Anyone been to a soccer game in Rome?

[Anonymous]

Hi All looking at going to a AC Roma game with my kids Under 8 - Lots of North American sports but never a football game in Europe? Is it safe to bring?

[Anonymous]

We went to an AS Roma game last year spring break and my kids (teens) loved it. We bought tickets directly from the AS Roma website. I will note that I waited too long (incorrectly relying on the advice I found online on reddit or something) and so the regular priced seats were all sold out (although a few random ones still available on stubhub). I ended up buying VIP seats figuring that we were only going to be in Rome during soccer season that once.

FWIW, I was told that AS Roma has an association with the more lefty party, and Lazio has an association with the more right-wing party...so some people cautioned me against Lazio games as the fans tend to be a little more...problematic.

Here's what I learned:

1. It is, in fact, insanely crowded entering/exiting. We took the public bus there which actually worked well, although we were definitely jammed in with lots of fans! It was like going to a playoff nats game on the metro.

2. We had a really really hard time getting a cab home. We had the bright idea of trying to walk away from the stadium, but that's what everyone else does and the roads only go one way there and the river is kind of in the way, so we ended up in a mass of people walking forever and crossing the river. We finally called an uber but it took a long time. I think we would have done better sticking it out in the cab line by the stadium or waiting for a bus back. My kids were basically okay because they were younger teens -- I don't know that I would want to deal with that mad crush with 6 and 7 year olds.

3. I had no safety concerns. Of course, we were in the VIP section, but even so, it did not seem rough. They separate the fans from the other team and give them their own section so there are no fights. I was advised by Italian friends to avoid buying seats in the section that sits right next to the other team's section - that's where you sit if you want to sh*t-talk the other side.

4. I spent a LOT of time trying to research the food options and found it all mystifying. Because we had VIP tickets, it came with food. The tickets said something very vague, so I couldn't figure out if it was real food or what. It was real food and lots of it -- available before the game and at half-time. Pizza, pasta, antipasto, salads, arancini, easter spinach pie, lots of great stuff. And cocktails. And then desserts and espresso. It was probably not the best food in Rome, but it was actually pretty good and better than we got at some restaurants.

5. The VIP tickets had a dress code that said something like smart casual. After extensive online research, I concluded this meant no sneakers or track pants, so I made my teen son bring khakis and bought him shoes that were not sneakers. As it turned out, the vast majority of young men in the VIP section were wearing track pants and sneakers. And some of the young women also. There were a few businessmen in suits that appeared to be from other countries.

6. If you do get VIP tickets, the VIP entrance in in the back. There's a car entrance back there, so if you are taking a cab or uber, you can have them take you to the back. If you take the bus like we did, that means walking all the way around the stadium, which somewhat offsets the benefit of the dedicated VIP entrance. I also found that the gate guys in front didn't seem to know about the VIP entrance -- the first guy I asked had to call over a more senior person to tell me how to get there (and I was doing this in my duolingo level 2 Italian).

Have fun! I had us all bring dark red shirts to wear to the game -- didn't want to be in the VIP section wearing the other side's colors! I also tried to pick up a few terms of what people yell -- there are some online resources for that.