The 1973-74 scudetto, as we all know, was made possible thanks to a wild and talented bunch of players managed by the maestro Tommaso Maestrelli. But, behind the scenes, there were also others who made that miracle possible. Among these was Luigi "Gigi" Bezzi, team manager of that wonderful team.
Luigi Bezzi was born in Rome on August 18, 1935. The definition of team manager is a fairly limited description of what he did for Lazio. He started with the De Martino (reserves) team in the late 1960s and in the 1969-70 season he took over the role that Guido Giambartolomei had to leave for professional and personal reasons.
Bezzi was a middle man between Tommaso Maestrelli, the team and the club. Maestrelli had absolute faith in him. He was the man that the Maestro used to talk to and explain the problems he was having, certain that Gigi would solve them. He was an active member of the bench during the scudetto and continued in the difficult years that followed with the death of Maestrelli and the absurd passing of Luciano Re Cecconi. Candid, calm, passionate, a good person who always managed to get people on his side with competence and a smile. He was also great with the media, at times leaking useless information to keep them happy in the belief that he had given away something important. He was the one who communicated to a player that he would not be picked on the Sunday and did so with such eloquence that he always managed to convince him that it was for the good of the team. He was a fixer, someone who always mended what was broken.
He died on March 4 1984, a year before Doctor Renato Ziaco. He is always remembered as a fundamental piece of that marvellous team that in 1974 won the scudetto against all odds.
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