A step towards the final
Lazio beat Roman and join the Giallorossi at the top of the table of the semi-final group
The season so far
In 1914-15 the Italian football championship was divided into two parts: a northern championship and a central southern one.
The Northern championship was divided into six local groups. The top two teams of each group plus the best four thirds qualified for the semi-final group. The 16 teams were then divided into four groups of 4, the winners of which would then participate in the final Northern Group. The winner of this group would then meet the winner of the Central-South group for the scudetto final. The four teams competing in this final group were Genoa, Inter, Milan and Torino.
The central championship was divided into two groups, one for Tuscany and one for Rome. The top two teams would later face each other in another group phase, the winner of which would then meet the team that won the Campania group to determine the finalist for the scudetto.
There were six teams in the Rome group and Lazio came second behind Roman. These two clubs hence went on to play against Lucca and Sporting Pisa.
In the first game of the second phase Lazio had lost to Pisa 4-0 and Roman had won their game because Lucca decided not to play. If the Biancocelesti wanted to proceed to the next round, they needed to win today.
The match: Sunday, April 18, 1915, Campo della Rondinella, Rome
Lazio were without Giuseppe Fioranti and Roman could not play Grassi.
The Giallorossi began the game a lot better than the Biancocelesti but Clemente Serventi managed to parry a dangerous Rovida shot. Lazio then had a couple of chances but Carlo Maranghi shot wide and Fernando Saraceni hit the crossbar. It was an entertaining game with the ball going from one end to the other. Marcello Consiglio missed a good opportunity and then Meille saw his shot saved by Serventi.
In the 20th minute the score changed. Maranghi tried a shot, Talamone parried, Renato Grasselli was ready for the tap in and did not miss (some sources give the goal to Consiglio).
Roman attacked but the Biancoceleste defence, with Gino Donati and Camillo Bona, was able to reduce dangers to a minimum. When they could not, such as with a Meille shot, Serventi was ready.
After a Maranghi shot was parried by Talamone, Lazio scored their second in the 30th minute. Saraceni gave a splendid assist to Augusto Faccani who from 15 metres beat the Roman keeper.
Towards the end of the first 45 minutes a De Giuli shot shaved the post.
In the second half, Roman put the foot on the accelerator. Meille tried a shot, saved into corner by Serventi. From the corner, Donati missed the ball and Meille had the chance to reduce the deficit but his attempt, four metres from the goal, went high. After a Saraceni opportunity which went slightly high, Rovida had a chance but his attempt was wide. In the 87th minute a Donati mistake gave Meille the chance to score and he did not miss.
But it was too late and Lazio won.
Who played for Lazio
Serventi, Bona, Donati, Levi, Faccani, Zucchi, Grasselli, Maranghi, Saraceni, Cella, Consiglio
Manager: Baccani
Who played for Roman
Talamone, Cosimi, Meda, De Lellis, Buratti, Bechis, Donati, De Giuli, Rovida, Meille, Marchesi.
Referee: Scamoni
Goals: 20’ Grasselli, 30’ Faccani, 87’ Meille
What happened next
At the end of the first three games of the group, Lazio, Roman and Pisa were all on four points. The Biancocelesti then beat Sporting and Roman did the same against Lucca. The crunch match was Roman-Lazio which the Biancocelesti won 5-1. A final 2-1 victory against Lucca secured first place and now they had to wait to see who they would meet in the Campania group.
In the North, with one game to go, Genoa had 7 points, Torino and Inter 5, Milan 3. The last two games should have been Genoa vs Torino and Milan vs Inter. Everything could still have happened.
But then World War I broke out and the Championship was stopped.
The title was initially not assigned, but in 1919 the Italian Federation gave the scudetto to Genoa and this apparently was ratified in 1921. But there are serious doubts over this attribution.
The Lazio Petition
In 2015 Gian Luca Mignogna, solicitor, and the Centro Studi Nove Gennaio Millenovecento, the Lazio research and documentation centre, launched an online petition to award the 1914-15 scudetto jointly to Lazio and Genoa and, thanks to the overwhelming support, asked the Italian Federation to give the title to Lazio.
Mignogna and the centre proved that Lazio were the finalists. Only two Neapolitan teams had signed up for the Championship and the two games had been annulled due to irregularities in the signing of players. The repeat games saw Internazionale Napoli beat Naples 3-0 in the first leg. But the second apparently never officially took place due to the suspension following the outbreak of the war and was demoted to a regional game. So, there is doubt whether there would have ever been a Campania champion.
Furthermore, also proven was that Genoa self-proclaimed themselves champions and that the actual scudetto was not assigned.
Genoa obviously dispute all of this. Since Genoa only needed a point in the last game to reach the final, and since the Northern teams always outclassed the central championship finalists, in their opinion it was only right to award the scudetto to the Rossoblu.
De facto though, the only real finalists were Lazio.
The response of the Italian Federation
The President of the Italian Football Federation in 2016 called upon a special Commission to determine what would be the best way forward. This Commission advised to give the scudetto to the two teams. The Federation should then have ratified the decision but they did not.
Gabriel Gravina was elected President in 2018 and a year later he asked for the creation of another commission to examine this request plus the Genoa claim to the 1924-25 title and Torino’s for the 1926-27. Apparently also Udinese have claims on the 1896 scudetto. The Commission was created under the coordination of the deputy President of the Football Museum and Sky journalist Matteo Mariani (recently elected President of the Lega Pro League). There has been no news since.
It is important to note that this is not a SS Lazio initiative, but a private one. However, Gravina and Lotito are not exactly friends, and this probably explains why there has never been a decision.
Lazio 1914-15
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
National Championship | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 54 |
Coppa Juventus | 2 | 2 | - | - | 7 |
Podistica Lazio Tournament | 2 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
Total | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 69 |
Top five appearances
Players | Total | National Championship | Coppa Juventus | Podistica Lazio Tournament |
Saraceni | 19 | 15 | 2 | 2 |
Faccani | 17 | 14 | 2 | 1 |
Levi | 17 | 14 | 2 | 1 |
Zucchi | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2 |
Grasselli | 15 | 13 | 2 | - |
Top 5 goal scorers
Players | Total | National Championship | Coppa Juventus | Podistica Lazio Tournament |
Consiglio | 13 | 11 | 2 | - |
Grasselli | 11 | 10 | 1 | - |
Saraceni | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
Bona | 8 | 7 | - | 1 |
Maranghi | 5 | 5 | - | - |
Let's talk about Renato Grasselli
Renato Grasselli was born in Rome on January 25, 1894. He first appeared in the Lazio team in 1912 playing mainly for the second t. In 1913 he left for Paris and played for Racing Club. He came back to Rome and in the 1914-15 season was in the first eleven. He made 15 appearances that season with two goals and one in the Christmas Cup.
He fought in the First World War with the 82nd Infantry Regiment “Torino” which was involved on the Italian front.
Grasselli died in Rome on February 23 1976.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | National Championsip | Coppa Juventus | Christmas Cup |
1914-15 | 15 (10) | 13 (10) | 2 (1) | - |
1916 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Total | 16 (10) | 13 (10) | 2 (1) | 1 |
Sources
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