ANCONA – Time passes, inexorably, but the hands almost seem to have crystallized, stopped last Tuesday, when the first news of the difficulty – which later rose to the level of authentic chaos – experienced by Ancona began to circulate. Yesterday was perhaps a first step towards that reckoning necessary to clarify and towards a different direction from the one that only seemed to be taken on Monday. A journey that remains long, however: because Covisoc on Monday will reject Ancona’s request for registration in the Lega Pro championship, because there is a situation to be remedied, a debt situation that weighs down – a lot – any possible movement and the search operation of new forces willing to relaunch the club’s future.
Friday 7 June did not only coincide with the setting in motion of the machine that will have to save football in Ancona. It was the day of the sense of belonging, of the pride of the red and white people, who wanted to take to the streets of the city to make his voice heard loudly. “The moment of pride”, as remarked by the Curva, which reported on a piece that “Only for us” behind which over two thousand fans gathered. Ultras, fans, but also ordinary people who were anything but regulars at the stadium but closely linked to that club, symbol of that proud Doric people who did not give in to adversity. Many, that the people of the capital have had to endure, with the fourth disaster in twenty years which, exactly as happened the first time – in 2004 – finds themselves fearing for the survival of football in the city.
We were talking about first steps. The meeting of mayor Silvetti – accompanied by councilors Eliantonio, Zinni and Berardinelli – with part of the current management, represented by Canil and the CEO Roberta Nocelli, took place on a neutral ground, in Jesi. Interlocutory meeting, because the mayor obviously wants to deal with a Tiong who has disappeared from the radar, who, despite some reassuring messages on the desire to settle the differences with the players, really seems much further away than the (many) kilometers that separate him from the Marche . The administration’s intent is clear and has already been declared: take back the brands, clearly understand the size of the “patch” to be sewn (there are the monthly payments from February to June to be honoured, comply with obligations with suppliers), guarantee the team with relative guarantees and set up a squad that lives up to its coat of arms and ambitions. All things considered, a few million.
The smoke from the lit torches envelops the center. Almost symbolic, that blanket that envelops the heart of the capital and which hides the future of a club towards which Ancona has love and participation. The attachment will not fail, and the North has already made it known that it will be alongside the Under 17 team involved in the quarter-finals of the category championship on Sunday afternoon at the “Sorrentino” stadium in Collemarino. No mergers, credit totally exhausted by the current management and the request to the municipal administration to move on quickly. The appeal to the healthy entrepreneurial forces of the city will need to be accepted, so as not to lose a 120-year heritage made up of coat of arms, but also of the youth sector, inclusion and sociality. And obviously passion. A treasure of inestimable value, at risk for the fourth time. But Ancona cannot afford to let it sink in a sea that has always represented its people.
