior was in contrast to the Church of Santa Maria with a heavily patterned terracotta frontage. The roof was clearly suspect, judging by the amount of scaffolding inside. Scaffolding is obviously a good business to be in. The old and the new sat side by side in the centre. The war memorial was positioned in a more modern square, flanked by ugly buildings and what appeared to be a new Town Hall. The old Town Hall was in the next square, which also featured the bizarre Fountain of the Frogs. The nude girl holding a frog probably didn't have the full effect, as there was no water in the fountain today.



The townsfolk were busy about their business – shopping or going to and from church. The local lucky boys were hawking books of some form, which seemed not to be making them very rich judging by the take up of purchases. It just seemed like a good way to get cold. They were nothing if not adaptable though. We would note later in the afternoon when the snow came down that they had put the books away and were busy with umbrella sales. We wandered down the Bridge of Lions, which was constructed in 1842 at the point of the original Roma crossing of the river. A small section of the old bridge was housed under a Perspex covering at the far end. The Perspex was steamed up sufficiently, so as to make any attempted photograph a waste of time. The bridge is flanked by 4 sizeable marble lions. Despite the proximity to the Alps, the River Lambro beneath was completely dried up. The concrete channel suggested that this was not always the case.



The tour of the town centre complete, we stopped for a cappuccino in an ice cream parlour. As the temperature outside was hovering around zero, the place wasn't unsurprisingly empty. The coffee was both good and cheap. We watched with amusement as the local plod affixed parking tickets to cars opposite waiting in a moped only section. A car pulled off, ticket attached to his windscreen. A new driver with more money than sense took the parking place. The police having retreated round the corner out of sight probably thought Christmas had come early.



We set off to the Stadium Brianteo - home of local Serie C club, AC Monza Brianza 1912. The stall holders of a Sunday fleamarket were huddling for warmth as we passed along the straight toad East of the town. The centre of town was quite busy, but here foot fall was sparse. It became quieter still the further we went. We avoided being detained in the one open bar we saw and secured 2 tickets for the Curva Sud...... eventually. The usual ticket bureaucracy was the order of the day. Passports. Full name on tickets etc. Well, it was when the printer worked. It was less than 2 hours to kick off. We were the only customers at the 3 open windows. The whole process took probably 10 minutes. It makes you wonder how they cope with a last minute rush, should such a thing exist. I checked the recent attendances and can confidently say that there haven’t been too many recently. We retreated to the "open" bar, where Captain Correlli's lager was available at a good rate. The locals came in, bought an expresso, downed it at the bar, bought a lotto ticket or some fags and left. Our second purchase, warranted free snacks. The bar owners came out with a very tasty plate of roast beef and potatoes – alas for themselves and not us. It seemed strange timing given the proximity to kick off, but they seemed quite content that they would not get too disturbed by a throng of customers.



We downed our second bottle and headed for the match. The ticket checking against ID was keenly pursued, but there seemed little interest in frisking to see what contraband we could have been bringing in. We joined the very thin on the ground band of Monza "ultras" on the Curve Sud. The decision had been based on price - 25 and 30 Euros in the Main Stand. 10 Euros for the Curva. The current AC Monza languish in Serie C, rattling around in a ground that is far too big for them. The glory days of Serie B and lifting the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1976 are behind them for the moment. We noted a flag at the base of the Curva, commemorating the victory in that glamour final against Wimbledon in the days when they were proper Wombles. It doesn’t sound like the tie of the round, but consider first that Monza dispatched non-league outfits in Scarborough and Stafford Rangers to reach that stage. The final was played in front of 26,000 the old Monza ground, which I spied on the approach to the railway station.



The game against AC Cuneo today had attracted the hardcore. All 1,100 of them. The current capacity of 18,500 or the efficiency of the ticket office would not be tested. There were only a scattering of fans in the posh seats. The Curva Nord and Laterale stands were not even opened. The failure of Cuneo to score meant positive identification of any away fans was not possible. The “star” man for Monza was the centre forward, Cori. He did a passable physical impression of being Ibrahimovic from a distance, but unfortunately he didn’t have the same footballing skills. The Man in the Middle scoffed at the centre forward. "He doesn't fancy it". Mr Cori duly nodded the only goal of the game a few minutes later on the stroke of half time. The weather deteriorated after the break. A few flurries turned into heavy snow. The 2 main men from Ultras Curva Sud stripped to the waste, although bizarrely 1 then decided to put on his gloves. The rest of the group wisely chose to keep wrapped up against the cold. It had all the hallmarks of the great Novi Pazar experience on top of a shopping centre. We trudged back to through the dark snow covered streets to the railway station. Th old Town Hall had snowflakes projected on it to make it all festive. It wasn't needed tonight. The real stuff kept coming down. Monza might be glamorous in Formula 1 terms, but there was no glamour on a cold December afternoon.



Appendix 1

Serie C

A C Monza Brianza 1912 1 AC Cuneo 1905

Date : Sunday 10 December 2017 @ 1430 Hours

Venue : Stadio Brianteo, Monza, Lombardy

Attendance : 1,100

Scorers : 1-0 Cori 45 Min (A C Monza)



A C Monza : Liverani, Trainotti, Riva, Caverzasi, Tentardini, Guidetti, Perini, D'Ericco, Gludicci, Palazzo, Cori

A C Cuneo : Boni, Conrotto, Tentoni, Cristini, Pellini, Rosso, Provenzano, Anastasia, Zamprano, Dell'Agnello

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Photos

A C Monza 1912 v A C Cuneo
....the snow falls

A C Monza 1912
Curva Sud

A C Monza 1912
.......busy ticket offices

A C Monza 1912
Stadio Brianteo

A C Monza 1912
Curva Sud

Porta Garibaldi
Street Art

Comments

[Rainyb]

Great album!