Awakening
Lazio finally manage to score heavily now that Bernardini is placed at the centre of the attack
Also on this day: March 26, 1972, Lazio Arezzo 2-0. Chinaglia and Abbondanza secure Lazio victory over tough Arezzo. Player of the day: Alessandro Abbondanza
The season so far
The 1921-22 season was a rather complicated one due to the schism in the Italian Football Federation which led to the creation of the Confederazione Calcistica Italiana (CCI – Italian Football Confederation). The clubs had asked for a reduction in the number of football teams participating in the league and Vittorio Pozzo, who would be future Italian Coach and winner of two World Cups, had devised a plan but this had been rejected by the Federation. Therefore, the major clubs had formed their own federation (CCI) and had organised their own league. Lazio joined the major clubs.
The CCI championship was divided into two Leagues, a northern one and a southern one. The latter included the clubs of Lazio, Campania, Marche, Puglia and Sicily. After a semi-final group with the winners of all the regions, the winner would then meet the winner of the Northern League in the final.
There were nine teams in the Lazio group and the Biancocelesti were not doing well. They were fourth and far behind the leaders Fortitudo. The main problem was that they were playing badly and hence not scoring as much as they used to. But starting from the previous game against Juventus Audax, they had put Fulvio Bernardini, previously goalkeeper, at the centre of the attack and there had been a decisive improvement. De facto, this game was needed as practice for the next season.
Today’s opponents were Pro Roma, founded in 1911 as a sports club like Lazio. After mixed fortunes, they later merged with Fortitudo in 1926 and in 1927, together with Alba and Roman, they became part of the new AS Roma.
The match: Sunday, March 26, 1922, Campo Rondinella, Rome
Lazio started brilliantly and after three minutes they were already 2-0 up thanks to a goal by Bernardini after 60 seconds and another in the third with Dante Filippi, both thanks to crosses from Augusto Faccani.
With the game going only one-way, Pro Roma could do very little and very little they did. The Biancocelesti continued to attack incessantly and in the 35th minute got their third with Giuseppe Furia. Finally, towards the end of the first half Matteo Salineri had some work to do but it was a comfortable save.
For the second half Pro Roma made a few tactical changes but Lazio made it four in the 47th minute again with Bernardini, following a cross from Furia. Five minutes later Pro Roma reduced the deficit with Mariani, surprising Ugo Dosio and Fernando Saraceni. In the 55th minute Bernardini got his hat trick with a shot on which Fedi could have done better.
Pro Roma tried to get back in the game but first hit a post with Mariani and then a Salineri save in the 70th minute denied the visitors another goal. At this point it was Lazio who tried to get their sixth and, after a number of missed chances, managed to do so again with Bernardini in the 87th minute.
Bernardini will certainly be a future star and the Biancocelesti can look to the future with optimism.
Who played for Lazio
Salineri, Saraceni I, Dosio, Faccani, Parboni, Orazi I, Saraceni II, Bernardini, Ottier, Filippi, Furia.
Manager: Baccani
Who played for Pro Roma
Fedi, Carrara, Bianchi, Morel, Mariani, Evangelisti, Proietti, Rea, Marchettini, Muzi, Peroni.
Referee: Liberati
Goals: 1’ Bernardini, 3’ Filippi, 35’ Furia, 47’ Bernardini, 52’ Mariani, 55’ Bernardini, 87’ Bernardini
What happened next
Lazio ended up fourth in a disappointing season. They did however win the Canalini Cup and the reserves championship. The Bernardini as centre forward experiment was working and the team would see the benefits starting from the next season.
Faccani and Orazi had the most appearances this season (19), top scorer was Filippi with 10 goals.
Lazio 1921-22
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
National Championship | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
Canalini Tournament | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | 8 |
Total | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 43 |
Top Five Appearances
Player | Total | National Championship | Canalini Tournament |
Faccani | 19 | 16 | 3 |
Orazi I | 19 | 16 | 3 |
Parboni | 18 | 16 | 2 |
Filippi | 18 | 16 | 2 |
Saraceni I | 17 | 14 | 3 |
Top Five Goal Scorers
Player | Total | National Championship | Canalini Tournament |
Filippi | 10 | 10 | - |
Bernardini | 6 | 6 | - |
Varini | 4 | 4 | - |
Fioranti | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Saraceni II | 3 | 3 | - |
Let's talk about Dante Filippi
Dante Filippi must be considered one of the best forwards Lazio have ever had and maybe one of the first “golden boys” of the Biancocelesti. Born in Rome on August 21, 1904, he started playing very young. In 1920 he was noted in Villa Borghese, in those games among kids which never lasted less than five hours a match. He was quickly signed by Lazio, of which he was already a fan, and he started playing for the “boys” youth team.
Fernando Saraceni I realised how good he was and forced the manager to promote him to the first team and he debuted in a game against Fortitudo at 15 and a half years of age. He never left the first eleven and was soon joined by another golden boy, Fulvio Bernardini. Together the two made history and in 1923 Lazio reached the national final where they were beaten by Genoa 4-1, in Genoa, with three penalties awarded to the champions. Filippi was the Lazio scorer in the final. He had also set a record of five goals in a match in an earlier game against US Romana.
Filippi continued to be a goal scoring machine but suffered Bernardini's strong character. Once Fuffo left Lazio, Filppi went back to scoring consistently but in 1926-27 he suffered a bad injury. Since he was the star of the team, he could not rest more than one match so he continued playing despite having a swollen knee.
Arguments with the club led him to leave Lazio in 1928 and he signed for Pontedera as player-manager. After a year he moved to Macerata then starting from 1930 he played for Cagliari who were promoted to Serie B in 1930-31. After a final year in Sardinia, he played two years with L’Aquila and Taranto before retiring. But he then accepted a job at Monte dei Paschi and continued playing the banking tournaments until he was 42.
In the 1950s he was called by President Remo Zenobi and asked to be a technical consultant. Forever a Lazio fan, he obviously accepted and came back to the club he loved.
He died in Rome on March 1, 1995. He made 101 appearances for Lazio with 67 goals.
Season | Total | National Championship | First Division | National Division | Canalini |
1920-21 | 12 (7) | 12 (7) | - | - | - |
1921-22 | 18 (10) | 16 (10) | - | - | 2 |
1922-23 | 20 (15) | 20 (15) | - | - | - |
1923-24 | 11 (17) | 11 (17) | - | - | - |
1924-25 | 11 (2) | 11 (2) | - | - | - |
1925-26 | 7 (5) | 7 (5) | - | - | - |
1926-27 | 20 (11) | - | 20 (11) | - | - |
1927-28 | 2 | - | - | 2 | - |
Total | 101 (67) | 77 (56) | 20 (11) | 2 | 2 |
Sources