April 20, 1930: Cremonese Lazio 1-3

Updated: May 18

Finally a win away from home

Lazio come back from behind to win their first game away from home of the season

Also on this day: April 20, 1969, Lazio Brescia 1-0. A Fortunato goal in the second half gives Lazio the top of the Serie B table and a four-point lead over 4 th place. Lazio Hero of the day: Renato Ziaco

The season so far

The 1929-30 Serie A Championship was the first Serie A tournament to be played using a round robin format. Until the 1926-27 championship the teams were placed into two or more groups based on geographical provenance. Since then the National Division was closed to 20 squads divided into two groups of 10. A year later the teams were 22. These numbers could have allowed a single round robin, but it was a bit difficult from an organisational point of view to have more than 18 teams. The other problem was the creation of a second tier. In the end a final decision was made: Serie A with 16 teams and a first Serie B with 32 teams divided into two groups. Serie A increased by two to make it 18 due to the fact Triestina needed to be in Serie A for political reasons. Lazio and Napoli had to go through a play off to qualify and that ended in a draw so a repeat was necessary. At that point there was the need to include both teams to even the numbers so the repeat game was cancelled and they both qualified.

Lazio did not do very well despite winning the first game of the season 3-0 against Bologna, who were reigning champions. The Biancocelesti did manage to beat weaker teams but often lost against stronger teams. They lost the first derby and at the end of the first half of the season were 13th, comfortably six points above relegation zone. Before this game Lazio were 12th but the gap had been reduced to just 3 points.

Cremonese were last. Lazio desperately needed a win

The match: Sunday, April 20, 1930, Stadio Giovanni Zini, Cremona

The Biancocelesti started the game very well and in the 6th minute Piero Pastore hit the woodwork with a powerful left footed shot. A few minutes later Loris Desti parried Luigi Ziroli and Franco Rier's attempts.

In the 14th minute Cremonese scored. Luigi Cabrini dribbled past Marino Furlani and passed the ball to Bruno Foglia on the right. The winger’s cross was so perfect that all Cabrini had to do was to chest the ball into the net.

Lazio managed to equalise in the 44th minute with Leopoldo Caimmi off a corner, but a minute later there was a penalty for Cremonese. Cabrini took the spot kick, Ezio Sclavi saved.

In the second half Lazio scored twice with Pastore. In the 58th minute there was a cross in the penalty box, Desti had a second of doubt on what to do and Pastore headed the ball in. A minute later, a powerful shot from Rier was saved with difficulty by the Cremonese keeper, setting up a comfortable tap-in for Pastore who scored his double.

Game over and a breath of fresh air for Lazio

Who played for Cremonese

Desti, Pollastri, Bodini II, Mondini, Sbalzarini, Manfredi, Foglia, Dossena, Cabrini, Cavicchioli, Trovati.

Manager: Talamazzini.

Who played for Lazio

Sclavi, Tognotti, Bottacini, Pardini, Furlani, Caimmi, Foni, Ziroli, Pastore, Rier, Cevenini V

Manager: Molnar

Referee: Guarnieri

Goals: 16’ Cabrini, 44’ Caimmi, 58’ Pastore, 59’ Pastore

What happened next

With five matches to the end of the season Lazio were 12th on 24 points with Pro Patria and Livorno, one point ahead of Modena and Padova and two over Triestina. There was one team left to be relegated since Cremonese were last and a long way behind. Lazio beat Torino and then lost to Napoli and Livorno.

Two games to go and Lazio were 16th, two points ahead of Padova and one behind Modena, Triestina, Pro Patria and Livorno. They really needed to beat Pro Vercelli at home and they did so but Padova also won. Before the final match Lazio, Modena, Triestina and Pro Patria were on 28 points, Livorno on 27 and Padova on 26.

It all came down to the final match of the season. Padova were beaten 8-0 by Roma so Lazio were safe despite losing against Juventus.

A difficult season for Lazio. Leopoldo Caimmi was the player with most appearances (32), Luigi Ziroli was top scorer with 11 goals followed by Piero Pastore with 10.

Lazio 1929-30

Competition	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals scored
Serie A	34	10	8	16	49

Top five appearances

Players	Serie A
Caimmi	32
Sclavi	31
Ziroli	31
Pastore	28
Bottacini	27
Pardini	27

Top five goal scorers

Players	Serie A
Ziroli	11
Pastore	10
Malatesta	9
Spivach	9
Rieri	7

Let's talk about Piero Pastore

Pietro Mario Pastore, better known as Piero, was born in Padua on April 3, 1903. He was an excellent striker who later became an actor.

He started playing football for his home town and after the First World War he was a regular in the first team. In 1920 he signed for Juventus where he played for 6 seasons and won the scudetto in 1925-26. That year he scored 26 goals.

In 1927 he was involved in the first Italian match fixing scandal. It involved three Juve players who were allegedly paid to let Torino win the derby. It was a very controversial case. The Torino accountant, Guido Nani, and a student who knew many of the players, Francesco Gaudioso, approached Luigi Allemandi to try to get him and other players to “help” Torino win the derby. Toro not only won the match coming from behind, but also won the scudetto.

Apparently the deal between Nani and Gaudioso was an upfront payment first, and the remainder of the money if Torino won the championship. When the Granata became champions, Gaudioso wanted his part of the deal but for unknown reasons Nani refused. At this point the student leaked the story to the press and the case exploded.

In the sporting investigation that followed, the whole story came out. Gaudioso had bribed Allemandi, Federico Munerati and Pastore, the latter two the worst players on the pitch (Pastore had even been sent off for a retaliatory foul). Allemandi was paid in cash, Munerati in booze and Pastore betted on Juventus losing.

Torino’s title was revoked, Allemandi got a life ban (later revoked, he even went on to win the World Cup for Italy in 1934) and the other two had an official warning.

As a consequence in 1928 Pastore was sold to Milan. That year he participated in the Amsterdam Olympic Games and won a bronze medal.

In 1929 he was loaned to Brescia for a US tour and in the states he was noted for his likeness with Rodolfo Valentino, the famous star of the silent movies. He started his acting career in a couple of films in small roles.

In 1929-30 he signed for Lazio and played for two seasons. He went back to Milan in 1931 but stayed for only a year and decided to invest in his acting career. Back at Lazio in 1932, he really was not that interested in playing football and in two years played only 18 games. In 1933 he was the protagonist of the film Steel, directed by Walter Ruttman.

In his last two years in football he played for Perugia in Serie B in 1934 and four games for Roma in 1935.

He played minor roles in over 60 films including Roman Holiday alongside Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, Ulysses, starring Kirk Douglas, and Barabbas with Anthony Quinn.

He played 75 games for Lazio and scored 32 goals.

He died in Rome on January 8, 1968.