Leonardo Salvatore Siliato was born on April 4 1896 in Genoa. As many did (or had to) he joined the Fascist Party in the 1930s and was in charge of worker’s welfare and rector of the Genoa Province from 1929 to 1931. He was CEO of Ansaldo, one of Italy's oldest and most important engineering companies, and vice president of Liguria Calcio.
On November 4 1956, the internal auditor of Lazio, Aldo Giuliani, announced that the club had a debt of over 800 million lire, an enormous amount for the time. Costantino Tessarolo, club president, announced that Mario Vaseli, who had financed the club many times, had decided he was not going to fork out any more money and that the group headed by Remo Zenobi had only found 20 million lire out of the necessary 60 for the urgent expenses. In this dramatic situation, on December 23 Siliato and the entrepreneur Antonio Alecce took over the ownership of Lazio with the former becoming president and the latter financier and consultant.
The financial situation did not change and on March 23 1957, Siliato resigned. He sold Arne Selmosson to Inter in order to cash in much needed money but the protests of the board and fans blocked the operation. A plan to cut costs and the attempt to increase the donations by the board was successful and Siliato stayed. But Lazio were still on the verge of bankruptcy and there seemed to be no future, testified also by the fans disillusionment as Lazio Udinese had only 1800 spectators. Siliato however was ambitious and on April 5 he signed Fulvio Bernardini as new manager.
But on July 6, 1958, some news came that shocked the Lazio world. Selmosson had been sold to Roma for 135 million lire. The fans staged a public protest and a few members of the board tried to convince Selmosson to refuse the transfer. But there was nothing anybody could do.
Lazio however then won their first silverware: the 1958 Coppa Italia. Having won their group in June-July eliminating Roma and Napoli, Lazio reached the final beating Juventus in the semis, and a Maurilio Prini goal in the final at the Olimpico against Fiorentina, gave Lazio their first trophy in their history.
Siliato, tired and ill, threw in the towel on July 25 1959 and Andrea Ercoli took his place.
Leonardo Siliato must be remembered as the one who took over in really dark times. He did his best, fuelled by his love for the club, to find solutions in a very difficult situation.
He died in Rome on October 24 1976.
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