Stadio Francesco Baracca
Via Francesco Baracca 19
30173 Venezia,
Venice
Italy
Ground Number: 1532
Sunday 22nd March 2026
AC Mestre 0-1 ACD Campodarsego
Serie D (Girone C)
AC MESTRE - A BRIEF HISTORY
Associazione Calcio Mestre was founded in 1927 as Unione Sportiva Mestrina. The club made their first Serie C appearance in 1938, winning the league in 1946 and subsequently taking part in the 1946–47 Serie B season, their sole season in the top two tiers. The following seasons saw them alternate between the third and fourth tiers. In 1980, the club was renamed to Associazione Calcio Mestre and played in the Serie C1 and Serie C2 leagues on a regular basis.
In 1987, the club was acquired by Maurizio Zamparini, who had already bought Venezia, in order to merge the two clubs together under the name Venezia-Mestre Calcio and a choice of team colours that combined Mestre's orange and black with Venezia's black and green. In 1989, following the club's change of name to Venezia 1907 (thus excluding any past reference to Mestre altogether) and the club's decision to move out of the Mestre-based Stadio Francesco Baracca in 1991, attempts were made to refound the original Mestre club, with Eccellenza club Malcontenta moving to the Venice suburb and changing its name to Malcontenta-Mestrina and finally back to AC Mestre.
MY VISIT
Due to rubbish flight times, I had to get creative if I wanted to make the most of my weekend in Europe. That involved some very early starts on all three days. Flying into Salzburg, morning coach, Ljubljana, another morning coach and Venice. I had been to one game in Italy at Lazio, my first foreign trip back in 2023. However, I'd not really thought about going back, although I wanted to visit San Marino and the Alps. As lovely as Venice looked, I'd not really thought about it until I searched for the nearest airports to Slovenia. Venice came up trumps, both flights out on Monday and the coach in on Sunday were both well priced and well timed. With such a beautiful city, the only thing that I needed was a game. AC Mestre was perfect, and I found a well-priced hotel for Colin and me, which was around fifteen minutes from the ground on the bus.
We were going back from the Olympija Ljubljana game, hoping to get a bus back to the centre. We waited with a load of other fans at the bus stop, but one never turned up. In the end, one by one, we went our separate ways. The 35-minute walk back to our room was not so bad. The next-door bar was still quite noisy when we got back, so I got the first blog from yesterday up. It was quiet enough to sleep for four hours until Colin's alarm woke us up an hour early. I pottered around for 90 minutes before leaving at 6.30. It was an easy 15-minute walk to the bus station where our transport was waiting for us. Rather than a coach, it was two small minibuses which prompted Colin to preach his often-mentioned narrative that Harold Wood-based hopper Richard should get a minibus so he can give lifts to more people. I very much doubt that Colin would be chipping in for such a substantial purchase. I was looking at all of the main tourist attractions, which seemed out of reach of the public transport network. The transport tickets were also very expensive, €12 for a 75-minute ticket or €35 for a day ticket. Time was limited, too, so I researched the nearest landmark that would get me a canal walk. Before that, though, I went to a souvenir shop near the terminal and got a fridge magnet for the bargain price of a euro. I picked one straight away, but Colin took a bit longer.
It was then a brief walk up to the nearest tourist spot, a church. Despite time being against me, I couldn't come to Venice and not at least see some canals. It was very pleasant, but we walked back to the bus stop and got a quick and good value €1.50 bus to our hotel. First, though, it was the Interspar for a much-needed drink. We went back to the hotel to drop our bags before heading out for food. Google Gemini recommended us Fratelli Di Buffala, located halfway between our hotel and the ground. They were recommended for their use of local ingredients, right up my street. I had Ripieno Di Scararole with olives and capers whilst Colin went for a bog standard Margherita. Mine was excellent, full of taste. Along with a Fanta orange and a side dish of freshly cooked crisps, it was €19 each. From there, a 20-minute walk to the ground. Getting in was €10, and a very nice T-shirt.
Mestre were in 4th with 47 points from 27 games. They'd only lost one in eleven but had a lot of draws in that run. In their last game, they won 2-1 at Calvi Noale. Campodarsego were in 12th, just above the relegation places. They had 33 from 27 and were on mixed form, losing 1-0 to Este last time out. It was a fairly even, defensive game. Campodarsego took the lead on 23 minutes with a scrappy goal from close range. A minute later, Mestre came close, forcing the keeper to tip the ball onto the bar, just keeping it out. From there on, though, until the break, the visitors were the better side and could have gone further ahead. Towards the end, Mestre had a real go, backed by their excellent fans who backed them all game.
THE GROUND
STADIO FRANCESCO BARACA is a delightfully ramshackle stadium with two sides out of commission. The two that remain are a seated stand along the side, which has scaffold bench seating on either side of a covered main stand with orange seats. To the left of this is an uncovered bench area, which is used more as a terrace by their ultras, who were in excellent voice. There is also a side covered terrace, which looks decent but was closed on my visit. The one remaining end has building work going on. There was a small bar with drinks and snacks but no hot food. If you want something substantial, there are plenty of places within walking distance. There is a small selection of merch available, but these are very nice and well-priced, too.
