All that mattered was winning
Not a great match by Lazio but at least they won
Also on this day: April 26, 1992, Lazio Cremonese 3-2. Lazio beat Cremonese not without difficulty and keep a glimmer of hope for a European qualification. Player of the day: Dario Marcolin
The season so far
In 1924-25, and earlier years, there was no Serie A as we know it today. Football in Italy was played regionally with a Northern League and a Southern one. There were two groups in the northern league, the winners of which would meet in the final and whoever won that would then play the winner of the southern league.
The Southern League was organised differently. There were four groups, representing teams in Campania (four teams), Lazio (five teams), Sicily (two teams) and Apulia (six teams) plus a team from Marche that went straight to the semi final group stage. The top two of Campania, Lazio and Apulia would meet the Marche and Sicilian team in two semi-final groups. The winners of these two groups would then meet in a southern league final.
The previous season, which had the same formula, had seen a chaotic finish. In the South Group, Lazio had arrived joint second with Fortitudo, behind Alba. As a consequence, a play-off was needed to determine which of the two would join Alba in the Interregional Southern semi-final Group. The Biancocelesti beat Fortitudio 2-0 and joined Anconitana, Ideale Bari and Savoia.
But there was chaos. The final standings had been Savoia 8 points, Lazio 7, Ideal Bari 5, Anconitana 4. So Savoia were to play Alba in the championship semi-final. But there had been a problem. On June 1, 1924, there was supposed to be the match between Savoia and Ideale Bari but the game could not take place because there was a military festival on the pitch. The Directory of the Southern League decided that the game could be played on June 22 and Ideale lost 7-1. But the Apulian side decided to appeal against the verdict with the Italian Federation asking for a 2-0 victory because the original game could not take place. And they won!!! Hence the standings became Lazio and Ideale 7 points, Savoia 6 and Anconitana 5.
Lazio and Ideale at this point had to have a play off to determine who would play the semi-final and Lazio won in extra time. But a second decision, in favour of Savoia, changed everything and Lazio missed out.
This season the Biancocelesti managed to arrive second in the South Group, so qualifying for the semi-final stage where they were grouped with Anconitana, Savoia and Pro Italia. Lazio had lost the first game against Anconitana away and today was the first home game against the Taranto based Pro Italia.
The match: Sunday, April 26, 1925, Campo Rondinella, Rome
Lazio did not play a good match. Everything was missing, attack, defence, midfield, plus they were tactically disastrous and not very cohesive. On the other hand, Pro Italia, who were certainly not as good as the Biancocelesti, played well in all areas with one exception. Despite basically dominating the entire game, they were never dangerous and Lazio scored with Dante Filippi in the 34th minute. In the second half tried to improve in a match that was characterised by Fillipi’s solitary goal but the Tarantini defended well and all attempts by Aldo Fraschetti, Giovanni Vojak and Fulvio Bernardini came to no avail.
At least Lazio won and now the table read: Anconitana 3 points, Pro Italia & Lazio 2, Savoia 1.
Who played for Lazio
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Sclavi, Saraceni II, Fiorini, Nesi, Bernardini, Parboni, Cattaneo, Vojak, Pardini, Filippi, Fraschetti
Manager: Koszegi
Who played for Pro Italia
Pieri, Catapano, Di Donna, Friuli (I), Bertucci, Ascanelli, Friuli (II), Palmisano, Cassato, Santa Maria (II), De Pasquale
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Referee: Argento
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Goal: 34’ Filippi
What happened next
Lazio arrived joint first with Anconitana. As a consequence, there was a play off for the final which the Biancocelesti lost. The Marchigiani then lost the final of the Southern League against Alba who were then defeated in the national final by Bologna. It was Bologna’s first scudetto.
The players with most appearances were Ezio Sclavi, Fuilvio Bernardini (top scorer with 15 goals), Aldo Fraschetti and Carlo Nesi who played 15 games.
Lazio 1924-25
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
National Championship | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 33 |
Top appearances
Player | Total |
Ezio Sclavi | 15 |
Fulvio Bernardini | 15 |
Aldo Fraschetti | 15 |
Carlo Nesi | 15 |
Top goal scorers
Player | Total |
Fulvio Bernardini | 15 |
Antonio Vojak | 8 |
Aldo Fraschetti | 3 |
Dante Filippi | 2 |
Let's talk about Carlo Nesi
Carlo Nesi was born in Rome but his birthday is unknown. He started playing for Lazio at a very early age and was a pillar of the Biancoceleste midfield from 1922 to 1927. In those years there was no Serie A, in which he never played. Italy was divided into regional groups and the winner of the Centre-South groups played against the winner of the Northern group. The difference between the two was enormous and the Northern Italian team won every single time. In 1926-27 the was finally a national competition with 20 teams divided into two groups with the top three going to a final group, the winner of which would be champions. The same formula applied for the 1927-28 championship (but with an extra two teams). In 1928-29 the two groups had 16 teams each, the top teams then met in the final. In 1929, finally there was a national competition as we know it today.
Lazio in the years Nesi played for them reached the national final once in 1922-23, losing to Genoa, and the semi-final group twice , in 1923-24 and 1924-25.
Nesi made 69 appearances for Lazio with three goals. In 1930-31 he played for the Roma reserves team and in 1931 he signed for Robur Siena. He then came back to Rome to play for the Monte dei Paschi Sporting Group. He retired in 1935.
He was a great midfield player and played with every manager in those years because of his reliability and tactical strength.
He died in Rome on June 7, 1982
Lazio Career
Competition | Total appearances (goals) | National Championship | First Division | National Division |
1922-23 | 4 | 4 | - | |
1923-24 | 17 (1) | 17 (1) | - | |
1924-25 | 15 | 15 | - | |
1925-26 | 8 | 8 | - | |
1926-27 | 15 (1) | - | 15 (1) | |
1927-28 | 9 (1) | - | - | 9 (1) |
1928-29 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Total | 59 (3) | 44 (1) | 15 (1) | 10 (1) |
Sources