Sportweek, the Hartonos’ Como told by Zambrotta: stars, investments and territory

The difference with C? “The people you see in the stands. Before, the celebrity was the neighborhood butcher. Now, a few meters above me, there are Hollywood stars. Lady Gaga is missing, the rest have passed through here. Even the society hostesses look like actresses.” It’s the sign of the times. The sign of the Hartonos, who seven years ago took Como from the Sardinians Nicastro and Felleca (“You will see that this time you have ended up in good hands, the old owners told us to reassure us”), transforming it into a small football power and a formidable commercial and marketing vehicle. Therefore, you will forgive the average fan, the one who is a little older, in short Mr. Marco of the Matt da Villa club in Albavilla, a small village twenty minutes from the capital, one who like so many others has gone from derbies with Scanzorosciate and Tritium to those with Inter and Milan, you will forgive him, we were saying, if he shifts his gaze from the pitch to the stands, from Nico Paz and Baturina to the VIPs who crowd the Sinigaglia today. You will forgive him and you will understand if his attention is captured not only by Nico Paz’s plays, but also by the parade of illustrious guests who cross the ocean to enjoy the beauty of Como and the Como area. Because here lies the secret of the Hartono family’s investment, and relative success: relaunching not only the football club, but an entire city. This is confirmed by an excellent Como native like Gianluca Zambrotta, who returned to live here after leaving here at the age of 18 to begin his (winning) journey in great football, between Juve, Barcelona and Milan. “After my career in the youth team, I made my debut in ’94 and stayed until ’97. I was immediately relegated from Serie B, but also won the Italian Cup in Serie C. With me there were people like Galia, De Ascentis, Vignaroli. They were three intense and formative years.”

football and beyond

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“The new Indonesian ownership has intelligently inserted itself into our reality”, explains Zambrotta, sitting at the outdoor table of a bar in a historic center that is full of tourists and young people under a beautiful spring sun, making the air of a city even more lively which, you can perceive by sight, is alive and aware of being so. “They have not remained a body separated from the social fabric, but they have tried to understand, study, know. The result is that the Hartonos are involving as many companies as possible in their project, they offer work to people and they are also very committed to charity. In short, they are investing in the territory in not only economic terms. They have put down roots”, also favored by the certain attractiveness that Como and its lake represent: “In the last five or six years, or even ten, this has become a truly tourist city”, adds Zambrotta. “From Easter until October it is filled with foreigners, while in the past it was a city closed in on itself, sectorial, which was affected by its proximity to Switzerland. Today many luxury chains are investing in a center of just over 80 thousand inhabitants, as demonstrated by the number of 5-star hotels that have opened in the area. Foreign entrepreneurs such as the Hartonos and Hollywood stars are therefore welcome at the stadium, if this means making the city and its lake known and talked about.”

silent change

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It is a thought also shared by the common fan: “The Hartonos have changed the concept of playing football in Como”, says Alessandro Giummo, president of the Heavyweights club. “They didn’t show up, as others did, with bombastic promises like that of the new stadium, something we’ve been hearing since ’72. They arrived in silence and immediately understood who they were dealing with.” With the people of Como, precisely, “who consider Como the most beautiful city in the world and themselves the most intelligent of all. We are closed and distrustful, but also opinionated. Therefore, also mindful of the failures of 2004 and 2017, of adventures that began badly and ended worse like that of Essien’s wife, the former Chelsea and Milan player, we welcomed them with suspicion. And what do they do? They immediately donate thousands of euros to the Sant’Anna hospital, in during the Covid period. Then they thought about marketing, which didn’t exist. They involved people by convincing them to sell the team’s shirts with a reasoning like this: I, the company, produce the Como-branded shirts and everything else. The costs are entirely at my expense; you – the bartender, the shopkeeper – keep 20% of the profit from the sale.

space team

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It is clear that the core business of the Hartono project concerns the stadium which, in the event of qualification for the Champions League, will be subjected to a robust renovation especially in the sector of the West Curve, that of the ultras, which will practically have to be rebuilt by eliminating the iron and concrete tubulars. The press gallery will then need to be expanded and a hundred parking spaces will be found outside for VIPs. “The Como elite do not look favorably on the stadium in front of the lake and in the centre, it is a battle they have always been carrying on”, reveals Leonardo Palmisano, president of the Passione Azzurra club. “But it is clear that the stadium must perform from a commercial point of view, it is a crucial point in the medium and long-term project of the property. Otherwise, I fear that the Hartonos may get tired.” “But their business is on the lake, on the villas, on the Como brand understood as a city, not on football”, replies Giummo. “They sell entertainment, they sell television rights in Japan, and if Como wins without playing well, the Japanese don’t like it. That’s why they put Fabregas on the bench. For his game ideas. And they don’t speculate on the fans: those of us, around a thousand, who were there in 2019 in Serie C, today pay the season ticket at the same price as then, but the plan is to let us enter the stadium for free.” Thus it is easier for real fans to tolerate the proximity of ‘occasionals’, tourists who also include the Como match in their ‘holiday on the lake’ package. Also because it’s a nice sight.

Freedom and personality

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“Como is doing well also because the owners didn’t rush Fabregas,” continues Zambrotta. “He never forced them to win. Instead he gave them time to grow, and he does the same with the players. The team has an average age just over 22, the youngsters are put in a position to play without pressure. Is it a model that can be replicated in the big clubs? Surely, playing, and possibly being booed, at San Siro, is not like doing it at Sinigaglia. But the Como youngsters all have personalities. Paz would also be Paz at Inter or Milan.” It’s not just that, of course. “Como has a sporting director in Carlalberto Ludi and a very young CEO in Francesco Terrazzani. In short, it has people who know how to do their job well, as demonstrated by the investments in the transfer market, where 200 million were spent in two years of Serie A, but to buy many players who will be able to resell at a price 3 or 4 times higher than the one paid. Who makes my eyes shine? Da Cunha. That’s what makes the difference today. Fabregas has found the place for him right in front of the defense.” But is Como equipped to win? If not today, in the near future? “Let’s say that he is already equipped to annoy the big teams, as the results demonstrate,” replies Zambrotta. “Ah, I bet 30 euros on the scudetto”, replies Marco. “If I win, I’ll get 1,200.” And the fans’ favorite player? Nico Paz is up there, but Baturina gains positions. “But our idols remain the Borgonovo, the Simone”, concludes Gabriella Rastelli, head of the Matt da Villa. “They are the boys from the youth team, the ones who grew up in the club. The ones who made us dream when the Sinigaglia grass was yellow and not a beautiful green like now. The Champions League? I dream of trips to London and Barcelona, ​​but what if you get a beating on the pitch? Maybe it’s better to start from the Europa League.”