Graziano Landoni was born in Legnano, near Milan, on November 29, 1939.
He started playing football in the youth teams of Legnano and Gallaratese. He made his professional debut in Serie C with Pro Vercelli together with his future Lazio teammate Mario Maraschi. He impressed and in 1959 joined Messina in Serie B where he stayed for a couple of seasons.
In 1961 he signed for Lazio, who had just been relegated to Serie B for the first time. The manager Carlo Facchi decided to play him at midfield on the right and with the task of play making but also defending. This would be his position for the rest of his career.
It was a jinxed season. Managers coming and going, Lazio’s too many ups and downs and then there was the famous ghost goal. Lazio had to play Napoli at the Stadio Flaminio on March 4 1962. It was a big match, if Lazio had won the immediate return in Serie A would be downhill from then on. In the 76th minute the referee, Iginio Rigato, gave a free kick to Lazio. Gianni Seghedoni with a splendid shot put the ball in the back of the net. The Lazio players and fans celebrated, the Napoli players despaired. Rigato laughed. “It’s not a goal, the ball went out”. There was a hole in the net and he claimed the ball went right through it. Lazio protested but there was nothing the players could do. The Rai TV footage proved the referee’s mistake and Lazio appealed to the Lega Calcio, but the game’s result remained 0-0. The ref never admitted his mistake. Lazio missed out on promotion by one point, Napoli went into Serie A thanks to that point.
They did not miss out the next season and Landoni was one of the protagonists of Lazio’s return to Serie A under the management of Juan Carlos Lorenzo. Lazio’s first season in Serie A was OK, but what really impressed everybody was Landoni. He was considered one of the best midfield players of Serie A. He was blond, a serious chap, great sportsmanship, powerful, all characteristics that made him a fan favourite. He was made skipper of the team and perhaps his only fault was that at times he seemed a bit slow. A modern midfielder, perhaps ahead of his time.
When Lorenzo left to manage Roma, the new head coach Umberto Mannocci could not stop the club from selling Landoni and cashing in on a player with a big monetary value (Lazio were always in financial difficulty in those years). Hence Landoni left Lazio and signed for Atalanta.
Despite playing a lot in Bergamo, he was never able to replicate the form he had shown at Lazio and after a year he was sold to Catania. Here he went into a crisis, both physical as well as psychological, and had a number of problems with manager Carmelo Di Bella. A year later he was sold to Palermo. Landoni improved, and his second year with the Rosaneri helped reach promotion to Serie A. He then played briefly for Ternana on loan but was promptly called back to Sicily. His last year at Palermo saw him again having contrasts with Di Bella so in 1971 he was sold to Piacenza in Serie C. In November he went back to the South and played in Serie B with Sorrento. His last professional season was then with Grosseto in Serie D.
With Lazio he played 34 times in Serie A (one goal), 65 in Serie B (4 goals) and 3 games in Coppa Italia.
Once he quit football he became a manager. Starting from 1973-74 at Grosseto, he managed a number of Tuscan and Sicilian teams over almost twenty years as well as Parma and Benevento, always in the second, third or fourth tiers.
When he gave up managing, he settled in Palermo.
Lazio Career
Season | Toal appearances (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1961-62 | 32 (2) | - | 30 (2) | 2 |
1962-63 | 36 (2) | - | 35 (2) | 1 |
1963-64 | 34 (1) | 34 (1) | - | - |
Total | 102 (5) | 34 (1) | 65 (4) | 3 |
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