While Como now attract thousands to their games, those who followed the club when crowds were in the hundreds remain.

"I had an uncle who supported Como," said Marco Melillo, an out-of-town fan.

"He showed me the sticker collection, I saw the blue shirt and the blue colours and totally went crazy about it.

"I know in England a lot of people support teams in lower leagues, but that is not so true in Italy, where people support bigger teams. I do not like that that much. I was not really interested in supporting a team that was winning something. I liked the colours. I liked the stadium and when I came here and saw the lake, it was 'wow'.

"We know the club is in the best situation ever in its history but when I see the faces of the guys and ladies that were also here in Serie D, we just see in our eyes and say, 'OK, we hope that this story will go on as long as possible, as best as possible, but if it maybe abruptly ended, because in the past we had also some bad things, we know we will be there'."

Federico Borghi is a local, and despite the weather, came with his huge Como 1907-2007 history book.

"In 2008, I had just started to go to the stadium to attend games," he said. "Not even in our best dreams could we think of playing Manchester United. I get chills even thinking about it.

"As soon as I entered the stadium for the first time I realised this was going to be my faith. I was there in the bad times and that has strengthened my faith and my relationship with the club.

"The Premier League is my inspiration and to face one of the top three or four biggest clubs in the world, it's a big honour."