Ziroli and Rier play the violin with hat-tricks
With three goals each the two Lazio forwards trounce hapless Cremonese
Also on this day:
The season so far
This 1929-30 season was the first single national Serie A table.
The previous year Lazio had come joint 8th with Napoli in the National B group. They then had a playoff against the "Partenopei" to decide which team would gain the last place in the following year's single Serie A. The game was played in Milan and ended up 2-2 also after extra-time but luckily the FIGC (Italian Football Federation) then decided to give them both access without replaying the match (no penalty shoot outs in those days). Lazio had changed managers three times: Austrian Franz Sedlacek (1-3), Fernando Saraceni (4-14), Augusto Rangone (15-23) and finally Hungarian Ferenc Molnar (24-34).
For the 1929-30 season Lazio started with Molnar again but he had then been replaced by Pietro Piselli after three matches. Lazio had a few new players this season: defenders Alfredo Foni (Udinese) and Orlando Tognotti (Genova 1893), midfielder Mario Malatesta (Spezia) and forward Luigi Ziroli (Serenissima).
So far, Lazio had held their own in this new league formula. The Biancocelesti had won 1 (Bologna 3-0 at home on debut), drawn 4 (the last 4) and lost 1. They were on 6 points, in joint 8th place with Roma and Pro Vercelli.
The previous season Cremonese had finished 7th in the B group and won the right to play in the new Serie A. The manager was Hungarian József Gulyás and top scorer was Alessandro Savelli with 10 league goals. The Grigiorossi had won one (4-2 at home) and lost one (0-3 away) against Lazio.
This season the manager was still Hungarian but was now Béla Ludwig. The Lombards had a few new players: midfielder Menotti Brugna (Brescia), Bruno Foglia (Casalbuttano), forwards Alfio Cavicchioli (Mantova), Alessandro Mazzoletti (Ambrosiana-Inter), Olindo Serdoz (Fiumana) and Otello Subinaghi (Fanfulla). They also had several players up from the youth team including midfielder Pietro Camisaschi (would play 183 league games) and forward Leo Trovati (would play 286 league games).
So far, the Tigers were struggling. They had won 1 (Triestina 2-1 at home), drawn 1 (Juventus 0-0 at home) and lost 4 (Pro Patria 2-4, Roma 0-9 and Ambrosiana-Inter 2-3 away and Genova 1893 1-2 at home). The Grigiorossi were currently joint 16th with Padova on 3 points, only 1 point above rock bottom Livorno.
Lazio were favourites today and Cremonese had already played in Rome once this season and lost 0-9.
The match: Sunday, November 17, 1929, Stadio Rondinella, Rome
A grey, humid day brought about 6,000 spectators to the Rondinella ground.
Lazio were without defender Orlando Tognotti while Cremonese had several absences: keeper Ugo Ferrazzi, full-back Renato Bodini, midfielder Battista Perotti plus forwards Olindo Serdoz and Otello Subinaghi.
Lazio’s superiority bore its fruits immediately. In the 4th minute Piero Pastore crossed from the by-line and Luigi Ziroli headed in to give Lazio the lead. Lazio 1 Cremonese 0.
The visitors suffered another setback in the 10th minute when forward Italo Defendi got injured and was moved out to the wing.
Lazio then sat back a bit and the game slowed down. The Biancocelesti however accelerated again just after the half hour and scored twice. In the 34th minute Dino Sbrana crossed and the keeper dived to intercept it but lost the ball which reached Ziroli who had no problem scoring, 2-0. In the 37th minute Ziroli got his hat-trick with a spectacular bicycle kick from a Leopoldo Caimmi cross. Lazio 3 Cremonese 0.
The game was one sided but in the 58th minute Cremonese lost their keeper too when Genesio Borzoni twisted his ankle and was forced off. Defender Pietro Balestrieri took his place between the posts. The Grigiorossi were practically down to nine men, without a proper keeper and 0-3 down... Lazio soon took advantage.
Only a minute later Franco Rier scored from close range to put Lazio 4-0 up. The Biancocelesti then scored again with a low Rier strike in the 71st minute and the Roveretano got his hat-trick in the 86th minute when he latched on to a good Pastore assist and beat the helpless Balestrieri. Lazio 6 Cremonese 0.
An easy win for Lazio but Cremonese had been unlucky with injuries. Lazio were one nil up already before the first one but the score line would probably not have been so exaggerated had the keeper stayed on.
Anyway, a good win for Lazio who moved up to joint 5th with Torino and Pro Vercelli. Cremonese were now joint bottom with Padova as Livorno had beaten Milan 4-1.
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Piselli
Who played for Cremonese
Borzoni, Pollastri, Balestreri, Cavicchioli, Cabrini, Sbalzarini, Musoni, Camisaschi, Defendi, Trovati, Mazzoletti
Manager: Ludwig
Referee: Gama
Goals: 4' Ziroli, 34' Ziroli, 37' Ziroli, 59' Rier, 71' Rier, 86' Rier
What happened next
Lazio lost the next three games but then picked up with two wins. It was a difficult season. At a certain point Ferenc Molnár was called back to replace Pietro Piselli. Lazio only reached safety in the penultimate match by beating Pro Vercelli 3-2 at home and finished 15th. Top scorer was Luigi Ziroli with 11 league goals.
Cremonese ended up relegated in 18th place. After 18 games they replaced manager Ludwig with Secondo Talamazzini. From today's game onwards, the Tigers only won 3 more games all season, drew 7 and lost another 17 (including Lazio 1-3). Top scorers were Oliviero Serdoz and Otello Subinaghi with 7 league goals each. Cremonese would not make it back to Serie A until 1984.
The first Serie A was won by Ambrosiana-Inter while Cremonese went down with Padova.
Let's talk about Luigi Ziroli
Luigi Ziroli was born in Rome on September 27, 1903.
He started playing as a youngster with Roman club Juventus Audax but in 1924, at 21, he joined S.S Alba.
In 1924-25 the Romans won the Lazio regional group, the Lega Sud semi-finals and then the Sud final beating Anconitana. They thus qualified for the national final but lost to Bologna 0-6 on aggregate.
In 1925-26 the Albini again qualified for the national final but this time lost to Juventus 1-12 on aggregate.
In 1926 SS. Alba merged with another Roman club, Audace Roma, and became Unione Sportiva Alba Audace.
In 1926-27 Alba Audace finished 9th in the Divisione Nazionale and were relegated. At the end of the season however, Alba merged with Fortitudo Pro Roma and Roman to form the new A.S Roma. This was a decision promoted by the fascist party for Rome to have one single strong club to contrast the powerful and seemingly unbeatable northern clubs. Fortunately, Lazio managed to avoid the merger and remained fiercely independent and proud.
In his three seasons with Alba/Audace, Ziroli played 49 league games and scored 19 goals.
In 1927-28 he found himself playing for the newly formed Giallorossi. Roma finished 8th in the B group of the Divisione Nazionale so did not qualify for the title group. They then won the CONI Cup (for the teams excluded from the title race). Ziroli played 19 league games with 3 goals (Livorno, La Dominante x2) and 7 games in the CONI Cup.
In 1928 he left the capital and joined Venezia. The Venetians were in the Divisione Nazionale but finished 11th and were relegated, under Hungarian manager Antal Mally. Ziroli played 18 league games and scored 10 goals.
In 1929 he returned to Rome and joined Lazio. It was the season of the first ever single national Serie A. The manager was first Ferenc Molnár then Pietro Piselli and then Molnár again and Lazio finished 15th. Ziroli played 31 league games and was top scorer with 11 goals (Cremonese x3, Padova x2, Bologna, Genova, Alessandria, Ambrosiana-Inter, Modena, Torino).
In 1930-31 Lazio did better and finished 8th. They had three different managers, Ferenc Molnár, Cesare Migliorini and finally Amílcar. The highlights were beating Juventus 2-1 and Inter 1-0 at home and Milan 1-0 away while both derbies were draws. Ziroli played 28 league games with 2 goals (Ambrosiana-Inter, Triestina).
Ziroli then left Rome and joined Palermo where he stayed nine seasons. The Rosanero immediately won promotion to Serie A. They then finished 13th, 12th, 7th, 15th (relegated), 7th, 7th, 7th and 14th. Ziroli played 194 league games with 9 goals. His lower goal scoring rate was due to the fact that in Sicily he played mainly as full-back. His managers included, future Lazio, Tony Cargnelli plus Hungarians Gyula Feldmann, Karoly Csapkay, Gyula Lelovics and Árpád Hajós.
Ziroli then spent one last season, in 1940-41, with Mater, a local Roman club who were in Serie C (in 41-42 they even got promoted to B). He then retired at 37.
Ziroli started as a left winger but then moved to full-back at Palermo.
At Lazio he stayed two seasons. He was nicknamed "Ziroletto" and was a popular player. He was very prolific in his first season with 11 goals. He played a total of 59 games for Lazio with 13 goals.
Luigi Ziroli died in Rome on July 6, 1968.
Lazio career
Season | Serie A Appearances | Serie A Goals |
1929-30 | 31 | 11 |
1930-31 | 28 | 2 |
Total | 59 | 13 |
Sources
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