Soccer-Celebrations in the canals as Venezia set sail for Serie A

Venezia turned the ​city’s historic canals into a ​floating amphitheatre on Saturday ‌as the ​club celebrated their promotion to Serie A with a traditional gondola parade awash in ‌green, black and orange. The Serie B champions secured promotion to Italy’s top flight with a game to spare after a 2-2 draw at Spezia ‌on May 1, before sealing the title on Friday with ‌a 2-0 home win over Palermo. The result confirmed an immediate return to Serie A after a one-season absence.

Players and staff travelled through the canals aboard a ⁠lead ​gondola, flanked by ⁠a flotilla of supporters crowding rowing boats and private vessels, waving flags and setting ⁠off smoke flares. Against the backdrop of the copper-domed Church of San Simeon ​Piccolo, the water was barely visible beneath the mass of boats, ⁠as fans draped in the club’s tricolour packed the canals and residents looked ⁠on ​from balconies of the surrounding palazzi.

The celebrations culminated at Piazza San Marco, where the squad presented the Serie B trophy to ⁠a capacity crowd in front of the Doge’s Palace, with festivities expected ⁠to continue ⁠late into the night. Venezia finished the campaign one point ahead of Frosinone, who also secured promotion to ‌Serie A. (Writing ‌by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing ​by Pritha Sarkar)