The Stadio Oreste Granillo is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium in

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...

, Italy. It is the home of

LFA Reggio Calabria Associazione Sportiva Reggina 1914, commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. They play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo and are currently playing in the Serie D league. ...

. The stadium was built in 1999 on the foundations of ''Comunale'' and holds 27,763. It is named after former Reggina president (1926–1997) who led the club to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

for the first time and became mayor of the city.

History

The stadium was first built in 1932, then known as the Stadio Michele Bianchi. Then-Reggina president Giuseppe Vilardi was behind its construction. For years it was the only stadium in the city and changed names many times, mainly known as the Comunale. Many renovations have been made on the structure, with the cover over the grandstand being built in the 60's and the Curva Nord, where Reggina fans stand today being built in the 80s'. The curva was not part of the original structure. In order to accommodate a growing number of fans, coinciding with the success achieved by Reggina, the stadium was substantially renovated. In 1997, the old structure was demolished and two years later the new Stadio Oreste Granillo was completed, completely rebuilt on the same surface where the Michele Bianchi was first constructed, almost 70 years earlier.

Location

The stadium is located in the south of the city, only 1.8 km from the nearby railway station, Reggio Calabria Centrale. Upon leaving the station (Piazza Garibaldi), travel right along via Barlaam until you reach the entrance of the Calopinace bridge. From there, travel right along via Galileo Galilei which leads directly to the Granillo. Those travelling from the

Reggio Calabria Airport Reggio di Calabria "Tito Minniti" Airport , also known as Aeroporto dello Stretto (''Airport of the Strait'') is an airport located in Reggio Calabria, in southern Italy. It serves mainly the Metropolitan City of Reggio and the Province of Messin ...

, can take advantage of the 102 bus line which, starting from the airport itself, leads straight to the station.

International matches

Two international matches of the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for fo ...

have taken place at the stadium:

References

AS Reggina 1914

Oreste ''Oreste'' ("Orestes", HWV A11, HG 48/102) is an opera by George Frideric Handel in three acts. The libretto was anonymously adapted from Giangualberto Barlocci’s ''L’Oreste'' (1723, Rome), which was in turn adapted from Euripides' ''Iphig ...

Sport in Reggio Calabria Sports venues in Calabria Stadium Oreste Granillo Sports venues completed in 1999 1999 establishments in Italy {{Italy-sports-venue-stub