March 18, 1973: Palermo Lazio 0-2
- Simon Basten
- Mar 18
- 7 min read
Lazio conquer second place
A Garlaschelli brace gives Lazio fourth consecutive win
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season Lazio managed to secure promotion to Serie A under new manager Tommaso Maestrelli.
The objective for this season was to not be relegated again and to live a comfortable year, without too many problems. In the summer transfer window, a few new players had arrived and some had left. The most important of the latter was the sale of Giuseppe Massa to Inter in exchange for Mario Frustalupi, Massimo Silva and cash. With the money, President Umberto Lenzini bought goalkeeper Felice Pulici (Novara), midfielder Luciano Re Cecconi (Foggia) and forward Renzo Garlaschelli (Como) plus defender Sergio Petrelli in a rare deal with Roma. Leaving Lazio were Claudio Bandoni (Catanzaro), Rosario Di Vincenzo and Giuseppe Papadopulo (both to Brindisi), Arrigo Dolso (Alessandria) and Giuliano Fortunato (Lecce). Rino Gritti and Alessandro Abbondanza had finished their year loans and went back to Lecco and Napoli respectively. In the autumn window forward Giacomo La Rosa arrived from Varese and Gaetano Legnaro and Silva were sold to Ascoli.
The Biancocelesti started badly in Coppa Italia losing three games out of four and were eliminated. But in Serie A it was another story. They were currently third on 29 points, one behind Juventus and three less than Milan. They had just won three games in a row (Vicenza, Ternana and the derby) and things were looking very positive indeed.
The match: Sunday, March 18, 1973, Stadio La Favorita, Palermo
The first half of this delicate match for both teams was pretty uneventful. Palermo pressured Lazio in the first twenty minutes but apart from a few shots on goal with Ignazio Arcoleo and Paolo Viganò the attempts came from far out and Felice Pulici had no problems in saving. At that point the Biancocelesti took over the game but could not translate their superiority in goal scoring opportunities.
In the 49th minute the biggest chance for the home side came when an Erminio Favalli free kick was palmed onto the post by Pulici who then caught the ball on the rebound. Seven minutes later Lazio finally got going. Luciano Re Cecconi crossed from the right, Giorgio Chinaglia dummied and Renzo Garlaschelli volleyed the ball into the net.
Twelve minutes later almost identical script with the exception that the cross from Cecco this time came from the left. Again, Garlaschelli with a volley and it was 2-0 for the Biancocelesti.
Franco Nanni almost made it three a few minutes later but Sergio Girardi parried. But the game was already over after Lazio’s first goal. Palermo's heads dropped and the Biancocelesti comfortably controlled the rest of the match.
Lazio second with Juventus, three points behind Milan.
Who played for Palermo
Girardi, Fumagalli, Viganò, Arcoleo, Landini (I), Landri, Favalli (II) (67' Reja), Vanello, Pace, Pereni, Ballabio
Substitutes: Ferretti
Manager: Pinardi
Who played for Lazio
Pulici, Facco, Martini, Wilson, Oddi, Nanni, Garlaschelli, Re Cecconi, Chinaglia, Frustalupi, Manservisi
Manager: Maestrelli
Referee: Gonella
Goals: 56’ Garlaschelli, 68’ Garlaschelli
What happened next
With four games to the end Lazio were joint first with Milan (who they had just beaten). Then two away draws had left them one point behind the Rossoneri and they had been caught up by Juve. In the penultimate match all three teams had won, so the situation was Milan 44 points, Juventus and Lazio 43.
The final three games were Verona-Milan, Napoli-Lazio and Roma-Juventus. At the end of the first half the results were Verona-Milan 3-1, Roma-Juventus 1-0, Napoli-Lazio still goalless. As a consequence, the table read Milan and Lazio 44, Juventus 43. But everything changed in the second half as Juve overcame the deficit and won while Lazio lost in the final minutes of the game. Juventus won the scudetto.
A big blow for the club. The scudetto was there for the taking, but probably the inexperience of fighting at such high levels and the excessive eagerness of Napoli and Roma to appease the Bianconeri meant that it was not to be.
Giorgio Chinaglia had the most appearances this season (37) as well as the most goals (13).
Let's talk about Renzo Garlaschelli
Renzo Garlaschelli was born on March 29, 1950, in Vidigulfo, half way between Pavia and Milan. It is a small village of 3,000 souls, often covered in thick fog, where they live growing rice, maize or grazing cows. A land of farmers, the alternative being to move towards Milan to a factory, which is what Garlaschelli's father did, finding work in a paper mill.
Renzo Garlaschelli started playing for his home village team before joining Sant'Angelo Lodigiano in Serie D, where he played 32 games and scored 6 goals. At 18, like all boys of his age, he was called up for the year of compulsory military service. He was terrified of being sent far from home, especially down south, so luckily for him the option of joining Como in Serie B came up, enabling him to do a lighter stint in the army not far from home. At Como he played for 3 years making 72 appearances, scoring 6 goals and narrowly missing out on promotion in 1971-72.
In the summer of 1972, while on holiday at the sea, he received a call from Como informing him he was to be sold to Brindisi, in Puglia. Garlaschelli's reaction was to refuse, saying he would rather retire than be sent to play in the deep south. It was only at this point that the director told him it was all a joke, and that in reality he had been sold to Lazio in Serie A, and was now heading for the capital.
Prior to his definite move to Rome, he met Lazio manager Tommaso Maestrelli and club director Antonio Sbardella, who both warned young Renzo of the “temptations and distractions” Rome could bring. It was all in vain however. In the capital Garlaschelli would live the good life, especially at night… He became known as the Dandy, a snappy dresser, a regular face in the nightclubs and definitely a ladies man. He would later claim that in the 10 years he lived in Rome he never once had an evening meal at home. Despite his lifestyle however, he trained hard and Maestrelli turned a blind eye on his nocturnal off- pitch antics as long as he performed well on it. In fact, he proved to be an ideal attacking partner for “Long John” Giorgio Chinaglia, the Lazio centre-forward. A larger than life character, Chinaglia, brought up in South Wales, gave Renzo one piece of advice, “Garla, give me the ball and I'll score”.
Garlaschelli's early years at Lazio were a great success. He was an attacking winger with great speed, agility, dribbling skills and had a good cross. He soon became a permanent first XI choice. In the 1972-73 season he only missed one match, scoring 7 goals with Lazio going very close to winning the title.
In 1973-74 he did even better, again only missing one match (the last against Bologna), scoring 10 goals. In the penultimate and decisive game of the season Lazio were one win away from the scudetto and played Foggia - who were desperately battling against relegation - at the Olimpico. It was Garlaschelli who procured the penalty, which Chinaglia scored to put Lazio 1-0 up. The Foggia players then targeted Garlaschelli, who eventually retaliated and got himself sent off. In 10 men and with Gigi Martini stoically playing on with a broken shoulder, Lazio managed to cling on and conquer their first historic league title. In the post-match celebrations Maestrelli hugged Garlaschelli warmly, but added "Garla, you got off lightly today".
After the glory years of the scudetto, luck turned its back on Lazio. Manager and father figure Tommaso Maestrelli became ill and died in 1976. Midfield dynamo Luciano Re Cecconi was killed in a possible prank, which tragically ended with him being shot dead. In the meantime, midfield playmaker Mario Frustalupi (the wonderfully named "Wolfwhipper" or "Wolfthrasher") and central defender Giancarlo Oddi had been sold to Cesena in 1975. A year later in the spring of 1976, star goal scorer and charismatic leader Chinaglia, with his American wife, left to play for New York Cosmos.
Garlaschelli stayed however, alongside captain Pino Wilson and Vincenzo D'Amico. He stayed on but the 1981-82 was to be his last for Lazio after a dismal 11th place in Serie B (Lazio had been relegated due to the betting Scandal of 1980). He played 280 times for Lazio (199 in Serie A, 29 in Serie B, 38 in Coppa Italia, 10 in the UEFA Cup, 3 in the Intertoto Cup and 1 in the Anglo Italian Cup), scoring 67 goals (49 in Serie A, 2 in Serie B, 9 in Coppa Italia, 4 in the UEFA Cup and 3 in the Intertoto Cup).
After Lazio, despite some offers from medium level teams, he decided to return home to Pavia in C2. He went back to his family home and played 2 more years (46 appearances and 11 goals). Pavia wepromoted to Serie C1 in Garlaschelli’s last professional season.
He then retired and, after his parents passed away, sold his family home and bought a smaller one with his sister. For many years he completely cut himself off from football. He spent his days playing cards in his village, cycling and reading. A far cry from his lively and eventful Roman days.
Today Garlaschelli still lives his quiet life in the provinces, but he has rekindled an interest in football and especially Lazio. He now collaborates daily as a pundit with a Roman radio station that talks exclusively about Lazio, the highlight of his career and life.
Garlaschelli is probably one of the best Lazio players never to have played for Italy, but he certainly played a major role in the 1973-74 league triumph. His ability to open up space and to play for Chinaglia was fundamental but he also contributed with 10 goals of his own. He will always be remembered as part of that unrivalled and magical team whose line-up any self-respecting laziale can reel off in their sleep!
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup | Intertoto Cup | Anglo Italian Cup |
1972-73 | 34 (7) | 29 (7) | - | 4 | - | - | 1 |
1973-74 | 39 (14) | 29 (10) | - | 6 (2) | 4 (2) | - | |
1974-75 | 26 (6) | 23 (6) | - | 3 | - | - | |
1975-76 | 36 (9) | 29 (7) | - | 5 (2) | 2 | - | |
1976-77 | 27 (5) | 23 (5) | - | 4 | - | - | |
1977-78 | 35 (12) | 26 (7) | - | 2 | 4 (2) | 3 (3) | |
1978-79 | 23 (5) | 17 (5) | - | 6 | - | - | |
1979-80 | 27 (5) | 23 (2) | - | 4 (3) | - | - | |
1980-81 | 30 (4) | - | 26 (2) | 4 (2) | - | - | |
1981-82 | 3 | - | 3 | - | - | - | |
Total | 280 (67) | 199 (49) | 29 (2) | 38 (9) | 10 (4) | 3 (3) | 1 |
Sources
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