Important win
Lazio beat Cosenza thanks to Gratton, Prini and Bizzarri and are back on track for promotion
Also on this day:
The season so far
In the 1960-61 season Lazio finished last in Serie A and were relegated to Serie B for the first time in their history. There were however hopes of an immediate return back to the Italian football elite. To do so, the club revolutionised the squad: among many, Lazio said goodbye to Franco Carradori (Brescia), Franco Janich (Bologna), Bruno Franzini (Bologna), Egidio Fumagalli (Novara), Ugo Pozzan (Pisa), Giacomo Del Gratta (Arezzo) and Bob Lovati who had retired. In the autumn, Orlando Rozzoni (Udinese), Nicola Lo Buono (Pescara) and Giovanni Molino (Napoli) had also left. New players were defenders Gianni Seghedoni (Bari), Diego Zanetti (Novara), Nello Governato (Como) and Graziano Landoni (Messina). The new manager was Paolo Todeschini.
Lazio took on a decent pace and finished the first half of the season in third place, just one point behind second place Modena (NB. The first three teams were promoted). The Biancocelesti had stayed second for a lengthy period but then four draws and one loss in the last five matches had slowed them down.
Cosenza were 17th so it would be important today to take the two points.
The match: Sunday, January 28, 1962, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
The bad defeat the previous Sunday at Alessandria translated into four days of exile for the players at Bolsena, north of Viterbo, where they had been for the pre-season training. This, plus the introduction in the first eleven of players that had almost been forgotten – Nello Governato, Maurilio Prini and Guido Gratton – gave an extra energy to the team and they immediately started on the front foot.
In the 6th minute Prini missed a sitter after a splendid Governato-Claudio Bizzarri one-two. Six minutes later the Biancocelesti went ahead. Prini to Giancarlo Morrone on the edge of the box, brilliant pass to Gratton and it was 1-0 for Lazio.
Prini continued to miss chances: in the 21st minute he shot wide from a favourable position and three minutes later missed another sitter after an excellent Lazio attack. At this point the Biancocelesti lost a bit of energy and handed the initiative over to the Calabrians. Adelmo Eufemi managed to wall a Manilo Compagno missile in the 31st minute and the latter almost equalised ten minutes later with a great shot that went just wide.
Nothing changed in the second half. In the 51st minute Idilio Cei was fantastic, first on an Elio Ardit shot then on the possible tap in from Compagno. Lazio fought back on the counter attack but Bizzarri missed an easy chance. In the 75th minute Visconti Follador fouled Morrone in the box but the referee was not impressed. The Argentine forward was again fouled in the penalty area two minutes later and this time the ref gave Lazio the penalty. Prini did not miss.
The second goal gave Lazio the tranquillity they needed and they regained control of the match. Four minutes from time, Morrone-Governato one-two, ball to Bizzarri who made it three.
Cosenza were a little bit nervous in the finale: Edoardo Orlando got a red card for a brutal foul on Bizzarri and Compagno was a little rough on Cei.
Good win for Lazio, their first in two months.
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Todeschini
Who played for Cosenza
Sartori, Follador, Orlando, Pagni, Federici, Beltrami, Compagno, Ardit, Lenzi, Dalla Pietra, Costariol
Manager: Zsengeller
Referee: Varazzani
Goals: 12’ Gratton, 77’ Prini (pen), 86’ Bizzarri
What happened next
Two games later Todeschini was sacked. He was substituted first by the Bob Lovati-Alfonso Ricciardi duo and then after five games by Carlo Facchin who had previously been head coach at Novara.
Lazio vs Napoli on March 4 was a big match, if Lazio won an immediate return to Serie A would then be downhill. 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.
All Lazio wanted was the repetition of the match. They had won the game in the first half of the season in Naples so they felt rather confident they could beat Napoli again. But the appeal was uphill right from the start. RAI, the Italian state television, refused to hand over the footage, the Federal Appeal Commission (CAF) refused to examine the TV images and the Rome-based media who should have raised hell all went very quiet.
There was another scandal involving Napoli that year. With three matches to go there was Verona vs Napoli. Two people associated with Napoli tried to bribe the Verona goalkeeper and got caught in doing so. This should have automatically meant that Napoli get at least a point docking, or worse. But two things happened: firstly, there was a massive storm over Verona on the Sunday and the match got postponed, and secondly Napoli’s lawyer managed to “convince” the judges that it was a personal initiative by the two and that Napoli were not involved. This should have brought a deduction of some points for strict liability anyway, but Napoli got away with it.
In the magnificent book “Controstoria della Lazio”, the author, journalist Vincenzo Cerracchio, underlined the political importance of the then Napoli President, Achille Lauro, former mayor of Naples and very important political figure (if you ever get the chance to see the 1963 movie 'Hands over the City' directed by Francesco Rosi you will understand what type of person Achille Lauro was). Lazio had been commissioned due to very high debts and from a political point of view did not stand a chance.
The game was not repeated. Lazio Napoli 0-0.
With two games to go, Lazio were third in the company of Verona, Napoli and Modena and one point behind Pro Patria, second. Genoa, top, were miles ahead.
Lazio had to face Verona away and lost, killing any chances of promotion, Napoli and Modena drew and Pro Patria surprisingly lost at home. With one game to go, Verona were one point ahead of Napoli, Pro Patria and Modena and two ahead of Lazio. In the last game Napoli and Modena won, Pro Patria and Verona lost so promotion went to the Neapolitans and the Emiliani.
Lazio won their last game and missed promotion by one point. Napoli were promoted by one point. If that goal had been given …
Idilio Cei was the player with most appearances that season (41) and Juan Carlos Morrone the leading goal scorer with 15 goals.
Let's talk about Guido Gratton
Guido Gratton was born on September 23, 1932 in Monfalcone, near Gorizia.
He started playing football with Parma in 1949-50 in Serie C and in the next season he was at Vicenza where he stayed for two years both in Serie B. He debuted in Serie A with Como in 1952-53 where he played 30 games with 3 goals.
In 1953 he signed for Fiorentina. He stayed seven years, won a scudetto in 1955-56, lost the European Cup final in 1957 to Real Madrid, and the Coppa Italia final twice, in 1958 against Lazio and in 1960 to Juventus. He became one of the most important players in that wonderful team coached by Fulvio Bernardini, making 193 league appearances with 23 goals.
In 1960-61 he signed for Napoli and stayed a season. The year after he joined Lazio in the infamous 1961-62 season. He had signed for Inter but the manager, Helenio Herrera, did not take him into consideration so in the autumn transfer window he moved to Rome.
Lazio had just been relegated to Serie B for the first time in their history and were looking for an immediate promotion back to the elite football of Serie A. The season was determined by a ghost goal against Napoli, that eventually was crucial for Napoli’s promotion and Lazio having to stay in Serie B for another year. He did not play much, just 5 appearances, but it was his last professional season. He was fondly remembered at Lazio for his professionalism. His last year in active football was with Impruneta, an amateur club near Florence.
At International level, Gratton played 11 games for Italy (with three goals) and was part of the the 1954 World Cup squad, but did not play.
He was briefly manager for Salernitana in 1969-70 and later on the bench for Paganese and Foligno.
Gratton died on November 26 1996, in Bagno di Ripoli near Florence, when a group of thieves broke into the tennis club he was managing. They hit him with chairs and racquets and he was found in the morning unconscious in a pool of blood. He never woke up.
Lazio Career
Season | Serie B appearances |
1961-62 | 5 |
Sources
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