International Rugby returns to Goldington Road tomorrow night, with England U19 and Italy U19 going head to head, and one Italian is hoping the chants of ‘Forza Azzuri’, will be louder than the rest.
Louis Mann is the Commercial Director at the Bedford Blues and the only Italian working at the ground.
“For obvious reasons, I’m really excited to be welcoming the Azzurri to Goldington Road, even my grandfather is making an effort to come to the match, despite not being much of a rugby fan himself,” Louis told the Bedford Independent.
Louis says he’s bringing his grandfather along to soak up the atmosphere and join in supporting the boys in blue. However, with 1 in 5 Bedfordians being of Italian descent, he’s hoping there will be many more joining them.
“I think it would feel right to hear the words Forza Azzuri echoing around Goldington Road,” says Louis. “Bedford has a huge Italian community and as such we feel that we should be the home of representative Italian rugby outside of adult Six Nations fixtures”
“My loyalty will absolutely be torn… Typically I tend to support England in rugby, but hosting the Italy U19 team here will bring my allegiances into question. Being diplomatic, I’m really just hoping for an entertaining match.”
Goldington Road is no stranger to big crowds but as rugby isn’t the most popular sport within Italian communities, not many have come along to the Blues’ home fixtures. Louis hopes this international clash of rising rugby stars will change that.
“It would be incredible to have a large Italian crowd with us on Friday. Bedford has a uniquely dense population of Italians but rugby isn’t necessarily popular with this community.
“So we’d be really pleased if we could introduce new people to the sport and showcase the fantastic matchday experience at Goldington Road.”
Louis has already appealed to local Italians on the Bedford Italians Facebook group, but he won’t stop trying to get more to Goldington Road until kick-off at 7:45pm tomorrow.
“Amici miei, make sure you get yourselves down to Goldington Road on Friday night to show the boys your support,” he says.
Tickets for the match are just £10 for ground entry (£12 for stand seating) and can be purchased here.
