So, not many people know that SSC Napoli was probably the first italian club to own a stadium.
In 1929 Napoli owner Giorgio Ascarelli decided to bring Napoli to the top of the table and challenge the big teams from the north. He was an extremely rich and talented businessman, and probably one of the richest persons in Europe at the time.
He signed Napoli legend Attila Sallustro, who would be our top scorer until a certain Maradona came along, Arsenal's Willy Garbutt among many others.
The team after an initial struggle managed to get 3rd and 2nd place and was seen as a serious contender for the title in the immediate future.
To further cement Napoli's status among ITaly's greats, he then decided to build ex novo a stadium for the club, completely out of his pocket. A staggering 10,000,000 lire was spent, an enormous deal for the time, and the structure rose in an extremely central position, just next to the main rail hub.
It was called "Stadio Vesuvio" because of the view.
Stadio Vesuvio during the 1934 World Cup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu6zhBzGn6w&t=1s
The new field was ready for the 1930 season, but tragedy was waiting behind the corner.
Giorgio Ascarelli suddenly and mysteriously died just a few days after the first match, at only 36 years of age.
The fascist regime promptly took hold of the new structure, as WOrld Cup 1934 was rapidly approaching.
The fans promptly renamed it "Stadio Ascarelli" to honor their first president, but the government did not approve of this, since the president was jewish, and thus chose the name "Stadio Partenopeo".
I hope you all got what I am hinting.
The Ascarelli pitch remained Italy's second largest football arena right after San Siro and on pair with Stadio Flaminio in Rome, since Olimpico was still under construction, it's unique view captivating fans and players alike and even being complimented by foreign press due to its beauty.
But tragedy was about to strike again. World War 2 broke out and the area was a main military objective due to its closeness to the railways. The place was carpet bombed by Anglo Americans and then seized by the Nazis who used to hold public executions within its walls.
Ascarelli's after 1942's bombings
War refugees then started to hide inside it and use the stuff there to build a de facto slum in it to cover their heads now that everything was lost.
Sadly, the area would only be rebuilt some 10 years after the war had ended, and there was little left of Vesuvio Stadium. Napoli was forced to move to the much smaller stadio Collana, since the new government promised they would build a new arena for SSC Napoli to make up for the fascist seizing. That new structure would eventually be finished in 1959 and called Stadio S.Paolo, now Arena Maradona.
Where VEsuvio/Ascarelli' campo once stood new condos and roads rose from the ashes of the war, and now nobody has memory of what once was there.
Some people swear that in rainy days you can happen to catch a glimpse of this gentleman walking around, smoking, with outdated clothes and a demodè hat, ever smoking a cigarette that would never put out.
Maybe it's president Ascarelli coming to check out his magnum opus, and I'm sure in his eyes it's still there, imposing and modern, with the city on the side and Mount Vesuvius towering from the sky.
by SirJ4ck