Claudio Garella was born in Turin, on May 16, 1955.
He joined the Torino youth sector as a teenager and made his first team debut in 1972-73, his only appearance for the Granata was against Vicenza.
He then spent two seasons with Casale. In the first the "Nerostellati" (The Starred-Blacks) won promotion to Serie C, in which they finished 14th. Garella made 68 appearances and even scored a goal on a penalty kick.
In 1975 he stayed in Piedmont and joined Novara for a season in Serie B. The Gaudenziani (The Gaudentians, from San Gaudenzio) finished 6th and he played 38 games.
In 1976 he moved down to Rome and signed for Lazio. The manager was Luis Vinicio and Lazio finished 5th. The regular keeper however was Felice Pulici and Garella did not make any appearances.
Things changed the next season as Garella was promoted to first keeper. He played 29 league games, 2 in Coppa Italia and 4 in the UEFA Cup. His performances were not always impeccable and after some hesitant displays against Lens in Europe and Vicenza in Serie A, he was openly criticized by the fans and the media. The Lazio supporters gave him the nickname "Paperella" (a play on words between little duck and howler in Italian, a sort of butter fingers). A top national journalist, Gianni Brera, coined the term "Garellate" to refer to goalkeeping blunders.
In 1978-79 he joined Sampdoria in Serie B. He stayed three seasons with 9th place, 7th and 5th. He played a total of 113 league games.
In 1981 he joined Verona in Serie B. The Scaligeri (Scaligers, from Della Scala, ruling family of Verona) were promoted, winning Serie B, under Osvaldo Bagnoli and Garella played 30 league games and 4 in Coppa Italia.
The next three years in Serie A were historic. The Gialloblu finished 4th, 6th and in 1985 incredibly won the Scudetto. The main players included Roberto Tricella, Hans-Peter Briegel, Antonio Di Gennaro, Pietro Fanna, Preben Elkjaer Larsen and future Lazio Giuseppe Galderisi. The "Mastini" (The Mastiffs) were also runners-up in Coppa Italia in 1984 but lost to Roma 1-2 on aggregate. In these three fantastic years Garella played 89 games in Serie A, 30 in Coppa Italia and 4 in the UEFA Cup. In this period his nickname was changed to sound like a superhero "Garellik".
In 1985-86 he left the reigning champions and joined Napoli. The coach was Ottavio Bianchi and a certain Diego Armando Maradona was captain. Garella's former Lazio teammate Bruno Giordano had also just joined. The Partenopei finished 3rd and Garella played 30 league games and 5 in Coppa Italia.
The following season Napoli won their first historic Scudetto and also won the Coppa Italia beating Atalanta 3-1. It was Garella's second Scudetto, sweet revenge on his detractors. He played 29 league games, 9 in Coppa Italia and 2 in the UEFA Cup. In 29 league games he kept 25 clean sheets.
In 1987-88 Napoli finished 2nd behind Sacchi's "Dutch" Milan (without Rijkaard yet). They were knocked out by Real Madrid 1-3 on aggregate in the last 32 of the European Cup. In the Coppa Italia they lost to Torino 3-4 on aggregate in the quarterfinals. Garella played 29 league games, 9 in Coppa Italia and 2 in the European Cup. He then allegedly got involved in a "mutiny" against the coach along with a few other players and was sold.
In 1988-89 Garella joined Udinese in Serie B. The "Zebrette" won promotion with a 3rd place under Nedo Sonetti. Garella played 35 league games and 8 in Coppa Italia. He played alongside former Lazio connections Claudio Vagheggi and Maurizio Storgato.
The following year was problematic and the Bianconeri were relegated in 15th place, under Bruno Mazzia first and then former Lazio player Rino Marchesi. Garella played 28 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia. He played alongside future Lazio Néstor Sensini.
In 1990-91 he signed for Avellino in Serie B but suffered a serious injury early in the season. He only played 2 games under Francesco Oddo (Massimo's father) before retiring at 35.
He never played for Italy as his generation produced keepers such as Dino Zoff, Ivano Bordon, Giovanni Galli, Walter Zenga and Stefano Tacconi.
After retiring he took a break from football but in 2010 coached U.S.D Barracuda, an amateur club in Turin. In 2011 he was goalkeeper coach at Pergocrema, in the third tier. In 2012 he coached in the youth sector of Cit Turin and in 2013 was back with Barracuda as head coach.
He also had a few experiences as Sporting Director at amateur level with Pecetto Torinese and as a scout with Canavese in the 4th tier. In 2015 he also worked as a director with Barracuda.
Garella was a tall goalkeeper at 1.84 and 80 kilos. He was also a controversial one. He had a very unorthodox style, often saving the ball with all parts of his body except his hands. He was famous for blocking shots with his feet rather than diving low. Gianni Agnelli was once quoted as saying, "Garella is the best keeper in the world, without hands though".
His career saw him go from derision and mockery as "Paperella" to winning Scudetto titles as "Garellik" and playing with Maradona.
At Lazio, unfortunately, he was still disguised as "Paperella". He only played one full season but no doubt neither he nor the fans have great memories of it.
Garella died on August 12, 2022, following cardiocirculatory complications after heart surgery.
Lazio Career
Season | Appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup | Intertoto Cup |
1977-78 | 41 | 29 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
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