Luciano Spinosi was born in Rome on May 9, 1950.
At ten years old he was run over by a car and broke his left leg. Before the accident he had been left-footed but after he started playing with his right foot and would do so for his whole career.
He started his youth career with local side Tevere Roma but in 1967, at 17, he joined AS Roma. Spinosi's brother was in the Lazio youth academy but his father, a Lazio fan himself, had a falling out with one of the directors and as a result took his younger son, Luciano, to play for Roma.
He stayed three years with the Giallorossi, playing 37 league games and scoring 3 goals (Pisa, Lazio, Sampdoria). In his first season he only played once under Oronzo Puglise and Roma finished 10th. In his second he played 12 league games and 5 in Coppa Italia under Helenio Herrera and Roma finished 8th but won the Coppa Italia. In his third, still under Herrera, he played 25 league games, 4 in Coppa Italia, 8 in the Cup Winners Cup and 6 in the Anglo-Italian Cup and Italo-English League and Roma finished 10th.
In 1970 he joined Juventus where he would stay for eight seasons. He played 138 league games with 1 goal (Vicenza). In his time with Juventus he suffered several serious injuries but he won 5 league titles and a UEFA Cup ('77). His managers were initially Armando Picchi, then Čestmír Vycpálek for four seasons, Carlo Parola for two and Giovanni Trapattoni for two. The Bianconeri went close to the European Cup but lost 0-1 to Cruyff's Ajax in 1972.
In 1978 he returned to Roma for other four seasons. In his second stint he played 67 league games with 1 goal (Milan), 8 in Coppa Italia and 4 in Europe (CWC) with 1 goal (Ballymena Utd). His managers were Gustavo Giagnoni /Ferruccio Valcareggi in the first season and then Nils Liedholm for the next three. Roma finished 10th, 6th, 2nd and 3rd. The Giallorossi won the Coppa Italia twice ('80, '81).
In 1982 Spinosi joined Verona. The Scaligeri had a good season under Osvaldo Bagnoli and finished 4th (they would be 1st in '85) and also were runners-up in the Coppa Italia (Juventus 2-3 on aggregate). Spinosi played every league game, 30 plus 6 in Coppa Italia and 4 in the Mitropa Cup with 2 goals (Galenika Zemun, Vasas).
In 1983 he joined Milan. The manager was first Ilario Castagner (1-24) and then Italo Galbiati (25-30) and the Rossoneri finished 8th. Spinosi played 18 league games and 6 in Coppa Italia.
His last club was Cesena in 1984-85. The "Cavalluccio" was in serie B and finished 9th. The manager was Adriano Buffoni and Spinosi played 22 league games and 5 in Coppa Italia.
At International level he won 19 Italy caps and played all three games in the 1974 World Cup. He also played 3 games for the U21's.
At 35 he then retired but stayed in the football world.
He went into coaching. He started with the Roma Primavera (U19's) from 1985 to 1989.
In February 1989 he was manager of Roma's first team for four matches (D2, L2). Angelo Sormani was manager with Nils Liedholm as T.D before and after.
Spinosi then returned to the U19's for another five years. The young Giallorossi won the league in 1990, the prestigious Viareggio tournament in 1991 and the Coppa Italia in 1994.
In 1994-95 he was appointed manager of Lecce in Serie B. He only lasted 11 games (W0, D6, L5) before Edy Reja took over.
In 1995-96 he had a spell with Ternana between managers Massimo Silva and then Danilo Pierini.
In 1996 he started his collaboration with Sven-Goran Eriksson. He became the Swede's assistant at Sampdoria and the Blucerchiati finished 6th.
The following year when Eriksson became Lazio manager Spinosi joined him in Rome. For three highly successful years he was Lazio’s assistant manager. Lazio won a Scudetto, the Coppa Italia twice, the Italian Supercoppa twice, a European Cup Winners Cup and a European Super Cup. In January 2001 when Eriksson left Spinosi finished as assistant manager but continued to work with Lazio until 2004.
In 2007 from March to October he was assistant manager to Fernando Orsi at Livorno in Serie A. The Amaranto finished 11th but the following season Orsi was sacked in October.
Spinosi was a solid defender. He is 1.82 and strong physically. He was a classic man-to-man marker of the 70's and early 80's. He once told a funny anecdote about his playing days, "The man I was marking said Luciano it's cold on this side of the field, I'm going to play in the sunny part. Will you come with me? Of course, I answered. Good, so let's go, he said."
He played 300 games in Serie A and won 5 Scudetti, 3 Italian Cups and a UEFA Cup.
At Lazio he is remembered for his work as assistant to Eriksson in the glory years. Laziali can still see the image of the two elegant managers in their immaculate grey coats shaking hands on the bench after a goal or victory and there was certainly plenty to celebrate.
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