US Lecce – Football in Salento

Salento is not only music, traditions and the sea, but for years it has also been synonymous with football. Indeed, great football, as its most representative team, the Unione Sportiva Lecce, currently plays in the top Italian championship: Serie A. Here, despite a thousand difficulties and in the presence of rich and renowned teams such as Juventus, Inter, Milan, carries on the colors of Puglia.

Although the economic resources are in no way comparable with those of the other teams, the “poor” Lecce has been able to build a prudent and sustainable organizational model, focused on the valorisation of young people (even winning the title of Italian Primavera Champions!) and above all oriented to the future. In this way, at the moment, Lecce has managed to reconcile excellent football results and the sustainability of the project in a world, that of modern football, now in the hands almost exclusively of international funds and sheikhs. A model, the Salento one, which today is studied by many and envied by many.

But all this was also possible thanks to the passion of its many fans. Salento, in fact, is a land of football passion and Lecce is more than just a football team: it is a point of reference for the entire community. Every match is a moment of joy and unity, which unites the hearts of the Salento people in a single voice of support. The streets are colored red and yellow, the colors of the team, the squares are filled with fans ready to support their favorites. But the love for Lecce doesn’t stop at the stadium doors. You can breathe it in the air, you can hear it in bar conversations and in people’s stories (and this article is an example of this).
The team is a sort of social glue, capable of uniting people from different social backgrounds and cultural backgrounds in front of the green rectangle. In Salento and away, where Lecce is always followed by thousands of fans, emigrants, students and workers from all parts of Italy.
And it’s not just football that cements these relationships: Lecce is an integral part of Salento’s identity, a symbol of pride and belonging. And this is also clearly perceived by the thousands of tourists who usually invade Salento and, equally involved, run to Leccestore to buy a Lecce t-shirt. Nowadays tourists no longer come just for holidays and the sea, but they also come to see Lecce play and to experience the football air that you can breathe in these parts.

It fills the heart to see tourists traveling around Salento with the Lecce shirt worn by the french world champion Umtiti or that of the sweden Almqvist. When you come on holiday to Corte Manfredi, in Salento, you too can try to experience this atmosphere, at the Via del Mare Stadium (almost always sold out) or around the cities: a real show not to be missed!
Obviously, there are not only victories but also many defeats which, however, are faced by the people of Salento with dignity and confidence in the future. But beyond the results on the field, the Unione Sportiva Lecce represents something deeper: it was an emotional bond that unites people and makes them an integral part of something bigger than themselves: Salento.
Because we are Salento even if… it won’t win! (cit. Ultrà Lecce)