Como Club Gives VIP Champions League Seats to Senior Fans

Mirwan Suwarso leads Como as president while he and fellow club directors surrender their own tickets so lifelong supporters born in 1950 or earlier claim the Champions League seats for the historic debut against Leipzig. The group wants those who backed the side across every hard season to stand in the stands first and feel the full thrill of this night.

Como fans have waited generations for this moment. The club finally reaches the group stage, and the entire city buzzes with pride. Suwarso stood before supporters last week and made the call plain. He gives his personal place away without hesitation. Directors follow the same path. They hand over every reserved chair so the oldest faithful can claim them.

One local supporter named Paolo Rossi turned 76 this spring. He has watched matches from the same corner of the ground since he was a boy. “I never thought I would see this,” he said after hearing the news. “The president gives us the chance to be there when the anthem plays.” Rossi plans to bring his worn scarf from the 1970s.

The match against Leipzig marks the first time Como steps onto the European stage at this level. Kickoff sits on the calendar for mid-September at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia right by the lake. Organisers expect more than twenty thousand people inside. Many will arrive early just to soak in the floodlights and the smell of fresh pitch.

Why does Como hand Champions League seats to fans born before 1950?

The club chooses this path because those supporters carried the team through every lean year and now deserve the first look at the biggest night in club history.

Suwarso told the gathering he wants the faces that have stayed true for seventy years or more to fill the best views. “These people saw us in Serie C, and they stayed,” he said during his talk to the crowd.

“They watched empty stands and they kept buying tickets. Now the Champions League seats belong to them first.” Directors nodded besides him. One board member added that the decision came after quiet talks in the boardroom last month. No one objected.

Fans born in 1950 or earlier will receive priority codes by post and email this week. They must show proof of age and a membership record that stretches back at least three decades. Club staff will check the lists by hand. Spaces remain limited. Only a few hundred such tickets exist in the prime sections.

Younger members will still fill the rest of the ground. The atmosphere will mix old stories with new energy. Children will hear tales from grandparents about the days when Como played in front of a few hundred souls.

How will the oldest supporters experience the UCL debut night?

They will walk through the same gates they first entered as teenagers and settle into the seats the president and directors left empty for them.

Many already talk about the small details. Maria Bianchi, born in 1948, plans to wear the same coat she bought for a cup match in 1965. “I will stand when the players run out,” she said. “My legs still work for that.”

Another lifelong follower named Luigi Conti recalled the mud pitches of the 1950s. He gives quiet thanks every time he speaks of the gesture. “The club remembers us,” Conti said. “That means more than any trophy.”

The decision spreads goodwill far beyond the lake town. Local cafes already display photos of past teams next to the new Champions League crest. Shop owners report extra scarf sales this week. Train links from Milan fill faster than usual.

Suwarso keeps the focus simple. He walks the training ground each morning and talks with staff about matchday logistics. Security teams prepare extra help for older visitors. Free shuttle buses will run from central Como to the stadium gates. Volunteers will guide people to their places and stay nearby if anyone needs a hand.

The night itself will open with the usual formalities. Players will warm up under bright lights. The home end will roar first. Leipzig arrives as a strong side with recent European experience, yet the home crowd will care little about form tables. They will care about the moment the whistle blows and the first European attack begins.

After the final whistle the oldest fans will leave with stories they can tell for the rest of their lives. Some will keep their ticket stubs in drawers next to faded match programmes. Others will simply sit by the lake the next morning and smile at the memory.

Como keeps the rest of the campaign open. More home nights wait. More chances for the same group to return. The club has already promised that any leftover premium seats in later rounds will again go first to the same age group.