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Stadio Friuli first opened in 1976 with a capacity of 41,652 where it replaced the club’s former home Stadio Moretti which was beginning to show its age having first opened in 1920. Publicly funded, the ground was designed to be multi-purpose and thus an athletics track was installed around the perimeter of the pitch as well as an indoor gym and sports halls. Constructed at a time when the club was languishing in Serie C, the project spearheaded by the Mayor of Udine, Candolini Angelo, was undoubtedly a success and ultimately served as a springboard to the club establishing itself as a permanent fixture in Serie A less than 20 years later. Inspired by the Olympiastadion in Munich and Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, the design by Lorenzo Moore was regarded as cutting edge for its day. At the time it was one of the most modern grounds in Italy and Subsequently it was nominated as one of the host stadiums of the 1990 World Cup. Nevertheless it underwent over 5 billion lire worth of refurbishment although the structure of the stands didn’t change. Designated as the main ground of Group E, it three matches in total featuring two games of Uruguay, Spain and South Korea. During the 2005/2006 season when Udinese qualified against all odds for the Champions League UEFA Stadium regulations required that the two curvas be fitted with plastic seating, as they deemed the bare concrete steps to be unsafe. This allowed Udinese to play in the group stages were they drew the likes of Barcelona, Werder Bremen and Panathinaikos. Currently Stadio Friuli is undergoing an estimated €40 million worth of renovation work to transform it into a modern all-seater stadium in line with other grounds across Europe. With the exception of the iconic curved main stand, the remaining three stands are being demolished and completely rebuilt which will result in a fully covered arena capable of seating 25,000 fans.

DRIVING Sitting just of the A-23 motorway which is connected to Austria, driving there is a viable option from certain parts of Europe, as well as from those travelling from the rest of Italy with the main southerly motorway section going past the city of Venice. The address is as follows: Piazzale Repubblica Argentina, 3, 33100, Province of Udine, Italy. Car Parks There is ample on-site parking around Stadio Friuli but unfortunately I’m not sure of the cost. It’s probably a few euros max so make sure you bring some change. TRAIN The main train station in Udinese is the Stazione Di Udine which is towards the Southern part of the main city centre marked by the Viale Europa Unita road section of road. Unfortunately there are no direct trains to Stadium Friuli meaning you will either have to walk (one hour), get a taxi (15 minutes) or get the bus (see below). BUS Buses depart from outside Udine Stazione on Viale Europa Unita every 15-20 minutes on matchdays, with numbers 2 or 9 taking you no more than a 10 minutes walk away from the stadium. The journey once you are on the bus is usually anywhere between 20 – 30 minutes. AIRPORTS Unfortunately there are no airports in Udine which leaves you with three options: Fly to Venice Marco Polo Airport which takes just over an hour to get to Udine. Fly to Venice’s second airport called Treviso which is slightly further away. And the final and closest option is to fly to the Trieste Airport, which is just 30 minutes away. There’s not really a single flight or airport which will be cheaper so it’s worth comparing all the prices.