Petar Manola was born in Jajce (in modern day Bosnia), on February 28, 1918. He was of Yugoslavian nationality.
His first club at 13 was Slavija in Sarajevo. At 18 he moved to BSK Belgrade where he stayed six seasons, winning a Yugoslav league title in 1939.
In 1942 he joined Lazio. The manager was Alexander Popovich and Lazio finished 9th. Manola played 11 league games with 4 goals (Liguria, Triestina x2, Fiorentina) plus 1 game in Coppa Italia.
In 1943-44 due to WW2 Lazio played in the "Campionato romano di guerra" (a tournament between all the local teams). The manager was Dino Canestri and Lazio won the league. Lazio won 14 and drew 4. They were all derbies but the main ones against Roma ended in two draws, 1-1 and 0-0. Manola scored Lazio's goal in the 1-1 draw. He played 12 league games and 2 in the mini tournament played at the end of the league between the top four clubs (Lazio came 3rd).
In 1944-45 the war situation again prevented any official national tournaments from being played. Lazio again played the local tournament and finished 2nd, plus the Roman Cup and another Inter-regional tournament. Manola played a total of 16 games with 1 goal. Lazio won one derby 2-0 and lost the other 0-1 against main rivals Roma.
In 1945-46 the national league was divided in a northern group and a centre-south one. Lazio had three different managers; Canestri (1-10), Salvador Gualtieri (player-manager 11-16) and Tony Cargnelli (17-20). Lazio finished 7th and missed out on the national finals. They again won a derby and lost one against Roma. Manola played 20 league games with 1 goal (Roma).
In the summer of 1946 Manola left Italy for France and joined Olympique Lyonnais in the Second Division. He only played two games for "Les Gones" (The Kids) before changing clubs but staying in France.
In 1947-48 he played for Red Star (from Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine in Paris). He played 24 league games with 1 goal for the "L'Etoile Rouge" before returning to Italy.
In 1948-49 he played for Napoli in Serie B. The Partenopei got through three managers, Felice Borei, Luigi De Manes and Vittorio Mosele and finished 5th. Manola played 14 league games and scored 1 goal (winner against Vicenza).
In 1949-50 he spent a year with Cavese in the Campania First Division. The Metelliani were promoted to Eccellenza (5th tier).
In 1950-51 he stayed in Campania but joined Benevento in Serie C. The "Stregoni" (The Sorcerers) finished 12th.
His last club was Turris (from Torre del Greco-Naples) in Interregionale Sud Promozione. The Torresi finished 5th and went up to the new 4th tier league. Between 1952 and 1955 the Corallesi finished 5th twice and 14th. For a stint in 1952 and then in the 54-55 season Manola was also player-manager. At the end of the season he retired, at 37.
As a player he also won 9 caps for Yugoslavia.
In 1962-63 he returned to Turris as manager. The Torresi were in the 5th tier and finished 2nd, just missing out on promotion to Puteolana.
In 1963-64 he was manager of Savoia (from Torre Annunziata-Naples), in the 5th tier, from the 5th game to the 19th when Bruno Pesaola took over. The Oplontini were eventually promoted.
Manola then worked as a dentist in Naples.
Manola was an attacking midfielder but also an excellent all-round sportsman. In his years with BSK Belgrade he also played for their basketball team. In his time in Rome, he took part in athletics events, representing Capitolina, his specialities were the 400 metres, 400 metre hurdles and the 800 metres.
He was with Lazio for four seasons including the war years. He played a total of 57 games and scored 6 goals, including two in derbies against Roma. He played alongside some Lazio greats such as Silvio Piola, Uber Gradella, Enrique Flamini, Salvador Gualtieri, Silvestro Pisa and Aldo Puccinelli just to name a few.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | National Serie A-B Centre-South | Roman War Championship | Other (1) |
1942-43 | 12 (4) | 11 (4) | 1 | - | - | - |
1943-44 | 14 (1) | - | - | - | 12 (1) | 2 |
1944-45 | 16 (1) | - | - | - | 9 | 7 (1) |
1945-46 | 20 (1) | - | - | 20 (1) | - | - |
1946-47 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - |
Total | 66 (7) | 15 (4) | 1 | 20 (1) | 21 (1) | 9 (1) |
(1) The Torneo a Quattro of 1944, the Interregional and City of Rome Tournaments of 1945.
Sources
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