Clemente Mattei

Clemente Franco Mattei was born in Rome, on January 1, 1939.

Source Lazio Wiki

He was formed in the Lazio youth setup and joined the first team squad in the 1956-57 season.

The manager was Jesse Carver and Lazio finished an excellent 3rd but Mattei made no appearances. The following season, first under Milovan Ćirić and then Alfredo Monza, the Biancocelesti finished 12th but again Mattei did not feature at all.

In 1958-59 he spent a season on loan at Catania. The Etnei were in Serie B and finished 16th and Mattei made 2 league appearances.

In 1959-60 at 20 he returned to Lazio. The manager was now Fulvio Bernardini who the previous year had led Lazio to their first historic silverware, the Coppa Italia. Mattei played 8 league games with 1 goal (Fiorentina in 2-2 away draw), 3 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Bologna, 3-2 winner in extra-time), 2 in the Italo-French Friendship Cup with 2 goals and 8 games in the Reserve League with 2 goals.

In 1960-61 he stayed at Lazio. Bernardini was in charge for the first ten games then former player Enrique Flamini took over (with Jesse Carver as technical director from the 15th fixture). Lazio ended up relegated and Mattei played 9 league games with 1 goal (Bologna) and 1 game in Coppa Italia plus 17 games in the Reserve League with 3 goals.

In 1961 he left Lazio and joined Novara where he stayed one season. The Azzurri were in Serie B and finished 11th but were then relegated for corruption charges. The managers were future Lazio, Carlo Facchini, then Evaristo Barrera and finally Imre Senkey. Mattei played 18 league games with 2 goals (Catanzaro, Cosenza) and 3 games in Coppa Italia. His teammates included Lazio connections Carlo Soldo (1967-69), Egidio Fumagalli (1958-61, 1963-64) and Giambattista Moschino (1962-63).

In 1962 he signed for Salernitana in Serie C for a season. The Granata finished 4th. His teammates included Fumagalli again, a young Franco Cordova (Lazio 1976-79), Franco Pezzullo (youth sector and 1959-62) and Oliviero Visentin (Lazio 1959-61, 1964-65).

He then reappeared at Rieti in 1965 and stayed two seasons. The Sabini were in Serie D and got relegated. The following year they finished 5th but were readmitted to Serie D. The Amarantocelesti were his last club.

Mattei was a forward. He had the satisfaction of playing 17 league games with 2 goals for Lazio in Serie A but that was the peak as apart from a decent year at Novara his career never really took off.

Mattei died in Rome on July 3, 2024.

Lazio Career

Season	Appearances (goals)	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Italo French Friendship Cup
1959-60	13 (4)	8 (1)	3 (1)	2 (1)
1960-61	11 (1)	9 (1)	2	-
Total	24 (4)	17 (2)	7 (1)	2 (1)

Sources

Lazio Wiki