Cremonese

The Stadio Giovanni Zini is the compact and historic home of US Cremonese, located at Via Persico 19 in Cremona, Lombardy. The stadium holds 16,003 spectators and has been in use since 1929, making it one of the older professional football grounds in Italy still in continuous use. Named after Giovanni Zini, a local footballer who died during the First World War, the ground occupies a site in the eastern residential area of Cremona and has a traditional Italian stadium character, with covered main and side stands and an open terrace behind one of the goals. The intimacy of the ground and its proximity to the pitch create an atmosphere that enhances the matchday experience for supporters.

Cremona is a city internationally celebrated for its violin-making tradition, home of the Stradivari and Guarneri workshops that produced instruments now valued in the millions. US Cremonese have spent much of their history in Serie B and Serie C, but have made brief appearances in Serie A on several occasions, most recently in 2022-23 - their first top-flight season in 26 years. The club produced or hosted notable talents including former Italy international Massimo Ambrosini in their youth academy. The Zini hosted Serie A fixtures during this campaign, with visiting clubs from across northern Italy discovering a charming, old-fashioned provincial ground.

The Stadio Zini has been progressively maintained and partially upgraded to meet professional football requirements, but retains much of its original character. The main stand, with its traditional single-tier covered seating, and the steep Curva Nord terrace create the atmosphere of an authentic Italian football ground from an earlier era. Cremonese's history includes a remarkable period in the 1980s and 1990s when the club achieved back-to-back promotions to reach Serie A and compete with Italy's top sides. The city's deep cultural identity - its music, its gastronomy of mostarda and torrone - gives Cremonese FC a proud local context that has sustained the club through its inevitable financial and sporting constraints.