Team: Lecce
Capacity: 36,300
Built: 1966
City: Lecce
Originally built in 1966 with a capacity of 16,000, the Via del Mare replaced the old Stadio Carlo Pranzo. Ten years after opening the capacity was increased to 20,500 and when the club reached their historical milestone of gaining promotion to Serie A for the first time in 1985 the stadium was almost completely redeveloped. This vastly increased the capacity temporarily up to 55,000. Since then the Curva Nord and Curva Sud terraces, where the Ultras Lecce and the Gioventu were based in the stadium, have been replaced by seating reducing the capacity to 40,067, due to a decree by the Ministry of the Interior that dictates all seating must be numbered at sporting events; the number of spectators is thus strictly controlled.
The almost total redevelopment meant that Lecce's ground was one of few in Italy at the time (another being the Stadio Friuli) that was fit to host matches at the 1990 World cup, yet the stadium allocated for the Puglia region at Italia '90 went to the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, sparking some controversy. It must be noted though that San Nicola is an equally impressive stadium that had been purpose built for the 1990 World Cup
Even back in Serie A their biggest attendance last season was 15,000 against Milan and they averaged under 10,000 for the rest of the season. The Ultra groups Ultrà Lecce, and Gioventù create a fair amount of noise but this season there is hope that their second consecutive year in Serie A will bring back the fans.
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