Pietro Mario Pastore, better known as Piero, was born in Padua on April 3, 1903. He was an excellent striker who later became an actor.
He started playing football for his home town and after the First World War he was a regular in the first team. In 1920 he signed for Juventus where he played for 6 seasons and won the scudetto in 1925-26. That year he scored 26 goals.
In 1927 he was involved in the first Italian match fixing scandal. It involved three Juve players who were allegedly paid to let Torino win the derby. It was a very controversial case. The Torino accountant, Guido Nani, and a student who knew many of the players, Francesco Gaudioso, approached Luigi Allemandi to try to get him and other players to “help” Torino win the derby. Toro not only won the match coming from behind, but also won the scudetto.
Apparently the deal between Nani and Gaudioso was an upfront payment first, and the remainder of the money if Torino won the championship. When the Granata became champions, Gaudioso wanted his part of the deal but for unknown reasons Nani refused. At this point the student leaked the story to the press and the case exploded.
In the sporting investigation that followed, the whole story came out. Gaudioso had bribed Allemandi, Federico Munerati and Pastore, the latter two the worst players on the pitch (Pastore had even been sent off for a retaliatory foul). Allemandi was paid in cash, Munerati in booze and Pastore betted on Juventus losing.
Torino’s title was revoked, Allemandi got a life ban (later revoked, he even went on to win the World Cup for Italy in 1934) and the other two had an official warning.
As a consequence in 1928 Pastore was sold to Milan. That year he participated in the Amsterdam Olympic Games and won a bronze medal.
In 1929 he was loaned to Brescia for a US tour and in the states he was noted for his likeness with Rodolfo Valentino, the famous star of the silent movies. He started his acting career in a couple of films in small roles.
In 1929-30 he signed for Lazio and played for two seasons. He went back to Milan in 1931 but stayed for only a year and decided to invest in his acting career. Back at Lazio in 1932, he really was not that interested in playing football and in two years played only 18 games. In 1933 he was the protagonist of the film Steel, directed by Walter Ruttman.
In his last two years in football he played for Perugia in Serie B in 1934 and four games for Roma in 1935.
He played minor roles in over 60 films including Roman Holiday alongside Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, Ulysses, starring Kirk Douglas, and Barabbas with Anthony Quinn.
He played 75 games for Lazio and scored 32 goals.
He died in Rome on January 8, 1968.
Lazio career
Season | Appearances | Goals |
1929-30 | 28 | 10 |
1930-31 | 29 | 13 |
1932-33 | 12 | 5 |
1933-34 | 6 | 4 |
Total | 75 | 32 |
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