Giovanni Costa was born in Vicenza, on August 19, 1917.
He began his career with his hometown club in 1935 in Serie C. The "Lane" went close to promotion finishing 2nd under future Lazio manager József Viola. Costa played 25 league games with an impressive 17 goals.
The following year when the Magyar came to Rome to coach Lazio, he brought Costa with him. In his first year Costa played 22 league games with 4 goals (Milan, Novara, Lucchese, Liguria), 1 game in the Coppa Italia and 6 in the Central European Cup with 2 goals (Hungaria MTK, Ferencváros). Lazio reached the final of the prestigious European tournament but lost to Ferencváros 6-9 on aggregate.
In 1937-38 Lazio finished 8th and Costa played 17 league games with 2 goals (Torino, Atalanta) and 1 game in the Coppa Italia.
In 1938-39 Viola was replaced by Luigi Allemandi after 19 matches and Lazio finished 10th. They did beat Roma 2-0 away in Testaccio but then lost the home derby 1-3. Costa played less, making 10 league appearances with no goals.
The 1939-40 season was his last in Rome. Lazio had a good season under Hungarian Géza Kertész and finished 4th. They won the home derby 1-0 but Costa only played 4 league games.
In 1940 he was sold to Spezia in Serie B. He stayed four seasons playing 107 league games and scoring 41 goals. The Spezzini finished 12th, 6th twice and then won the National League as VVFF Spezia (Fire brigade as a way to get around war suspension) in the War League of 1943-44.
In 1945-46 he spent a year with Biellese in Serie B-C and won promotion to Serie B. He played 22 league games with 6 goals.
In 1946-47 he was back with Spezia in Serie B. He stayed another three seasons playing 104 league games with 33 goals. The "Aquilotti" finished 3rd, 4th and 18th.
He stayed on in the 1950's in which Spezia gradually fell down various divisions and went through a merger with Arsenal Spezia. It was the end of top-level football for Costa who continued playing until 1956 when at 39 he retired.
Costa was a forward who had a good playing career. He is Spezia's all-time top scorer with 76 goals. He won the National League with Spezia in 1944 although they were technically VVFF Spezia.
At Lazio he played 60 games with 8 goals and in his first two years especially was an excellent attacking support for goal machine Silvio Piola.
Giovanni Costa died in Vicenza on July 28, 1984.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup |
1936-37 | 26 (5) | 21 (4) | 1 | 4 (1) |
1937-38 | 20 (3) | 17 (2) | 1 | 2 (1) |
1938-39 | 10 | 10 | - | - |
1939-40 | 4 | 4 | - | - |
Total | 60 (8) | 52 (6) | 2 | 6 (2) |
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