Carlo Regalia

Carlo Regalia was born in Lonate Pozzolo (Varese), on March 1, 1934.

Source Lazio Wiki

He started playing football in the Gallaratese (Milan) youth set up and in 1951 joined the first team squad for two years. The Rossoblu were in Serie C but were relegated. The following season they finished 6th. Regalia played 33 league games with 5 goals.

In 1953 he joined Pavia briefly in Serie B but after only 3 league games he returned to Gallaratese in the 4th tier. He stayed another two seasons with 5th and 3rd places. He made 57 league appearances with 23 goals.

In 1955 he moved to Cagliari in Serie B. He stayed four seasons with 6th, 10th, 17th (avoided relegation due to league reform) and 4th place. He played 96 league games with 35 goals. His managers included Lazio legend Silvio Piola (1934-43), Carlo Rigotti and Stefano Perati.

In 1959 he moved to another island and signed for Messina in Serie B. The Giallorossi finished 8th under Bruno Arcari and he played 30 league games with 5 goals.

The following season he moved back to Lombardy and joined Simmenthal Monza in Serie B. The Brianzoli did well under Hugo Lamanna finishing 5th but Regalia only played 5 league games and scored 1 goal.

He then left Monza but stayed in Lombardy, joining Pro Patria (Busto Arsizio) in Serie B. He stayed five seasons finishing 6th, 9th, 13th, 9th and 18th (relegated). He played 112 league games with 13 goals. His managers included Pietro Magni, Franco Pedroni, Luciano Lupi, Paolo Todeschini (Lazio player 1948-49 and manager 1961-62) and Angelo Turconi.

At 32 he retired and he became a coach.

He started at Pro Patria where he had already done some coaching with the youth teams in his last season as a player.

He was with the Tigrotti in Serie C from November 1966 to 1970. They finished 10th, 5th and 13th twice. One of his players in 1968-69 was future Lazio Scudetto winner Luciano Re Cecconi.

In 1970-71 he was in charge at Omegna (Piedmont) in Serie D. The Lupi finished 16th but avoided relegation.

In 1971-72 he was assistant manager to Luigi Radice at Cesena in Serie B. The Bianconeri finished 6th. The squad included Lazio connections Paolo Ammoniaci (1975-79) and Paolo Ferrario (1960-61 and 1961-62).

In 1972 he moved south-east to Bari and stayed a season and a bit. The Galletti were in Serie B and finished 11th while the following year he was sacked after 13 games and Bari were eventually relegated. His players included future Lazio Totò Lopez (1975-80).

In 1974 he swapped southern coasts and moved to Reggio Calabria. Reggina were in Serie C and he stayed two seasons, finishing 6th and 7th. One of his players was future Lazio manager Beppe Materazzi (1988-90).

Regalia's last coaching experience was with Salernitana in 1976-77. The Granata were in Serie C and finished 6th but Regalia was replaced in April by Mario Saracino.

Regalia then started the third phase of his career. He was one of the founders of the A.DI.SE, the Association of Italian Sporting Directors.

He himself started at Bari and did well with the Baresi signing several future talents and narrowly missing promotion to Serie A in 1982 under manager Enrico Catuzzi.

He then worked briefly for Alessandria in 1984-85 before joining Lazio in 1986 with former Alessandria owners Giorgio and Gian Marco Calleri who had bought Lazio. He contributed to the rebuilding of the Biancocelesti under manager Eugenio Fascetti, avoiding relegation despite a nine-point docking, winning promotion and then bringing stability in Serie A under his former player Materazzi and then Dino Zoff.

He left Lazio in 1992 and in 1993 returned to Bari as general director of football. He stayed ten years building a good team and the Galletti spent six seasons in Serie A (1994-96, 1997-2001). His managers included Materazzi and Fascetti again. Some players who started at Bari in those years include future world champions Gianluca Zambrotta and Simone Perrotta plus Nicola Ventola (Inter) and Antonio Cassano (Roma, Real Madrid, Sampdoria, Milan, Inter).

In 2005 Regalia became sporting director at Lecce where he stayed five seasons. The Giallorossi alternated two seasons in A and three in B.

In 2010 he went back to Pro Patria in Lega Pro 2 (4th tier) but resigned in February 2011 after falling out with the owner.

On January 7 2012 he became sporting director at Piacenza in Lega Pro 1 (3rd tier) but left in April following the club being declared bankrupt.

At 78 he ended his sixty odd year career in football. A career which took him from being a player, to manager and finally to sporting director.

As a player he was a talented attacking midfielder with a good goal scoring rate (82 league goals). Most of his playing days were spent in Serie B.

As a manager he coached mainly in the third tier and his peak was possibly the 11th place with Bari in Serie B in 1972-73.

As a sporting director he was very respected. He had good spells at Bari and Lecce with both clubs punching above their weight also thanks to his intuitive signings.

At Lazio he is remembered for his role in the -9 season, the promotion back to A after three years in the purgatory of B and the beginning of the reconstruction which would lead Lazio to be a major force in Italian football again. Regalia's period at Lazio is remembered with great fondness by Laziali.

Sources

Wikipedia