Football, or soccer as they call it overseas, is experiencing a golden age in the United States. Today it is the fourth most popular national sport, behind American football, basketball and baseball.
Among young people under the age of 18, it is now the second most played sport. Moreover, some 15% of Americans declare themselves fans of a football team (it was less than 4% in the 1990s).
And the next two years will be crucial for the growth of football in America. This summer, the US will be the home of the first Club World Cup, while the following year it will be the turn of the 2026 World Cup (to be played not only in the US but also in Canada and Mexico).
A sport on the rise thanks to long and constant work, often fuelled by the passion of European emigrants and their descendants, who have never abandoned their love for football.
A family affair
One of those people is Charlie Stillitano, the new president of Spezia Calcio. Carmelo, to his birth name, has been one of the architects of the growth of football in the United States.
From the formation of the Italian American Soccer League, a league organised by the Italo-American community and set up by his father around 1972, to the management of one of the most important tournaments in the world such as the International Champions Cup, a summer competition that until the pre-covid era brought together all the best European clubs in the United States and Asia, he and his family have been important cogs.
In between, he accumulated a lot of experience in big events such as the organisation of the 1994 World Cup in the US - "a time when I learnt the business of football" - before he became General Manager of the New York/New Jersey Metro Stars, where he made player management and the business side of the sport his own.
With a first-rate CV that is now at the service of one of the most interesting clubs in the scene, Spezia.
"I feel like I'm coming home,' Stillitano says with a twinge of emotion. "I grew up in a family where football was the only thing that mattered."
A passion handed down by his father, to whom the new President has emotional memories of.
"If my father were still alive, he would be proud of me. I still remember when Italy lost the World Cup semifinal in 1990. I was at the stadium that day and at the end of the game I called home, in America, with tokens from the phone box.
"My mother answered and said 'Are you ok?' I couldn't speak and she put my father on the phone. We both couldn't speak. We were just crying."
Today, for Stillitano, football is a job.
"A job, but not in a negative sense. For me it's still football, the one that made me cry. In '94 I started this adventure and my father was no longer there. An adventure that went beyond being a fan. Today he would be happy to see me here".
Pele and the jersey given away
In the 1970s, when football in the United States was taking its first steps, Stillitano had an encounter he would never forget. After an exhibition match between Santos and Lazio, the legendary Pele wanted to give him his jersey, but Charlie decisively refused: "I don't want it, he broke my heart," he said that day, recalling Italy's defeat at the hands of Brazil in the 1970 World Cup.
Years later, destiny still wanted him at Pele's side as a friend. Stillitano rewound the thread of memories right in front of the 'Myth' during lunch.
"You are the only one who ever refused my jersey," Pele said, smiling.
"But you wouldn't have respected that child if he was false," was the reply.
A lesson in consistency and a true love of football. Days later, Pele, without saying anything, delivered him a frame with his autographed Brazilian national team jersey inside.
Working alongside ownership
Anecdotes and memories that make Stillitano's presence in Italian football and in Serie B even more special. The Spezia ownership, led by Thomas S. Roberts, decided towards the end of April to take over the club from the Australian Paul Francis.
A decision that came thanks to 'Charlie's many years of international experience in the world of football.'
"Tom is someone I trust. When the financial problems came up I called him to get him involved. I told him 'There are really reliable people here. The coach is doing a great job with the team, and the club is not spending so much'.
"So Tom, like me, saw it as a great opportunity. The club is really well managed. They have done a great job both football-wise and financially," says the new president.
"All we want to do is help. We don't want to create confusion or stir things up. We just want to make sure that we help stabilise the club".
Stillitano and his football expertise
The Ligurian club, therefore, seems to be in good hands, all this while the team continues its march towards the Serie B playoffs. Spezia are having a good season and will finish the regular season among the top four, which will allow them to play directly in the semifinals, skipping the first round of the play-offs.
"Our project will only work if we manage to get into Serie A. But we are in no hurry. If we don't get there this year, it's not the end of the world.
"We didn't plan to get to the top flight straight away. But of course our goal is to achieve promotion, if not this year, then next year or the year after, and then stabilise."
Roberts' decision to invest in Italian football was dictated not only by his passion for football, but also by the certainty of being able to count on the experience and contacts of a manager like Stillitano.
"Tom was very clear when he agreed to throw himself into this adventure. He told me 'I don't need you for the money. I don't need you for the actual operational management, but I do need you for your football expertise. I don't know Italian football and I need someone like you.'
"That's why I accepted. To myself I thought 'It would really be a waste. All the contacts I've built, all the relationships I've created.' I think I can really help Tom, and I think I can also help the club and the community. I have already contacted many people, but I don't want to say who yet,' he adds with a half smile.
Best wishes from Mendes, Ferguson and Rummenigge
And among the big names in world football who have congratulated Stillitano on his new role, in addition Del Piero, Pirlo and Maldini, are icons such as the very powerful prosecutor Jorge Mendes, Real Madrid CEO José Ángel Sánchez and people of the calibre of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Sir Alex Ferguson.
"I was certainly moved by the messages from Sanchez and Ferguson," Stillitano continues.
Stillitano certainly doesn't hide his ambition.
"Yes, you can dream big, but keep your feet on the ground. The coach, the players and the club structure are very solid. I think that if we look at everything through Tom's eyes as an investor, there are many opportunities on the business side. But first of all, what we dream of is to become a stable Serie A team."
Objective Atalanta
"The long-term goal is to become a stable Serie A team, like Udinese, Torino or Verona, but the ultimate dream is to be like Atalanta," Stillitano reveals.
"They will certainly work on the commercial side, exploiting the beauty of the area (Cinque Terre) to attract tourism and grow the brand internationally. But we must focus on one thing first: football, football, football. Because if you don't win, nobody likes you.
For Stillitano, who has always been used to moving between passions and international projects, Spezia can become much more than just a stage.
"It is curious," he smiles in conclusion. "I was born into a family of Calabrian origins, from Gioia Tauro, the largest port in the Mediterranean. I grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the main port hub of the American Northeast. And now here I am, in another seaside town.
"A new voyage, to another port city: one of those places from which one departs, returns, but above all builds."