Luigi Radice was born in Cesano Maderno, near Monza, on January 15,1935.
He started his football career in the youth teams of Milan and played for the Rossoneri until 1959 when he signed for Triestina. In Milan he played very little, just 32 appearances in four years, but his two good years in Trieste in Serie B and Padova in Serie A, earned him a return to the Rossoneri in 1961. He was a left back and a good defender. He even earned 5 caps for Italy. But a serious knee injury brought everything to a halt and he was forced to retire.
At this point he decided to pursue a career as a coach. He started with Monza in 1966 and immediately earned a promotion to Serie B. He stayed on but was sacked in February. After a year at Treviso he came back and was head coach until 1971. In the summer of that year, he was chosen by Cesena and in his second season took the Romagnoli to Serie A.
That exploit earned him a call to Fiorentina where in 1974-74 he led the team to sixth place. He was not confirmed and in December 1974 he signed for Cagliari taking Giuseppe Chiappella's place. He did a good job taking them from last place to a comfortable safety.
In 1975-76 he was chosen as manager of Torino. Among the players were Luciano Castellini, Eraldo Pecci, Claudio Sala, Francesco Graziani and Paolo Pulici. They won the scudetto, the first and only time since the Superga tragedy. A bunch of hungry and great players, masterminded by Radice. It had been a long battle with Juventus but the Granata prevailed in the last game. The following season was even more spectacular and the two Turin teams annihilated the opposition but it was Juventus to prevail with 51 points, one more than the Granata. With four games to the end, they were both on equal points but in the next match Juve beat Napoli and Torino were held to a draw by Lazio which would prove decisive. In the next two seasons he achieved a 3rd and a 5th place.
In 1979 he suffered numerous injuries after a bad car accident. That season, with Torino not doing very well he was sacked in February. In 1980-81 he was manager for Bologna who started the season with a five-point docking due to the Totonero scandal. He took them to a comfortable 7th place. In 1981 he went back to AC Milan but it was a really bad year for the Rossoneri and he was substituted in January. After a few months with Bari in Serie B where he was unable to avoid relegation, he was head coach for Inter in 1983-84 where he obtained a UEFA Cup qualification. He then went back to Torino for another four full seasons and in his first year led the Granata to a great second place. In December 1988 he was sacked.
In 1989 he signed for Roma taking them to a UEFA Cup qualification. The next season he was manager for Bologna, substituting Franco Scoglio but could not avoid relegation to Serie B. In October 1991 he was called to save Fiorentina in difficult waters. He took them to safety and was confirmed for the following season. Their start was fabulous and at Christmas the Viola were in second place. But after a home defeat with Atalanta on January 3 1993, Radice and Vice President Vittorio Cecchi Gori had a ferocious argument and Radice was sacked. Fiorentina would suffer from this decision so badly that at the end of the season they were relegated.
In 1993 he became manager for Cagliari but after the first game, a defeat, he was sacked. In 1995 he was head coach for Genoa but was substituted half way during the season. His last years as manager were for Monza in Serie C. He came in and took them to the playoffs which he won. He was confirmed for the next season but lasted just five games.
He died in Monza on December 7, 2018.
He will always be remembered for being a great manager and for giving Torino an incredible scudetto 27 years after the Superga tragedy.
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