April 13, 1975: Lazio-Varese 2-0
- Dag Jenkins
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
A win for Tom
Lazio get back to winning ways and dedicate the victory to their absent manager
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had won their historic first Scudetto. Led by manager Tommaso Maestrelli the Biancocelesti had beaten Foggia on May 12 to become Italian champions. The celebrations had gone on all summer in Rome and all over the region.
In the meantime, Italy had taken part in the World Cup in Germany. There had already been some controversy because Lazio as title holders had hoped and expected to have a few more players called up. Instead, only three were included and of those only Giorgio Chinaglia had got playing time. His campaign ended in a black cloud too as he openly criticised the manager Ferruccio Valcareggi's decision to substitute him in the game against Haiti, with eloquent hand gestures. The gesture itself was quite tame for modern standards and was not openly rude but clearly lacking respect. In Italy however there was an uproar and Chinaglia was a sort of scapegoat for Italy's fiasco. Lazio, already unpopular for having broken Juventus' dominance, were now whistled everywhere they went in their northern pre-season friendlies due to Chinaglia's antics.
More disappointing was Lazio not being able to represent Italy in the European Cup, due to a one-year ban after the previous year's Lazio vs Ipswich incidents (pitch invasion, brawls etc) in a UEFA Cup tie.
The summer market the squad had gone largely untouched. The main arrival was midfielder Roberto Badiani (Sampdoria) while leaving were midfielders Pierpaolo Manservisi (Mantova) and Ferruccio Mazzola (Sant' Angelo). In the autumn, defender Pietro Ghedin arrived (Fiorentina) while defender Mario Facco (Avellino), midfielders Sergio Borgo (Foggia - on loan) and Fausto Inselvini (Foggia) had left
In August-September there had been the Coppa Italia to play. Lazio were in a group with Atalanta, Genoa, Pescara and Roma. Lazio had drawn two 0-0 away to Atalanta and 2-2 at home to Genoa and lost two, 1-2 away at Pescara and the derby 0-1. Lazio were therefore out of the cup.
The league had started well and Lazio won their first three games. They then slowed down a bit with 3 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats (derby 0-1 and Inter 1-2 at home). Then Lazio had won the big match against Juventus followed by a draw in Florence and a big 3-0 win against Milan and were only one point behind leaders Juventus. Since then however, things had deteriorated with only 3 wins, 4 draws and 4 defeats. Just before the most recent defeat, 1-5 against Torino, the players had been informed Maestrelli had cancer and literally played with tears in their eyes. Lazio were currently in 5th place on 30 points, 6 points behind leaders Juventus. The "Maestro's" place on the bench was temporarily taken by Roberto "Bob" Lovati.
Varese were newly promoted as they had won the Serie B championship under Pietro Marasco. Top scorer was Egidio Calloni with 16 league goals.
This season Marasco stayed on but the Biancorossi had made several changes to the squad. The main new signings were: defenders Giulio Zignoli (Milan), Enrico Lanzi (Milan), Paolo Dal Fiume (Conegliano), Giacomo Chinellato (Juventus youth side), midfielders Walter De Vecchi (Milan), Stefano Trevisanello (Venezia), Domenico Maggiora (Juventus) plus forwards Carlo Tresoldi (Milan) and Giannantonio Sperotto (Avellino).
Signing four players from Milan came at a price and forward Calloni left for the Rossoneri. Other departures were: defender Gabriele Andena (Atalanta), midfielders Renato Dehò (Anconitana), Vito De Lorentis (Milanese 1920, he would be back the following season) and forward Duino Gorin (Milan).
An interesting player in the Varese squad was midfielder Gianpiero Marini. He would go on to play 375 league games for Inter and win the 1982 World Cup with Italy, in which he played 5 games.
Things were not going well for the Busini in the top flight. They were currently 16th and rock bottom on 15 points, 4 from the last survival spot (Sampdoria on 19). The Varesini had won 3 (including Inter 2-0 at home on debut), drawn 9 (including Juventus 0-0 at home) and lost 13 (including Lazio 0-1 at home). They came from 2 defeats and were winless since February 9.
In the Coppa Italia they went straight out in August-September despite 2 wins (Avellino 2-1 and Reggiana 2-0 at home), a draw (Taranto 0-0 away) and 1 defeat (Juventus 0-4 away).
Lazio had to win today, despite their difficult psychological state, to try to get their season back on track. For Varese it was possibly one of the last chances to give themselves some hope of staying up.
The match: Sunday, April 13, 1975, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A lovely and sunny April day saw about 35,000 spectators turn up at the Olimpico.
Lazio had no injury problems or suspensions while Varese only had midfielder Enrico Prato unavailable.
Lazio attacked from the start. The Biancocelesti had two huge chances in the 13th and 20th minutes but Renzo Garlaschelli missed a them both.
In the 17th minute the visitors had been forced to replace an injured Walter De Vecchi with Carlo Tresoldi.
In the 21st and 24th minutes the Biancocelesti had two penalty appeals. First Garlaschelli was pushed over and then Giorgio Chinaglia was hacked down by Ambrogio Borghi. The referee gestured to play on.
In the 30th minute Lazio too were obliged to make a change as Mario Frustalupi could not continue and Franco Nanni came on.
In the 32nd minute the Varese keeper missed a high catch but Chinaglia's free header came back off the post.
Despite this mistake Leopoldo Fabris was playing well and foiled several more Lazio attempts.
In the 35th minute Lazio were finally awarded a penalty. Giuseppe Wilson was surrounded by three defenders and went down, Barboni pointed to the penalty spot much to the anger of the Varesini who claimed the Anglo-Italian had dived. Chinaglia stepped up and sent Fabris the wrong way. Lazio 1 Varese 0.
The second half the situation did not change. Lazio constantly forward trying to close the game and Varese hoping for the occasional counter attack.
Varese's only threat came in the 85th minute and they even scored with Giorgio Valmassoi but the referee disallowed it for a foul by Giacomo Libera on Luigi Polentes.
The scare stimulated Lazio who scored three minutes later. Vincenzo D'Amico, by far the best player on the field, dribbled past four defenders and crossed from the by-line, Giulio Zignoli in an attempt to anticipate the Lazio forwards then turned the ball into his own net. Lazio 2 Varese 0. Game over.
A fully deserved victory for Lazio even if it was not certain until the dying minutes. The Biancocelesti had easily been the better team and could dedicate the win to "Il Maestro" lying in a hospital bed.
Lazio were now joint 3rd with Roma and Torino on 32 points. The Giallorossi and Granata had both drawn as had Juventus who were now five points above the Biancocelesti.
Varese were now five points from safety as Sampdoria had conquered a point away at Torino. With only five games to go the Lombards seemed doomed.
Who played for Lazio
Pulici, Polentes, Martini, Wilson, Oddi, Badiani, Garlaschelli, Re Cecconi, Chinaglia, Frustalupi (30' Nanni), D'Amico
Manager: Maestrelli (Lovati on bench)
Who played for Varese
Fabris, Valmassoi, Zignoli, Borghi, Chinellato, De Vecchi (17' Tresoldi), Maggiora, Bonafé, Sperotto, Marini, Libera
Substitutes: Della Corna, 14 Fusaro
Manager: Maroso
Referee: Barboni
Goals: 35' Chinaglia (pen), 88' Zignoli (og)
What happened next
A week later Lazio slumped to a 0-4 defeat at Juventus and definitely abdicated. In the end Lazio finished 4th and qualified for the UEFA Cup. In the last four games the Biancocelesti won 2 (Ascoli and Fiorentina at home), drew 1 (Milan away) and lost 1 (Juventus away). Top scorer was Giorgio Chinaglia with 14 league goals.
Lazio had seriously challenged for the Scudetto until early March but then the manager's deteriorating health had not allowed the Biancocelesti to defend their title as they would have liked.
Varese were relegated in 16th place on 17 points. In the last 4 games they drew 2 (Vicenza away and Torino at home) and lost 2 (Milan and Napoli at home). Top scorer was Sperotto with 5 league goals. Varese have never made it back to Serie A and are currently in Serie D.
Juventus won their 16th Scudetto while Varese went down with Vicenza and Ternana (the Umbri have also never made it back and are now in Serie C, as are Vicenza)
Let's talk about Bob Lovati
Roberto Lovati, affectionately known as “Bob”, was born in Cusano Milanino on July 20, 1927. Although originally from the region of Lombardy, Lovati became a legend at Lazio, first as a player, then as a manager and then technical director plus various other jobs, just as long it was for Lazio.
His professional debut came for Pisa in Serie B in 1949. He played 59 games in Tuscany and in 1954 was bought by Lazio who however then loaned him to Torino for a year (he made 33 appearances).
In 1955 he returned to Lazio and this time it was to stay. So, his playing career at Lazio started in 1955 and he was captain when Lazio won the Italian Cup in 1958, their first historic silverware. He played for the Biancocelesti for six years making 146 appearances (135 in Serie A and 11 in Coppa Italia). He also earned two Italian caps (one unfortunately a 6-1 defeat against the mighty Yugoslavia).
After retiring he went on to coach the goalkeepers but in October 1962, when Carlo Facchin was sacked, Lovati became head coach and was the one who sat on the bench on Sundays. The real manager was Juan Carlos Lorenzo but because he was not Italian, he could not officially be manager or be on the side-lines on match day.
From 1962 to 1967 Lovati coached the Lazio youth teams, but was also assistant to the two managers (Umberto Mannocci and Maino Neri) in the 1966-67 season. In February 1968 he took the place of sacked manager Renato Gei, and for the following three seasons he assisted Lorenzo again. In the summer of 1971, after Lorenzo had been sacked and before the arrival of Tommaso Maestrelli, he managed the team that won the Cup of the Alps.
He had a splendid relationship with Maestrelli and was his assistant for all the time the Maestro was manager. Lovati was part of that splendid dream team that won the 1973-74 scudetto.
He came in as manager again when Luís Vinicio was sacked in 1978 and stayed until the end of the 1979-80 season. He led Lazio as manager for 106 games. In later life he also worked as a talent scout and as a director, always obviously for Lazio.
He died in Rome on March 30, 2011 at 84.
At Lazio they often joke that Bob did every job under the sun for the club except maybe gardener, and only because he was not asked. He certainly achieved cult status at Lazio and the Academy bears his name.
Lazio Career
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Italo-French Friendship Cup |
1955-56 | 32 | 32 | - | - |
1956-57 | 34 | 34 | - | - |
1957-58 | 30 | 26 | 4 | - |
1958-59 | 30 | 26 | 4 | - |
1959-60 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 |
1960-61 | 9 | 8 | 1 | - |
Total | 148 | 135 | 11 | 1 |
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