Ciao Bomber Garlini
- Simon Basten
- May 9
- 3 min read
Updated: May 10
Oliviero Garlini, Lazio forward in the mid 80s, passed away on May 8, 2025 at just 68 years of age. He was well remembered by all Biancoceleste fans and it was his goals that helped Lazio avoid relegation in the dramatic and problematic 1985-86 Serie B season.
Born in Stezzano on March 4 1957, Garlini started his professional career in Como in serie A in 1975-76 but a year later he was sold to Empoli in Serie C. Despite scoring a lot of goals, his career was slow in taking off. After a year at Empoli, he played two years for Nocerina, contributing to their promotion to Serie B, and a year at Fano in Serie C1.
Garlini then started to play for Cesena where he found some stability and stayed four years. Cesena got promoted in his first year and in Serie A he became Walter Schachner's attacking partner.
Lazio signed him for the 1984-85 season, which was a very negative one, but despite being behind Bruno Giordano and Michael Laudrup in the pecking order he still managed to play a fair number of games even though he scored just one goal. The next year was in Serie B but he played as the main central striker. Despite another annus horribilis for Lazio, he was Serie B top goal scorer with 18 goals.
Lazio had very little money and needed to cash in, so they sold him to Inter. He played one year for the Nerazzurri (and scored against Roma!!!) before going back to Atalanta in serie B and helping them win promotion to Serie A with 17 goals.
His last four years of football at Ancona, Atalanta, Ascoli and Ravenna saw him score less and less and he finally quit professional football in 1991.
Garlini then became a coach and worked with the youth teams of Dalmine from 2004 to 2011.
In 1999 he was called by his friend Alessandro Altobelli to be team manager of Padova. But had to resign following an unfortunate episode. In the match between Padova and Varese in Serie C1, with Padova winning 2-0, the head coach Adriano Fedele called for the substitution of the only under-21 player left on the pitch. The problem however was that the rules for Serie C1 that year indicated that at least one under-21 player had to be on the pitch at all times. The substitution cost them the game and the lost points cost them relegation. Garlini theoretically was in charge so he was the guy who had to resign.
Garlini played 67 games for Lazio (20 in Serie A, 38 in Serie B and 9 in Coppa Italia) and scored 19 goals (1 in Serie A and 18 in Serie B).
He was called "Boom Boom" Garlini by Lazio fans because he often scored braces (Boom Boom being a pun taken from the nickname of the boxer Ray Boom Boom Mancini) but also “Oliviero bomber vero”, literally a true bomber. He was a good centre-forward and scored some spectacular goals for Lazio in his second year.
He died in Bergamo following a long illness.
Lazio issued a statement: S.S. Lazio expresses its deepest condolences for the passing of Oliviero Garlini, former Biancoceleste striker. Having arrived in Rome in the 1984/85 season, Garlini proudly wore the Lazio jersey, leaving an indelible mark with his generosity, his fighting spirit and his attachment to the Biancoceleste colours. In his second year he scored 18 goals in 38 appearances, winning the affection of the fans and the appreciation of the entire environment. The President, the management, the technical staff and the entire Biancoceleste family gather around the Garlini family in this moment of grief, fondly remembering the man and the athlete. Goodbye Oliviero, you will always be one of us”.
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