Naples (including football) - Easter or end of May?

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I would very much appreciate the help of wiser and better travelled Mumsnetters in booking a city break I have rashly offered!!

DS is a massive football fan (14) and, after I had a weekend away with each of his older sibs in the past couple of years, I offered to take him somewhere too. He has opted for Naples, ideally to include a match, which is fine by me as I love Italy and football too. I said we would do it this season, but we are now running out of home games where we can travel home without him missing school, so options are either Easter (match on the Monday) or the second bank holiday in May.

I have been trying to look into options for Easter and have disappeared down various rabbit holes, so though I would see if anyone can help. A few considerations are below:

1. I think we will need to fly on Easter Sunday, which will be fine and transport seems to be running from the airport. I am conscious that we should probably book somewhere for dinner but can envisage that many places will be closed after busy lunch times. Can anyone advise?
2. Where to stay?! We will either need to be somewhere on metro line 2, I think (not near the station), or near the stadium. It's an 8.45 kickoff on Easter Monday so I am slightly nervous about getting back to accommodation at that time of night. Any suggestions?
3. It looks as if transport will be running to the stadium on Easter Monday but if we do stay near there, will it be a pain getting into Naples in the day for some sightseeing? I am presuming it will be ok as it's a popular time to stay but it's another consideration.
4. Is Easter just way too much hassle and should we just go for the last match of the season instead, during the May bank holiday. I am slightly nervous of doing this as DS's older sibs have A Levels/GCSEs and I rather feel I should be around. Having said that, DH will be there and they will probably appreciate the peace and quiet! The Easter Monday match is against AC Milan though, so a bigger draw (although tickets cheaper in May!!).

If anyone can offer any insight, I would be hugely grateful. I have found lots of information both here and elsewhere about Naples, Easter and football, but not one that combines all three. I am also conscious that I don't know Naples. I lived in Italy for a few years when younger and speak Italian, so am reasonably confident, but am conscious that it's a bit of a one-off and not your typical Italian city (part of the reason I'm so keen to go!).

Many thanks!

Did you live in Northern or Southern Italy? Literally like different countries IME!

Naples is an amazing city but it does have a dark underside. The football fans and ground are a bit notorious for loving a bit of 'trouble'.
When I lived there the team was languishing in C so maybe now they are leading A it might have been cleaned up a bit.

Easter is (obviously) massive in Italy. Things likely to be closed or busy for sure. I would opt for May if possible (but also have a GCSE-r so do understand!).

I went to Naples Easter 2023, public transport literally stopped running for about 5 hours roughly 1-6pm in the afternoon on Easter Sunday. I had booked Vesuvius tickets for morning of Easter Sunday, and it was a mad rush to get last train back to Naples to avoid being stuck in Pompeii for 5 hours. No transport issues other days. We went to the cathedral and the San Gennaro catacombs in the afternoon of Easter Sunday, but I am sure we walked from the main train station. No problem getting food on Easter Sunday, we didn't pre-book anything. We stayed in Quartieri Spagniloi which is on metro line 1. Do be cautious on the metro, it's the one and only place (so far) my husband had his wallet pinched. Despite that we enjoyed our visit. Weather was variable, got drenched at Pompeii (rivers of water running down the ancient streets type wet) and some t-shirt weather.

Thank you for replying @patate10. I lived in Tuscany and Lombardy, so basically the Home Counties so am conscious that it's a world apart. Even Rome was a world apart when I visited whilst there. I hear Naples is less different than it was but everything I've read suggests it's still quite different!! Having said that, I loved Palermo on a recent visit but we weren't staying in the city.

Have to say, I am leaning towards May, exams permitting. Will check timetables but will at least be back for most of the week.

Thank you again.

We just did a trip to Naples and went to the football. I can't comment on what will be closed or not over Easter but can give you tips on football.

We stayed on Garibaldi Plaza- it's quite "colorful" but we arrived late at night so it was convenient for transport. We got the Metro 2 to the football. It was rammed. When it stopped at stations further along the line, then it was nigh on impossible for people on the platforms to get on as it was full, and the train pulled off leaving lots of people on the platform. We did manage to get back on the metro 2 and the crowds to get on are huge and you WILL get squashed. It is the busiest train I have ever been on.

We sat in Curva B. The "ultras" sit in curva A and B in the centre of the block- we sat towards the edge and the atmosphere was fantastic. Be warned that even though your ticket has a seat number on, everybody ignores them and they sit where they want.

Thanks, @ForSaleChesterDraws, that's really helpful. The thought of a late night scrum is not massively appealing (have previous experience of the San Siri and it wasn't fun!), so I think I might see if I can persuade DS to go for May. It is such a late kick off to add to the Easter hols. The actual getting onto the tube wasn't something I'd considered, so thank you for that.

Similarly if you want to do a day trip to Pompeii, get on the train at Napoli Porta Nolana rather than Napoli Centrale. It's the stop before and the train is empty and you will get a seat. Get on at the main station and it is rammed and you will be standing up the whole way. If you sit on the right hand side you get a good view of the coast as you go round.