The Maradona Stadium comes as a shock to Arsenal fans

In the Fuorigrotta area – Naples’ busiest neighbourhood, with a name dating back a thousand years to Roman-era caves – around 1,500 Londoners, who had landed at Capodichino wearing red Arsenal shirts, made their way to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium by public transport: there is a metro station and a train stop leading to the stadium, but this is the only element of modern infrastructure that has brought the two clubs even remotely closer together. World apart in sporting terms – the Italians coming off the back of a disappointing season and two consecutive defeats under Massimiliano Allegri’s new management, whilst the English side were riding high on the double and top spot in the league – Napoli and Arsenal faced off – with the Neapolitans coming off the losing end – on another battlefield: the merciless clash between the new era of football, characterised by futuristic stadiums, and the obsolete model left over from post-war Italy. Because today, stadiums are not merely venues for events, but engines of economic development and one of the key ingredients of sporting success.

Among English clubs, and London sides in particular, the Gunners are considered special in the Anglo-Saxon sense of class and snobbery. Arsenal is said to have been Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite football club, although she personally preferred horse racing, including betting. She was not the only high-profile supporter: among its fans, the East London club also counts Baronet Mick Jagger, the legendary lead singer of the Rolling Stones, and other celebrities without the title of ‘Sir’, such as the equally legendary David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Martin Gore, the musician from Depeche Mode. Last year, the English club – owned by American sports magnate Stan Kroenke – announced yet another refurbishment of its stadium, which was already beautiful and modern, having been inaugurated in 2011. Over the past 30 years, Arsenal will have refurbished its stadium three times and is now preparing to open the largest venue in London (excluding the colossal Wembley, where, however, only the national team plays, not club sides), which will be hailed as the most state-of-the-art stadium in the whole of Europe. Emirates is delighted to sponsor such a stadium. During the same period, Napoli’s stadium—for which no one is willing to pay to sponsor it—has only managed to change its name: from San Paolo to Maradona. Built in 1959 by the architect Carlo Cocchia, the Maradona Stadium holds the dubious distinction of being the most dilapidated stadium: the only structural work carried out – as the new seats and giant screens installed in 2019 amounted to little more than a cosmetic touch-up – was the roof built for Italia ’90, which was, incidentally, yet another monument to the wastefulness of that World Cup, given that the third tier created by the roof has been closed for 20 years. Among Italy’s major stadiums, it ranks fourth in terms of capacity with 54,000 seats, and amongst those of Europe’s top-tier clubs, the Maradona is considered structurally and functionally obsolete. The athletics track – a prehistoric relic from the golden age of the infamous ‘polisportiva’ urban planning concept – places the stands a considerable distance from the pitch. The view, particularly from the lower tier and the curved stands, is among the worst in the whole of Europe. Even worse than the view is the lack of commercial revenue.

The stadium is owned by the local council; it has few SkyBoxes and few corporate hospitality areas, limited catering facilities and no museum or shop – open at all times – within the ground, all of which are elements that enable clubs to diversify their revenue streams. Three years ago, Mayor Manfredi floated the idea of a Napoli museum inside the stadium for 2026, the year of the club’s centenary. 2026 has arrived and is almost over; the Champions League is about to begin, yet there is no sign of the museum. The same City Council is proposing a plan for a major refurbishment of the stadium, centred on bringing the pitch closer to the stands and removing the athletics track – as was done 20 years ago for the Stadio delle Alpi in Turin, now the Allianz Stadium. However, Aurelio De Laurentiis, owner of the Neapolitan club, argues—and he has a point—that the ground is too old to be renovated profitably and would prefer to build a new, ultra-modern, club-owned stadium in another part of the city. However, if it took 10 years in efficient, dynamic Milan just to decide what to do with the Meazza Stadium, who knows how long it will take in the shadow of Vesuvius.