Guglielmo Stendardo was born in Naples, on May 6, 1981.
He was formed in the Napoli youth sector and made his debut for the first team on May 16, 1998. This game would remain his one and only appearance for his hometown team.
In the summer of 1998 he moved to Sampdoria where he would stay for 4 full seasons, 3 of them in serie B. He played 33 games in Serie B and 14 in Coppa Italia.
In his fifth year in Genoa half way through the season he moved to Salernitana in serie B. He would stay in Salerno only one year making 17 league appearances.
The following year found him in Sicily at Catania. He made 42 appearances in Serie B (1 goal) and 1 in Coppa Italia.
His next stop was Perugia where he played 32 games (2 goals) in Serie B and 2 in Coppa Italia.
His Serie B experience finally came to an end in 2005 when he signed for Lazio in Serie A. In his first year, under manager Delio Rossi, he played 18 games (1 goal) and 3 in Coppa Italia. The year after he increased his appearances to 21 (3 goals) and 3 in Coppa Italia. The 2007-2008 started well for Stendardo who became Lazio's first choice centre- back in partnership with Emilson Cribari, also due to injuries to Sebastiano Siviglia and Modibo Diakité. In December however everything changed. He was left out of the starting line-up away to Real Madrid and this was followed by a major bust up with the manager. Stendardo was punished by the club who excluded him from the squad (so no training either, let alone match time).
At this moment of standby in his career Juventus stepped up. In January 2008 he moved to Turin on loan with an agreement to sign him in June. He only played 5 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia but he gave a good contribution and Juventus were interested in keeping him on. The two clubs though couldn't agree on the price (Claudio Lotito is well known for his rigidity when making deals) and Stendardo returned to Rome.
Not for long though, he barely had time to unpack before he was off to newly promoted Lecce in Serie A. In Salento he played 21 league games.
Only a year later however he was back at Lazio but the new manager, Davide Ballardini, was not overly keen on Stendardo and, in agreement with the club, he was again excluded from the team list. Lazio however, despite having won the Italian Supercoppa in August (against Mourinho's Inter), were struggling and in serious trouble in the league. In November Stendardo, Lotito and Ballardini reconciled and the Neapolitan defender was reintegrated into the squad.
Stendardo was fit and ready and played well, even scoring 2 goals. Lazio however were not over the crisis yet and in February Ballardini was sacked and replaced by experienced Edy Reja. Things changed dramatically for the better, results improved and Stendardo kept his place, ending up with 19 league appearances (2 goals) and 2 in Coppa Italia.
Over the next two seasons however Stendardo would play less. In 2010-11 he made 14 league appearances and 2 in Coppa Italia (with 1 goal). The following season he had not played at all until he was sold to Atalanta in January. At Lazio he totalled 85 league appearances (6 goals), 12 in Coppa Italia (1 goal) and 7 in Europe.
In Bergamo he would play for five and a half seasons totalling 116 league appearances with 7 goals and 5 games in Coppa Italia.
In January 2017 he signed for Pescara in Serie A and made 10 league appearances. That was the end of his professional career. He had played 363 games between Serie A and Serie B (20 goals), 34 in Coppa Italia (1 goal) and 7 in European tournaments. Not a bad club career.
Stendardo was not your typical football player. In 2012 he graduated in Law. He is one of the very few in the sport to have a degree (he was once fined by Atalanta for choosing to sit an exam over playing a cup game). He put his studies to good use and went on to lecture at university. Now he combines the two and is currently manager of the LUISS University team in Rome.
Stendardo, known as 'Willy' was a physical centre back. At 1.90 metres tall he was good in the air and most of his 20 career goals came from headers. He was not a technical player and was not particularly quick but what he lacked in those two areas he made up for in tenacity and hard work. With little natural talent you don't play 363 games without dedication, discipline and a strong desire to compete. Stendardo was a classic, rugged, strong defender who didn't make life easy for the opposing attackers.
Lazio have seen far better defenders in their history but Willy always gave 100% and was popular with the fans. They certainly will not forget his full length of the pitch 100 metre sprint in Ascoli, after scoring at the opposite end from the away supporters’ sector, just to celebrate with the Lazio fans. These are things fans appreciate, sometimes more than a Franz Beckenbauer style tackle.
Lazio Career
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
2005-06 | 21 (1) | 18 (1) | 3 | - |
2006-07 | 24 (3) | 21 (3) | 3 | - |
2007-Jan 2008 | 22 | 13 | 2 | 7 |
2009-10 | 21 (2) | 19 (2) | 2 | - |
2010-11 | 16 (1) | 14 | 2 (1) | - |
Total | 104 (7) | 85 (6) | 12 (1) | 7 |
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