Great match
Lazio played a great game and were much better than their opponents on every inch of the pitch.
Also on this day: May 6, 1984, Lazio Ascoli 2-1. Lazio beat Ascoli and now need only one more point in the last game at Pisa to avoid relegation. Lazio Legend of the. day: Arcadio Spinozzi
The season so far
In the summer Lazio had to say goodbye to Giuseppe Fioranti and Carlo Maranghi who had been among Rome’s pioneers as far as football was concerned. They were replaced by Ettore Agazzani and Ottavio Regazzoni who were doing their military service in Rome.
The 1922-23 season saw the participation of 56 teams divided into a Northern League and a Southern one.
In the North, the 36 teams were divided into three groups of 12 with the top club moving to the semi-final stage. Pro Vercelli won Group A, Genoa Group B and Padova Group C. These three teams would now have to face each other in a final group to determine who would play the national final.
In the South there were four groups: Campania with 5 teams, Lazio with 6, Apulia with 5, Sicily with 3 and then Marche with one team that went directly to the semi-final group.
Savoia and Internaples qualified for Campania, Pro Italia Taranto and Ideale Bari for Apulia, Libertas Palermo for Sicily and Anconitania for Marche. To determine the other national finalist, the qualifiers were divided into two groups and the winners would play the Southern Division Final in two legs.
As far as the Lazio group was concerned, it had been a battle between Lazio, Alba and Fortitudo. By battle we really mean battle, since there were brawls on the pitch, between fans and even referees joined in. Some of the matches had to be suspended and replayed. Lazio topped their group by winning 8 games, drawing one and losing one against US Romana. Alba were the other team to qualify for the semi-final groups.
The qualifiers were divided into two groups of four. Lazio were paired with Ideale Bari, Libertas Palermo and Internaples. Today’s game was the first match of the Southern Division Group.
The match: Sunday, May 6, 1923, Campo della Rondinella, Rome
Lazio played a great match and were much better than their opponents on every inch of the pitch. Far superior quality in the players especially Fulvio Bernardini, Dante FIlippi and Augusto Parboni. The Biancocelesti’s first goal arrived in the 45th minute. A perfect assist from Augusto Faccani allowed Filippi to score. A big scare arrived 30 seconds after when a Pino Ghisi III – Osvaldo Sacchi one-two allowed the former to score, but he was in offside. In the second half, after a rather monotonous first 25 minutes, Lazio scored another three. The first, by Pio Maneschi on a Bernardini assist came in the 70th minute, then Bernardini scored a brace. His first goal came in the 71st minute following an Aldo Fraschetti cross, his second in the 79th when Alessandro Varini crossed in the box, Guido Cavalli tried to clear but gave the ball to the Lazio star who made it four.
In the other match, Ideale won 2-0 because Libertas Palermo did not turn up.
Who played for Lazio
Agazzani, Saraceni I, Dosio, Orazi I, Faccani, Parboni, Fraschetti, Filippi, Bernardini, Maneschi, Varini
Manager: Baccani
Who played for Internaples
Cavalli, Minter, Steiger, Cafaggi, Fiori, Jaquinto, Bruschini (III), Fariello, Ghisi (II), Valente, Sacchi
Referee: Iderani
Goals: 45’ Filippi, 70’ Faccani, 71’ Bernardini, 79’ Bernardini
What happened next
Lazio reached the final and had to play Savoia. In the first leg they drew 3-3 away and in the second won 4-1 thanks to Bernardini and Maneschi who scored two goals each. A very balanced first half saw the Biancocelesti score towards the end and in the second Savoia collapsed and Lazio scored another three goals.
The National final was against Genoa who had won their semi-final group.
Genoa beat Lazio 4-1 in Liguria and 2-0 in Rome. Too much difference between the two teams, but for the Biancocelesti reaching the final was the maximum they could do.
Fulvio Bernardini, Fernando Saraceni, Dante Filippi and Aldo Fraschetti were the player with most appearances this season (20) and Bernardini the top scorer with 21 goals.
Lazio 1922-23
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
National Championship | 20 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 65 |
Top five appearances
Player | National Championship |
Agazzani | 20 |
Saraceni I | 20 |
Fraschetti | 20 |
Filippi | 20 |
Bernardini | 20 |
Maneschi | 20 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | National Championship |
Bernardini | 20 |
Filippi | 15 |
Maneschi | 14 |
Regazzoni | 4 |
Fraschetti | 3 |
Let’s talk about Augusto Faccani
Augusto Faccani was born on May 31 1891 in Rome. He arrived to Lazio just in time for the Pisa Interregional Tournament where the Biancocelesti won three games in a single day on June 7, 1908. He was the genius who decided to bring a coffee machine with him, much appreciated by the rest of the team. Legend has it that since he did not have anything to heat the machine with, he decided to use some wood on the train taking them to Pisa, almost causing a fire!!!
He was an excellent defensive midfielder and sometimes played in defence. A great sportsman, he was good at all sports: swimming, fencing, water polo and javelin. In 1909 he left, as a volunteer, for the Italo-Turkish war and was stationed in Tripolitania. Back in Rome in 1912 he continued to play for Lazio until he left for the first World War.
He played so well in the period 1919-21 that even the Northern Italian press wanted him to play for Italy. With Lazio he won everything he could have won at local level and participated in the National Finals in 1912-13, 1913-14 and 1922-23, losing all three.
In 1923 he signed for Alba and in 1924-25 reached the final again, beaten 6-0 by Bologna on aggregate. After two years he came back to play for Lazio.
Once he stopped playing he continued in the family business as green grocer wholesaler.
He died in unfortunate circumstances on June 17, 1944, after being run over by a US military truck while crossing the road.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | National Championship | Other Tournaments |
1908 | 5 | - | 5 |
1909 | 2 | - | 2 |
1910 | 1 | - | 1 |
1912-13 | 21 (2) | 13 (1) | 8 (1) |
1913-14 | 19 (6) | 15 (6) | 4 |
1914-15 | 17 (2) | 14 (2) | 3 |
1918 | 1 | - | 1 |
1919-20 | 15 (2) | 8 (1) | 7 (1) |
1920-21 | 13 (1) | 13 (1) | - |
1921-22 | 19 | 16 | 3 |
1922-23 | 17 (1) | 17 (1) | - |
Total | 132 (14) | 96 (12) | 36 (2) |
Sources
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