It’s called “Blucelesti, history of Calcio Lecco from its origins to the return of Serie B” and it is the revised and corrected version of a book that every Blucelesti fan should have on their bedside table before falling asleep.
Edited by Federico Pistone and Alberto Ricci, with the statistics edited by Lanfredo Birelli, it is a book published by Correlazioni and Tam Edizioni (publishing company that bears the name of the famous Bluceleste footballer) for the Colombo di Valmadrera graphic publishing types which takes up the first two editions of this “historic” volume and which truly traces the history of Lecco since the supporting members of the Canottieri decided to give space to this new sport, “futbol”, in 1912, and give it an associative dignity. Since then, a lot of water has passed under the bridge, but the fundamental difference between this and the other volumes also edited by Pistone and Ricci is that no one would have ever expected to return to Serie B. This was the “excuse” for review the book and enrich it further and make the volume even more irreplaceable for a Bluceleste Doc fan.
«Seventeen years after the second edition – explained Federico Pistone -, we are coming out with the third edition. The first had on the cover the photo of the Serie A scorer, the “Gringo” Clerici, opposed by Facchetti, in the second there was a blue-and-blue banner, and instead in the third, the photo of this edition is by the photographer Sandro Menegazzo: it is that of the celebrations after Lecco-Foggia”.
Where is this book located? For now it can be found at the official Bluceleste Legea merchandising store in Viale Turati but the plan is to also distribute it via Amazon for a cost of 35 euros, not much for a volume of more than 310 pages in coated paper, collector’s format 25 by 22 height.
A book out of the ordinary in every sense and one hundred percent bluceleste. «The part I like the most is the historical part of the golden years of Serie A with the unique photos, recovered almost house by house by the old players, by their families, because unfortunately at Lecco everything of the his past. We also went to the library where the photos were soaking in water. Some were so wet that even when drying them they turned yellow. The 60s are the most evocative and beautiful period to talk about.”
The courage to release the book when relegation is now certain is a lot: «We expected there to be an improvement after the good first round instead of the thud that then followed, but it is a sign of hope for the future». Pistone concludes: «The season was disastrous from a sporting point of view but from a color point of view it was reborn. And for me Di Nunno, beyond everything, has given us back a category and the hope of matches like today’s in Parma…”.
