Umberto Lenzini was born in Walsenburg in Colorado, USA, on July 20, 1912.
His family had emigrated to the States from Fiumalbo, a small village in the Apennines near Modena. They owned an emporium near Colorado Springs. When they returned to Italy Umberto was 15 and they invested their savings in land around Rome.
Meanwhile Umberto played football. His clubs included Pistoiese, Rondinella (Florence), Fortitudo (Rome) and Juventus Roma. He was also an athlete, winning the 100 metres at the youth games with an excellent time of 11 seconds.
After his sporting years he became an entrepreneur, with his brothers Aldo and Angelo, in the construction business starting from his family lands. His company built extensively in the areas of north and west Rome in areas such as Valle Aurelia, Cassia, Pineta Sacchetti and Balduina which are now just off-centre but in the 1960's were mainly uninhabited.
In 1964 he became a Counsellor of S.S Lazio and in 1965 following an internal club crisis, vice-commissioner and then, in November, president and main shareholder.
His first years in charge were not easy. In 1965-66 Lazio just avoided relegation but the following season were unable to. After a mediocre year in Serie B he then appointed Juan Carlos Lorenzo as manager and Lazio were promoted in 1968-69.
In 1969-70 he started to make some of his key signings, Giancarlo Oddi and above all Giuseppe Wilson and Giorgio Chinaglia. Lazio finished a decent 8th.
The following year things did not go as well and Lazio were relegated. Lenzini fell out with Lorenzo and the season degenerated. Lorenzo was replaced by Bob Lovati on May 30 and Lazio then won the Alps Cup but Lenzini had already identified the new manager in a man who would change Lazio’s history, Tommaso Maestrelli. Lorenzo backed him even when things initially did not go so well.
In 1971-72 Lazio added a full-back Luigi "Gigi" Martini and Lazio ultimately won promotion, playing good football.
In 1972-73 more fundamental pieces were added to the jigsaw. A goalkeeper Felice Pulici, a defender Sergio Petrelli (from Roma…) two midfielders Mario Frustalupi and Luciano Re Cecconi plus a winger Renzo Garlaschelli. The sacrifice was Giuseppe Massa but his substitute Frustalupi (the aptly named Wolfthrasher) would prove to be a winning choice. Lazio went close to winning the title and challenged until the very last game of the season but ended up 3rd. Legend has it that he was advised to "incentivise" opposition Napoli on the last game of the season but refused to due to his sporting values (something a big club from Turin had conveniently temporarily forgotten...). To thank his players anyway Lenzini took them all to the USA at the club's expense.
The summer that followed proved to be his masterpiece. He refused all offers from the big northern clubs for his stars and Giorgio Chinaglia in particular. He resisted the high offers and kept his players. Lazio and Lenzini wanted to give it another go.
The 1973-74 season was a triumph. On May 12 1974 the Biancocelesti won their first historic Scudetto. "Sor Umberto" had put together a wonderful team. Lenzini himself made it a habit to do a lap of honour around the athletics track to thank the fans for their support and also to lap up some of the glory. He only had one run in with Maestrelli. This was before the return derby when he found the manager's young twins playing in the changing rooms and kicked them out angrily. He later apologised and gave them an expensive children's encyclopaedia.
The following year was characterised by the beginning of Maestrelli's health problems. Lazio finished a decent 4th but were unable to play in the European Cup due to the incidents during and after the home game against Ipswich Town in the previous year's UEFA Cup.
The 1975- 76 season was a dramatic one. Lazio made the mistake of selling Mario Frustalupi, Giancarlo Oddi and Franco Nanni and in April Chinaglia left to play for New York Cosmos. Maestrelli's illness kept him out until December when returned to the bench, replacing Giulio Corsini. Lazio just managed to avoid relegation in a nail-biting end of season.
The 1976-77 season saw the arrival of Luis Vinicio on the bench. Two tragedies hit the Lazio world, the death of Tommaso Maestrelli on December 2 and then the absurd killing of Luciano Re Cecconi by a jeweller who mistook the Lazio player for a robber. On the field however, Lazio did well finishing 5th and qualifying for the UEFA Cup also thanks to the rise of young local striker Bruno Giordano.
The following season Lazio struggled and finished 10th and Vinicio was replaced by Bob Lovati in April.
The 1979-80 season was a disaster. Lovati stayed on as manager but two events marked Lazio's history and the end of Lenzini's era. First a Lazio fan, Vincenzo Paparelli was killed by a flare fired from the Roma end before a local derby. Then in March four Lazio players were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Totonero match fixing scandal. Lazio avoided relegation on the field but were subsequently punished with relegation. In September 1980 a tired Umberto left the club to his brother Aldo. The Umberto era was over.
Aldo Lenzini a year later left the club to Gian Chiaron Casoni and the Lenzini family reign was definitely over.
Umberto Lenzini died at home on February 22, 1987, of heart failure. He has since had a park named after him in "his" north-west Rome.
Lenzini was a successful entrepreneur, half of north Rome was built by his company. He was a footballer and an athlete but to Laziali he was above all "papà Lenzini". A kind-hearted man who alongside Maestrelli ran Lazio like a family. A team built from the ashes of Serie B and led to the biggest prize of all, the Scudetto. Bad luck and tragedies then prevented him and Lazio building on that success but "Sor Umberto" or “Lo Zio D'America" will always be revered as the president who won the Biancocelesti's first historic title with a crazy gang who played wonderful football.
I still remember his laps of honour in the mid 70's. A portly figure who slowly made his way around the track waving at the crowd, a real character.
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