Arrigo Dolso was born in San Daniele del Friuli, on November 12, 1946.
At 14 he joined Udinese's youth sector and four years later made his first team debut in Serie C. He played two seasons for the "Zebrette" playing 30 league games with 1 goal. The Bianconeri finished 11th and 2nd under Severino Feruglio and then Luigi Comuzzi.
In 1966 he joined Lazio. The manager was Umberto Mannocci until November and then Maino Neri. Lazio were relegated to Serie B and Dolso played 10 league games with 1 goal (Bologna) and 1 game in Coppa Italia.
The following year Lazio finished 11th under Renato Gei and then Bob Lovati from February. Dolso played 17 league games with 1 goal (Monza).
In 1968-69 Lazio were finally promoted under Juan Carlos Lorenzo (Lovati sat on bench until March 30 for bureaucratic reasons). Lazio won the league and Dolso played 8 games with 1 goal (Genoa) and 2 games in Coppa Italia. Gian Piero Ghio and Juan Carlos Morrone were the usual starters up front.
In 1969-70 he spent a season at Monza on loan in Serie B. The Brianzoli finished 5th under Gigi Radice and Dolso played 22 league games with 1 goal (Catania). In the squad were also former Lazio Guido Onor and Carlo Soldo.
In 1970-71 he was back at Lazio in Serie A. The Biancocelesti were relegated under Lorenzo and then Lovati from May 30. Lazio did however win the reasonably prestigious Alps Cup, defeating Basel 3-1 away. Dolso played 27 league games with 2 goals (Torino, Roma), 2 in Coppa Italia. He also scored a goal against Winterthur in a 5-2 victory in the Alps Cup.
In 1971-72 Tommaso Maestrelli arrived as manager at Lazio but unfortunately Dolso, after playing 3 league games with 1 goal (Novara) and 3 games in Coppa Italia, was loaned to Varese in Serie A.
The "Bosini" got through three managers, Sergio Brighenti (1-6) Giancarlo CadÄ— (7-16) and Pietro Maroso (17-30) and ended up relegated. Dolso played 15 league games.
He then did not return to Lazio but instead was sold to Alessandria in Serie C. He stayed four seasons; three in C and one in B. His managers included Giuseppe Marchioro, Dino Ballacci, Mario Pietruzzi, Sergio Castelletti, Anselmo Giorcelli, Giacomo Losi (Roma legend) and Franco Viviani. Dolso played 100 league games for the "Orso Grigio" (The Grey Bear) with 5 goals.
He then spent two seasons at Benevento in Serie C with 6th and 4th places. He played 17 league games for the "Stregoni" (The Sorcerers) from Basilicata with 1 goal.
In 1978-79 he played a season with Trapani in C2. It was negative and the Granata were relegated with Dolso making 19 league appearances in Sicily.
In 1979 he moved to Tuscany and Grosseto in Serie C2. He spent four seasons with the "Torelli Maremmani" (The Maremma Bullocks) with 9th, 7th, 6th and 17th places (in the last the Grifoni were relegated). Dolso played 112 league games with 12 goals.
He then spent a season with Ravenna in C2 but the Giallorossi were relegated with Dolso making 20 league appearances and scoring 1 goal.
At that point his love affair with the island of Elba started. He ended his career as a player with Audace Portoferraio at amateur level. He was coach between 1984 and 1996, also still playing on and off in the early years. This long spell was only interrupted once in 1989-90 when he coached Grosseto at regional level and a stint as sporting director of Civitavecchia, a port town near Rome.
After retiring from coaching, in 1996, he stayed on in Elba but died in Milan on October 15, 2015.
Dolso was a left footed midfielder. He was a skilful player, not a prolific goal scorer but better at setting up goals for the forwards. He played 55 games in Serie A with 4 goals and 82 in Serie B with 4 goals plus hundreds more in the lower tiers. He won a U19's Scudetto with Udinese. He was also briefly in the Italy U21 squad.
At Lazio he played a total of 82 games with 6 league goals over four seasons. He won a promotion in 1969 and the Alps Cup in 1971. He played alongside Pino Wilson, Giorgio Chinaglia, Franco Nanni, Giuliano Fortunato and other Lazio greats. He was briefly coached by legendary Tommaso Maestrelli and scored in the 1970 derby (1-1, unfortunately Roma equalised with future Lazio great Sergio Petrelli).
Lazio Career
Season | Total Games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | Fairs Cup | Mitropa Cup | Cup of the Alps |
1966-67 | 13 (1) | 10 (1) | - | 1 | - | 2 | - |
1967-68 | 17 (1) | - | 17 (1) | - | - | - | - |
1968-69 | 10 (1) | - | 8 (1) | 2 | - | - | - |
1969-70 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | 1 | - |
1970-71 | 32 (3) | 27 (2) | - | 2 | 1 | - | 2 (1) |
1971-72 | 6 (1) | - | 3 (1) | 3 | - | - | - |
Total | 82 (7) | 40 (3) | 28 (3) | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 (1) |
Sources