Alessandro Ferri was born in Rome on February 25 1921.
In July 1932, the Lazio manager Karl Strumer organised a draft for the under 14s. This was something unheard of at the time in Italy. The Microbes, as they were called, kids born in 1920 and 1921, trained twice a week, had tactical and behavioural lessons, and started playing and winning around Italy. They became so famous that they were invited to play in Vienna, on June 11, 1933, for a game against Wacker. The match was played in front of a 45,000-crowd gathered to watch the national Wunderteam play against Romania. It was a 40-minute game.
The Microbes managed to draw and with a bit of luck might have even won it. The small little Biancocelesti against the much bigger Austrian youngsters left the stadium with the crowd enthusiastic. For the Italian media it was a triumph and when the kids arrived in Rome they were overwhelmed by fans, relatives and the entire Lazio first team.
Ferri was part of that team.
A week before the derby of January 15, 1939, Ferri was desperately looking for free tickets for the game. He was a bit shy but he plucked up his courage and went to ask President Remo Zenobi, who was certainly not known for being outgoing. “You won’t need any tickets”, he told him, “because you will be playing”. Ferri debuted in the derby and Lazio won at Testaccio for the first time. At the end of the game Fulvio Bernardini, a Roma player then, but formerly a Lazio star in the 1920s, gave him a big hug, recognising that the lad had not allowed him to play as well as he could.
Ferri was a great defender, perhaps one of the best Lazio has ever had. Funny, extrovert and well liked by everybody, he was particularly well known for his memorable practical jokes. He stayed at Lazio eight years appearing 140 times with one goal.
During 1945 he played for Audace Taranto since as a soldier he was stationed there.
In the summer of 1948, he argued with the club over money so he left and signed for Roma. He played two years for the wrong side of the eternal city before finishing his career with Reggina in Serie C from 1950 to 1952.
He died in Rome on June 3 2003.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Centre-South Championship | Post Centre-South Championship | Coppa Italia |
1938-39 | 7 | 6 | - | - | 1 |
1939-40 | 5 | 4 | - | - | 1 |
1940-41 | 17 | 13 | - | - | 4 |
1941-42 | 23 | 21 | | - | 2 |
1942-43 | 26 | 24 | - | - | 2 |
1945-46 | 20 | - | 19 | 1 | - |
1946-47 | 19 | 19 | - | - | - |
1947-48 | 23 (1) | 23 (1) | - | - | - |
Total | 140 (1) | 110 (1) | 19 | 1 | 10 |
Sources
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