UDINESE
Mid-Season Match, Dacia Arena, Saturday 10 December 2022, 2pm CST
West Ham United continue preparations for the restart of the 2022/23 domestic and European season with a trip to northern Italy on Saturday.
The Hammers make a first-ever visit to the city of Udine in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, which is situated between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps in the far north-east of the country, near to the border with Slovenia.
Udinese Calcio were formed in 1896 and play at the 25,000-capacity Dacia Arena. Owned by the Pozzo family, who also own Watford, Udinese are currently competing in their 50th season in Serie A.
We have been allocated 1,300 tickets, priced at €15 each. To purchase, click here and select CURVA OSPITI (Guest Section).
David Moyes will be without his five FIFA World Cup representatives but will give his other senior players important match minutes ahead of the return of Premier League football at Arsenal on Boxing Day.
The Irons returned to training on 30 November and to the pitch on Tuesday evening, when goals from Jarrod Bowen and Saïd Benrahma helped the Londoners to a 4-2 win at EFL League One side Cambridge United in Greg Taylor’s Testimonial match.
Saturday’s game will see Moyes’ men take on an Udinese team which has made an encouraging start to the Serie A campaign, losing just three of 15 matches to go into the mid-season break in eighth place on 24 points.
How to get there…
Udine does not have its own international airport, so you will need to fly via either Venice or Trieste.
You can fly from London Stansted to Venice Marco Polo on Friday afternoon with Ryanair at either 12.50pm or 3.25pm, then back via the same route late on Saturday evening at 10.25pm. From Venice Marco Polo, it is around 75 minutes’ drive by taxi or hire care, or two-and-a-half hours by bus.
Trieste is much closer to Udine, and you can fly from Stansted on Friday with Ryanair at 5.30pm. From Trieste, it is around 40 minutes’ drive to Udine. The return flight leaves Trieste for Stansted at 9.35pm.
The Dacia Arena is on the north-western outskirts of Udine, around four miles from the city centre. You can take a taxi, or busses 2 and 9 run from the centre to the stadium.
Where to stay…
As a city of over 100,000 inhabitants and an historic settlement with plenty of interesting historic buildings to view, Udine has enough accommodation options to cater for the travelling Claret and Blue Army.
For convenience, stay in or near the historic old town, which features a number of impressive and attractive Renaissance buildings, churches, squares and a castle, as well as restaurants and bars.
What to do…
As mentioned in the previous section, Udine is an historic city with buildings dating back hundreds of years.
Crowned by the lofty Udine Castle, the city is celebrated for its architectural beauty, with highlights including Gothic Loggia del Lionello, baroque Udine Cathedral, and the grand Piazza della Libertà.
What’s happened there before…
Despite both hailing from countries steeped in football history and achievement, West Ham United and Udinese have never met previously.
Indeed, the Hammers have not been regular visitors to Italy down the years, not making their first visit until September 1975, when the FA Cup holders were beaten 0-1 by Fiorentina in the Anglo-Italian Cup final first leg. Fiorentina won the second leg by the same scoreline at the Boleyn Ground three months later.
The Irons returned to Italy in the same competition – albeit in a different format – in the 1992/93 season, when Billy Bonds’ side took on Serie B opponents Cremonese (0-2) and Cosenza (1-0) in Italy, and Reggiana (2-0) and Pisa (0-0) in east London.
Our most recent visit to Italy was in late September 2006, when Palermo proved too strong in the UEFA Cup first round, winning a second-leg tie 3-0 in Sicily to complete a 4-0 aggregate victory.
