The week of May 6-12 in Lazio history is centred around the winning of the first Scudetto on May 12, 1974. A team of wild players led by Giorgio Chinaglia, put together with care by Tommaso Maestrelli, took the historic club to league glory for the first time.
Date: Sunday, May 6, 1984
Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Ascoli 2-1
Lazio beat Ascoli and now need only one more point in the last game at Pisa to avoid relegation.
Date: Sunday, May 7, 2000,
Location: Stadio Dall’Ara, Bologna
Fixture: Bologna Lazio 2-3
The Biancocelesti get the win but go into the last game still two points behind Juventus. A disallowed Cannavaro goal in Turin will be the talk of the week.
Date: Sunday, May 9, 1976
Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Milan 4-0
A devilish nightmare for Milan as Lazio outclasses them with a 4-0 thumping giving themselves a chance to avoid relegation.
Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Location: Stadio delle Alpi, Turin
Fixture: Juve Lazio 2-2, Coppa Italia Final, Second Leg
Juventus cancel Lazio’s two-goal lead inside 47 minutes but the Biancocelesti fight back and clinch the trophy.
Date: Sunday, May 12, 1974
Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Fixture: Lazio Foggia 1-0
Much literature has been written about the wild bunch of Lazio players who won the Scudetto in the 1973-74 season. In between myth and legend, that team featured many unknowns, a few champions, a player considered finished and a couple of youngsters.
Built with care by President Umberto Lenzini with the help of sporting director Antonio Sbardella, they were handed to the Maestro, manager Tommaso Maestrelli, who magically made players, who were divided into two separate clans throughout the week, come together as one on Sunday, play beautiful football and win. Pulici, Petrelli, Martini, Wilson, Oddi, Nanni, Garlaschelli, Re Cecconi, Chinaglia, Frustalupi, D’Amico but also Inselvini, Facco, Polentes, Franzoni, Manservisi, Mazzola II, plus assistant Bob Lovati, Doctor Renato Ziaco, Team Manager Luigi Bezzi, spiritual guide Father Antonio Lisandrini and physical specialist Luigi Trippanera.
On this particular day, 80,000 people were waiting for this game at the Olimpico, all of them with a scarf or a flag. A sea of blue and white. The gates had to be opened at 8.30 because at 6 o’clock people had already started queuing to get into the stadium, the match started at 4 pm. The team, conscious of the historical importance of the match, played almost paralyzed by fear. But in the 60th minute, a Chinaglia penalty gave Lazio their first Scudetto. Visit Lazio Stories to learn more about this season
Ferruccio Mazzola was the son of one of the greatest football players in the history of Italian soccer, Valentino, part of the Great Torino that won five consecutive Scudetti and a Coppa Italia before the tragic plane crash on the Superga Hill on the night of May 4, 1949.
He was the brother of Sandro, captain of the Great Inter of the 1960s that won two consecutive European Cups (now called Champions League). He was an excellent player, perhaps not on a par with his dad and brother, but served the Lazio cause well. One of the protagonists of the return to Serie A of 1968-69, he made 199 appearances with 15 goals.
When he stopped playing, an autobiography published in 2004 and an interview with the Italian weekly Espresso in 2005, caused a lot of controversy, but not quite enough. He denounced the extensive use of doping in the 1960s and 70s and linked this to the early deaths and high incidence of cancer in football players of those years. His words had no effect. He died on May 7, 2013 in Rome.
- Francesco Antonazzi, 6-5-1924, defender, Italy, 263 appearances (1945-56)
- Aldo De Fazio, 6-5-1927, goalkeeper, Italy, 25 appearances (1949-50, 1953-55)
- Pietro Dotti, 6-5-1939, defender, Italy, 96 appearances (1964-67)
- Ivan de la Peña, 6-5-1976, midfielder, Spain, 25 appearances, 1 goal (1998-99, 2001-02)
- Leoncino Unzain, 6-5-1925, forward, Paraguay, 15 appearances, 1 goal (1950-51)
- Giuseppe Biava, 8-5-1987, defender, Italy, 148 appearances, 6 goals (2010-14)
- Carlo Cevenini V, 8-5-1901, forward, Italy, 70 appearances, 16 goals (1927-32)
- Domenico Caso, 9-5-1954, midfielder, Italy, 110 appearances, 8 goals (1985-88, manager 2004)
- Gilberto Noletti, 9-5-1941, defender, Italy, 25 appearances (1961-62)
- Diego Novaretti, 9-5-1985, defender, Argentina, 24 appearances (2013-15)
- Vittorio Dagianti, 10-5-1919, midfielder, Italy, 28 appearances, 5 goals (1938-41)
- Franco Nanni, 11-5-1948, midfielder, Italy, 156 appearances, 15 goals (1969-75)
- Giuliano Fortunato, 12-5-1940, forward, Italy, 160 appearances, 17 goals (1967-72)
This Article Was Written by Dag Jenkins & Simon Basten from Lazio Stories. More Information on the Above Matches and Players can be found on LazioStories.com.
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