Stadio San Filippo

Stadio Comunale San Filippo

Location	Messina, Italy
Owner	Municipality of Messina
Capacity	38,722
Surface	Grass 105x70m
Construction
Broke ground	2003
Opened	August 17, 2004
Tenants
A.C.R. Messina

Stadio Comunale San Filippo is a football stadium in Messina, Italy. It is currently the home of A.C.R. Messina.

History

The stadium was initially commissioned at the start of the 1990s, but was not finished until 2004. It was officially opened on August 17, 2004 with Messina playing host to Juventus but losing (0-1, Emerson). The first official match was a week later, on August 22, Coppa Italia match Messina-Acireale (4-0). It replaced the old 11,900 seat Stadio Comunale Giovanni Celeste, which is currently the home ground of the new club of S.S.D. Città di Messina that plays in Eccellenza Sicily group B.

Structure

The total area is 114,640 sm, of which 44,300 sm reserved to car parking and 70,340 sm to a service building close to the stadium. There is no athletic track around the field, and the visibility is very good in each sector. There is a total absence of a covered seating section anywhere in the stadium, however an agreement between the team owners and the municipality aims to rectify the problem in the near future.

Trivia

The stadium name is derived from the neighborhood of Messina where it was built, but a couple of petitions hope to rename it either after the former Messina manager Franco Scoglio or the Messina native, Saint Annibale Maria di Francia.