Claudio Vinazzani was born in Carrara, on April 18, 1954.
Vinazzani started playing for nearby Massese. He made his debut for the "Apuani" in the 1971-72 season in Serie C but only played one game.
In 1972 he went just up the road and returned home to Carrarese in Serie D. He played 24 games for the Giallazzurri and scored 1 goal.
In 1973 he went to Sardinia and joined Olbia in Serie C. He played 31 games for the "Galluresi" and scored 3 goals. The islanders were relegated to Serie D.
In 1974 he went back to Massese for two years in Serie C. He played another 68 games for the "Zebre" and scored 1 goal.
In 1976 came his big break and he signed for Napoli in Serie A. He stayed seven years, playing 188 league games with 4 goals. He played under Bruno Pesaola, Gianni Di Marzio, Luís Vinicio, Angelo Sormani, Rino Marchesi and Massimo Giacomini. Napoli came 7th (semi-finalists of Cup Winners Cup and winning the Anglo-Italian Cup), 6th (Coppa Italia finalists), 6th, 10th, 3rd, 4th and 9th. From 1980 to 1983 he was also captain.
In 1983 he left Naples and joined Lazio who had just returned to Serie A. In his first season in Rome, first under Giancarlo Morrone and then Paolo Carosi, Lazio avoided relegation in the last dramatic match of the season in Pisa. Vinazzani played 28 league games and 5 in Coppa Italia.
The following year was a disaster. Lazio were relegated, first under Carosi then Juan Carlos Lorenzo and finally Bob Lovati/Giancarlo Oddi. Vinazzani played 14 league games and 4 in Coppa Italia.
In 1985-86 he stayed on in Serie B under Gigi Simoni. Lazio not only failed to win promotion but also narrowly avoided relegation amid the turmoil of Giorgio Chinaglia's departure. Vinazzani played 30 league games with 1 goal (Brescia) and 5 in Coppa Italia.
Despite his satisfactory contribution on the pitch, Vinazzani became more well-known for the effects of his alleged behaviour off the pitch. At the end of the 1986 season he was accused of involvement in the "Totonero- bis" match fixing scandal.
In reality Vinazzani's only fault was being a friend of Armando Carbone known as "Armandino" from his Napoli days. This Carbone was a shoe salesman and low life wheeler and dealer who apparently called Vinazzani to hear if he was interested in trying to fix a Palermo-Lazio match. Vinazzani was evasive in his answer and anyway only two young Palermo players were interested so nothing came of it. It was known that Vinazzani bet on matches but never of his own team.
The other match he was accused of fixing was Lazio-Pescara but there was even less evidence against him on that one. In the court hearing Carbone was ready to testify that Vinazzani was innocent and even wrote them a letter but they were rejected.
Lazio were first sentenced to relegation and then it was changed to a nine-point handicap for the following Serie B season. This despite the feeble evidence against Vinazzani and the club's complete estrangement from the case. Vinazzani himself was first banned for five years and then for life. He was forced to retire at 32.
The magistrate in the case, Giuseppe Marabotto, a big Juve fan and friend of Luciano Moggi (no crime of course) later ended his career in jail on charges of corruption. Italian football in those years was far from fair and transparent but the theory is the authorities wanted to give the impression of a clean up and Lazio were a convenient scapegoat.
As a player Vinazzani was a dynamic midfielder. He was not overly technical but hardworking, tough and a good team player. He was appreciated by all his various coaches and probably always one of the first on the team sheet. The peak of his career was with Napoli where he was captain for three years and had a good spell, peaking with a 3rd place finish under Marchesi.
At Lazio his three years coincided with a difficult period and were then overshadowed by the repercussions of the accusations against him, which did not exactly improve things. Vinazzani is a name to conjure with at Lazio even if the subsequent -9 season is one of all Laziali's favourites ever.
Since retiring he had a brief spell as coach (no life ban is forever in Italy) first at Virtus Entella (Chiavari), in 1999-2000 in Serie D (The Black Devils were relegated) and then Carrarese, in 2002-03 in Serie C1 (relegation again).
He also had a spell in politics between 1998 and 2011 as a councillor in his hometown of Carrara.
He still has a connection in Napoli, where he is greatly respected, as near the stadium there is a sports shop that bears his name, although he no longer owns it.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1983-84 | 33 | 28 | - | 5 |
1984-85 | 18 | 14 | - | 4 |
1985-86 | 35 (1) | - | 30 (1) | 5 |
Total | 86 (1) | 42 | 30 (1) | 14 |
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