Rebirth and new perspectives. Messina’s return to professional football marked a clear breaking point after troubled years of failures and many amateur championships. Having reached their third season in Serie C under the guidance of the Sciotto family, the environment is also trying to regroup around its team, dreaming of a rosy and ambitious future. In this context, the desire on the part of former general manager Lello Manfredi to bring an identifying mascot for Messina back to the stadium fits perfectly. A choice that fell on Luca and Marco Peschiera, great lovers of Messina and Messina.
The initiative is based on the precise desire to bring children and young people belonging to that age group who did not experience the years of Serie A and B back to the stadium. From these assumptions was born the idea of making a protagonist once again identifying mascot for the Strait team. Thanks to widespread promotion on social media from Facebook to Instagram via Tik Tok, Lillo 757 was born, a name that is not banal but full of meaning thanks to a close link with tradition: the union of the Madonna della Lettera, protector of Messina, with the date of the city foundation.
For three seasons now, the mascot has become a real attraction for the many children who flock to the “Franco Scoglio” to watch the matches. Between selfies and photographs, some superstitious rituals such as the salt thrown before the match near the goal lines also became memorable. A constant presence that has become a great protagonist even outside the pitch. In addition to the “institutional” events, the big news of this season is the birth of the newspaper “Il Diario dei Leoni”. Thanks to the support of various city sponsors, the brochure is distributed to fans before home games. A further initiative aimed not only at children and teenagers but also at adult fans in memory of what already happened at the time of the “Celeste” stadium. From the updated rankings to the complete match programme, it is Lillo himself who addresses the fans by introducing the match, the opponent and making a brief comment on Messina’s moment in the championship. Precisely from these initiatives we try to create an ever greater union between the team and its people in a climate that can always be positive and proactive. Appointment, then, at the “Franco Scoglio” stadium to watch the Messina matches together with Lillo 757.