November 26 1922: Alba Lazio 2-7

Simon Basten
1 day ago
4 min read

Lazio Run Riot in Seven-Goal Masterclass

Bernardini dazzles as Biancocelesti crush Alba 7–2 with flair and firepower

The season so far

In the summer Lazio had to say goodbye to Giuseppe Fioranti and Carlo Maranghi who had been among Rome’s pioneers as far as football was concerned. They were replaced by Ettore Agazzani and Ottavio Regazzoni who were doing their military service in Rome.

The 1922-23 season saw the participation of 56 teams divided into a Northern League and a Southern one.

In the North, the 36 teams were divided into three groups of 12 with the top club moving to the semi-final stage. Pro Vercelli won Group A, Genoa Group B and Padova Group C. These three teams would now have to face each other in a final group to determine who would play the national final.

In the South there were four groups: Campania with 5 teams, Lazio with 6, Apulia with 5, Sicily with 3 and Marche with one team that went directly to the semi-final group.

Savoia and Internaples qualified for Campania, Pro Italia Taranto and Ideale Bari for Apulia, Libertas Palermo for Sicily and Anconitania for Marche.

Today was just the second fixture in the Lazio group. In the first the Biancocelesti had won 3-2 away against Juventus Audax.

The match: Campo Lungotevere Flaminio, Rome, Sunday, November 26 1922

Lazio’s clash with Alba began at a furious pace. Barely a minute had passed when Attilio Buratti’s free kick was nodded on by Giovanni Degni into the path of Pierino Rovida, who finished clinically to leave Ettore Agazzani helpless. The Biancocelesti, however, hit back almost instantly: in the 4th minute Augusto Parboni launched Pio Maneschi, whose thunderous strike was parried by Italo Ricci, only for Ottavio Regazzoni to pounce on the rebound and level the score. Moments later, Mattei struck the post as chances flowed freely in a breathless opening.

By the 25th minute, Lazio seized the initiative. Aldo Fraschetti led a counterattack and slipped the ball through to Regazzoni, who raced clear and fired home to put his side ahead. Just six minutes later, a sweeping team move carved open Alba’s defence, setting up Maneschi for a spectacular overhead kick that gave Ricci no chance. The third goal left Alba stunned, and worse was to come.

On 35 minutes, 16-year-old Fulvio Bernardini announced himself in style: dribbling past half the opposition with the ball seemingly tied to his feet, he coolly slotted past the advancing Ricci. Barely two minutes later, Bernardini struck again, unleashing a precise shot from the edge of the box to make it 5–1 before the break.

Alba emerged for the second half with renewed determination and clawed one back in the 55th minute through Degni in a crowded penalty area. Yet Lazio refused to ease up. Just three minutes later, Bernardini danced past his markers once more and teed up Regazzoni, who hammered the ball into the net. The final word belonged to Maneschi, who collected possession near the halfway line, strode forward, and unleashed an unstoppable drive to seal a resounding 7–2 victory for Lazio.

Who played for Alba

Ricci, Torta, Mattei, Matiello, Buratti, Garofoli, Proietti, Rovida, Degni, Moretti, Corbyons

Manager: Piselli

Who played for Lazio

Agazzani, Dosio, Saraceni I, Faccani, Parboni, Orazi I, Fraschetti, Filippi, Bernardini, Maneschi, Regazzoni

Manager: Baccani

Referee: Mauro

Goals: 1’ Rovida, 4’ Regazzoni, 25' Regazzoni, 31’ Maneschi, 35’ Bernardini, 37’ Regazzoni, 55’ Degni, 58’ Regazzoni, 66’ Maneschi

What happened next

As far as the Lazio group was concerned, it was a battle between Lazio, Alba and Fortitudo. By battle we really mean battle since there were brawls on the pitch, between fans and even referees joined in. Some of the matches had to be suspended and repeated. Lazio won their group by winning 8 games, drawing one and losing one against US Romana. Alba were the other team to qualify for the semi-final groups.

The qualifiers were divided into two groups of four. Lazio were paired with Ideale Bari, Libertas Palermo and Internaples. The Biancocelesti topped their group and won every game (including beating Libertas Palermo 10-2 and Ideale Bari 6-0).

In the Southern final Lazio had to play Savoia. They drew the first leg awy 3-3 and won at home 4-1, qualifying for the national final against the mighty Genoa. The Ligurians were far stronger than Lazio (there was a massive gap between the northern clubs and the southern ones) and won both legs 4-1 and 2-0, but for the Biancocelesti reaching the final was the maximum they could do.

Let’s talk about Ottavio Regazzoni

Ottavio Regazzoni was born in Brescia on March 2 1902 (but other sources say Como).

From the little that we know about him, before coming to Lazio he had played for Como.

He came to Rome in 1922 to do his military service and joined the Biancocelesti. He played seven games that season scoring four goals, all of them against Alba.

At the end of his military service he went back to play for Como for a season. Como records show 1 first-team appearance in 1923–24.

Not much else is known about him but he did leave his mark at Lazio.