Strong start
Lazio win their first match of the season
Also on this day: September 8, 2000, Lazio Inter 4-3, Super Coppa. Claudio Lopez scores a brace as Lazio win the Super Coppa. Player of the day: Claudio Lopez
The season so far
The 1984-85 season had seen Lazio relegated to Serie B. This meant that there had to be a revolution in the team to sign players that could adapt to the new circumstances. President Giorgio Chinaglia, keen to amend the disastrous season where he had made many mistakes, chose Gigi Simoni as manager. Simoni had been able to help promote Genoa (twice) and Brescia to Serie A plus Pisa the previous season, so he was considered the best possible manager for Lazio.
As far as players were concerned, goodbye Bruno Giordano, Lionello Manfredonia, Joāo Batista, Michael Laudrup among many, and welcome Domenico Caso, Giuliano Fiorini, Fabio Poli, Roberto Galbiati, Giorgio Magnocavallo and Astutillo Malgioglio.
But there was a big financial problem. Chinaglia was sure he would get money from the US but this was not happening. Dark clouds were hovering over the club.
In the meantime, the season started with the Coppa Italia group stage. Lazio were paired with Atalanta, Sampdoria, Monopoli, Taranto and Catania. After having beaten Catania in the first game, they drew 2-2 in Bergamo coming from two down, drew at Taranto and at home with Samp. Coming into the final game against Monopoli at the Olimpico the table read: Atalanta 6 points, Sampdoria 6, Lazio 5, Monopoli 4, Catania 2, Taranto 1, the top two teams would go forward. Last decisive games: Samp-Atalanta and Lazio-Monopoli. The goal difference would probably be fundamental: Samp and Atalanta were on +4, Lazio on +1. Atalanta and Samp drew 2-2, Lazio should have scored 3 or more to qualify but only managed 2, so they were eliminated.
Today was the first Serie B game.
The match: Sunday, September 8, 1985, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio did not even give the spectators time to start realising that a new season had begun that they were already ahead. In the 2nd minute indirect free kick just outside the Palermo box, Domenico Caso passed to Gabriele Podavini, big whack, Lazio 1 Palermo 0.
Alas, the advantage did not last long. In the 5th minute Oliviero Di Stefano from the right crossed into the box, Poda missed the ball and Giuseppe Guerini equalised. But in the 21st minute Lazio went ahead again. Corner taken by Fabio Poli, great volley from Giuliano Fiorini, a-la-Giorgio-Chinaglia, 2-1 for Lazio.
After the initial fireworks the game slowed down also due to the heat. The Biancocelesti controlled it trying not to make any more mistakes. Palermo tried to create chances but only managed a Onofrio Baroni shot which shaved the post. In the second half, in the 58th minute, the referee ignored a blatant foul by the Palermo goalkeeper on Fiorini. Palermo did then push forward but all they could muster was a Di Stefano shot parried by Astutillo Malgioglio.
Good start for Lazio.
Who played for Lazio
Malgioglio, Podavini, Calisti, Galbiati, Filisetti, Magnocavallo, Poli (87’ Calcaterra), Vinazzani, Fiorini (65’ Fonte), Caso, Garlini
Substitutes: Ielpo, Foschi, Toti
Manager: Simoni
Who played for Palermo
Paleari, S.Benedetti, Falcetta (68' Cecilli), Guerini, Bigliardi, C.Ranieri, Piga, De Biasi, De Vitis, Barone (64' Pallanch), Di Stefano
Substitutes: Longo, Ronco, Maiellaro
Manager: Angelillo
Referee: Esposito
Goals: 2’ Podavini, 5’ Guerini, 21’ Fiorini
What happened next
The increasingly desperate financial situation forced Chinaglia to resign as president in December. The new president, Franco Chimenti, could not sustain the financial commitment alone so he started looking for partners. Giorgio and Gian Marco Calleri arrived and helped out, so at least a part of the wage debt could be paid off. Chimenti then made the mistake of confirming Simoni for another year without telling his new partners. The Calleri brothers backed out of Lazio and asked for their money back. Chimenti tried to look for new investors but found none. Lazio were bust.
At this point, fortunately the Calleri’s came back but they did not want to do it alone. Renato Bocchi, a Parma born entrepreneur who had always lived in Rome, came in and bought 51% of the club with the other 49% left to the Calleri brothers. Lazio were saved.
On the pitch, things did not go well. Financial insecurity and injuries were not helping. Despite being one the favourites on paper, the situation was not looking good. At home Lazio did not do too badly but away from home the results were terrible. At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were 10th, three points away from the promotion zone.
The last boat for Serie A was against Vicenza at home on March 2. Lazio went two goals up, then 3-2 but in the end lost 3-4 due to a mistake by Malgioglio. The goalkeeper, who had not had a good season, after the umpteenth insult from fans, took off his jersey and spat on it. Not a good idea. He was sacked.
In the ten games after the match against Vicenza, Lazio won just one and had not scored a goal in the last four matches. They were 14th together with Pescara, Perugia and Palermo, one point ahead of Sambenedettese and two above Catanzaro.
The situation was dramatic. The next game was against Catanzaro who needed to win to keep their own hopes alive. Lazio desperately needed to wake up. They managed to win 3-2 in Calabria hence avoiding any worries of relegation.
In the last match of the season Lazio beat Brescia 4-2. It was the last Lazio game for many players including fan favourite Vincenzo D’Amico.
A difficult year for Lazio. Oliviero Garlini was the player with most appearances (43) and the top scorer (18).
There was hope for the future but dark clouds were already looming over Lazio.
Lazio 1985-86
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie B | 38 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 38 |
Coppa Italia | 5 | 2 | 3 | - | 5 |
Total | 43 | 13 | 17 | 13 | 43 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
Garlini | 43 | 38 | 5 |
Podavini | 39 | 34 | 5 |
Calcaterra | 37 | 33 | 4 |
Galbiati | 35 | 30 | 5 |
Vinazzani | 35 | 30 | 5 |
Top goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
Garlini | 18 | 18 | - |
Caso | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Fiorini | 5 | 3 | 2 |
Podavini | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Let’s talk about Roberto Galbiati
Roberto Galbiati was born on September 16, 1957, in Cernusco sul Naviglio near Milan. He started playing football for Inter and in 1974 debuted in Serie A in an away match drawn against Sampdoria. He played in Milan for two seasons and then signed for Pescara who were in Serie B. In his first year the Abruzzesi won promotion to Serie A but did not manage to stay there in the following season. With Pescara back in Serie B, Galbiati moved to Florence. He stayed for four years making 111 appearances in Serie A with one goal. In 1982 he signed for Torino and stayed for three years making 75 league appearances.
In 1985 Lazio had been relegated to Serie B. Several players were sold so many had to be signed. President Giorgio Chinaglia wanted to build a strong team that could immediately get back to Serie A and in Galbiati he saw the man who could lead the defence. Galbiati initially was not too excited by the prospect of playing in Serie B but Chinaglia offered him a good wage to convince him and he accepted. But there was no money and the club almost went bust. This affected the players, worried over what was going to happen, and the season was dire. The Biancocelesti just managed to avoid relegation. Galbiati did not play as well as in previous years, but it was understandable, there was a lot of pressure to perform.
After a single season with Lazio, he returned to Florence for a year before spending the final part of his career with Prato and Spezia in Serie C1.
Galbiati was called up for the Italian Under 21 national team 15 times, making 14 appearances.
Once he retired, he became a manager first for Poggibonsi, then Spezia. In 2001 he was head coach for Fiorentina’s primavera and from 2002 to 2005 assistant to the head coach, quite a long list in those years: Pietro Vierchowod, Alberto Cavasin, Emiliano Mondonico, Sergio Buso and Dino Zoff. After that experience, he managed minor Tuscany teams until 2011.
He currently works as punter in local TV and commentates on Primavera games for Sportitalia.
Galbiati was an excellent libero, but he came to Lazio at the wrong time.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1985-86 | 35 | 30 | 5 |
Sources
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