November 9, 1980: SPAL-Lazio 1-1

Lazio Stories
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Viola deludes but decent point

Lazio go up but own goal gives Estensi a draw

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had been relegated to Serie B, not on the field but in the Sports Justice Courts. Lazio paid for four of their players' alleged involvement in the Totonero match fixing scandal. Lazio were therefore in Serie B without Bruno Giordano, Lionello Manfredonia, Pino Wilson and Massimo Cacciatori.

The new manager was Ilario Castagner who had done well at Perugia. The Biancocelesti also had several new players to try and bounce straight back up to the top flight. Arriving were goalkeeper Maurizio Moscatelli (Pistoiese), defenders Giorgio Mastropasqua (Bologna), Arcadio Spinozzi (Bologna), midfielders Alberto Bigon (Milan), Giuseppe Greco (Torino), Dario Sanguin (Vicenza) and forward Stefano Chiodi (Milan).

Leaving were defender Mauro Tassotti (Milan), midfielders Vincenzo D'Amico (Torino-luckily he would be back), Antonio Lopez (Palermo), Vincenzo Zucchini (Vicenza) and forward Enrico Todesco (Genoa).

In the Coppa Italia in August and early September things had gone well with three wins and a draw (Pescara 2-0 away, Varese 2-1 Verona 3-0 at home and Ascoli 0-0 away). Lazio qualified for the quarter finals to be played in March against Bologna.

Lazio's Serie B league debut was on September 14 at home to Palermo and it ended 1-1. The Biancocelesti had since won 5 (Catania 4-0, Varese 2-1, Atalanta 2-0, Rimini 1-0 all at home and Foggia 1-0 away) and drawn 2 (Verona 1-1 and Pescara 0-0 away). A promising start and Lazio were currently 1st on 13 points, one ahead of Milan and two of today's opponents SPAL.

SPAL (Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor from Ferrara) had finished 8th the previous season under manager Mario Caciagli. The top scorer was Mauro Gibellini with 12 league goals. The squad included future Lazio, Sergio Domini.

This season the manager was Battista Rota. The new signings included defender Alberto Bergossi (Palermo - via Bologna), Marco Brilli (Verona), Ezio Gelain (Casale), Renato Miele (Pisa), midfielders Angelo Castronaro (Bologna) and Claudio Venturi (Trapani).

Leaving Romagna were: goalkeeper Adriano Bardin (Padova), defenders Franco Fabbri (Bologna), Franco Lievore, after seven seasons to Centese, and midfielder Antonio Criscimanni (Avellino).

In the Coppa Italia, before the league season, the Ferraresi had qualified for the quarterfinals. The Biancoazzurri beat Foggia 4-0, Cagliari 3-2 at home and Monza 2-1 away and drew 0-0 at Como. They would play Torino in March/April home and away.

In Serie B so far, the Estensi were doing reasonably well. They had won 4, drawn 2 and lost 2 (including the recent derby against Cesena 2-3 away). SPAL were currently 3rd on 10 points with Genoa, Sampdoria and Pisa.

A difficult game today for Lazio against a potential promotion rival.

The match: Sunday, November 9, 1980, Stadio Comunale, Ferrara

It was a wet day in Ferrara and the pitch was slippery. A crowd of about just over 10,000 turned up at the small ground inside the city walls, with a good following from Rome too.

SPAL were missing their main striker Mauro Gibellini while Lazio had Renzo Garlaschelli unavailable.

The first half was reasonably balanced, the locals attacked more but Lazio were dangerous on the break.

The biggest chance came in the 26th minute when Giuseppe Greco hit the crossbar from close range after a good initiative by Filippo Citterio.

The Spallini responded in the 31st minute with a powerful strike by Gianpietro Tagliaferri saved by Maurizio Moscatelli into corner. The Lazio keeper, from nearby Cesena himself, then had to rush off his line to deny Oriano Grop.

In the 41st minute Lazio scored. Two SPAL defenders hesitated in clearing the ball and Greco took advantage to set up Nando Viola who raced into the area and from an angled position chipped the keeper, 0-1.

An even first 45 minutes but Lazio had hit the woodwork and got the breakthrough goal.

In the second half the Estensi came back on with different shirts. Their white ones with light blue stripes were too similar to Lazio's so they now wore a dark blue kit.

Only five minutes passed and the Ferraresi equalised. In the 50th minute after a give and go between Pier Luigi Giani and Rosario Rampanti the former pushed the ball across to Angelo Castronaro who hit it well but it also came off Arcadio Spinozzi's knee and gave Moscatelli no chance, 1-1.

A minute later the hosts made their first change bringing on defender Mirco Brilli for injured midfielder Rampanti who had hurt himself in the build up to the equaliser.

Lazio had an almost immediate chance to take back the lead in the 55th minute but Renzi was reactive on a Greco volley.

The game then went a bit flat with both sides more cautious.

In the 73rd minute SPAL made their second substitution replacing defender Alberto Bergossi with forward Luca Gabbriellini. A seemingly bold move but the setup was reshuffled and remained similar.

Lazio strangely made no substitutions but to be fair looking at the bench there was not much to choose from.

Lazio were slightly more active especially with Citterio, Giorgio Mastropasqua and Greco but were unable to threaten again.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw which at the end of the day probably satisfied both sides.

The managers after the game were of diverging opinions: Ilario Castagner claimed Lazio were unlucky and would have deserved the two points while his colleague Battista Rota thought his team had played well and that Castronaro's shot would have gone in anyway even without the deflection.

Lazio were still top but now had to share the leadership with Milan on 14 points, two ahead of Pisa and three of SPAL in fourth position.

Who played for SPAL

Renzi, Ogliari, D.Ferrari, Castronaro, Albiero, Miele, Giani, Rampanti (51' Brilli), Bergossi (73' Gabbriellini), Tagliaferri, Grop

Substitutes: Gavioli, Cavasin, Domini

Manager: Rota

Who played for Lazio

Moscatelli, Spinozzi, Citterio, Perrone, Pochesci, Mastropasqua, Viola, Sanguin, Chiodi, Bigon, Greco

Substitutes: Nardin, Pighin, Manzoni, Cenci, Albani

Manager: Castagner

Referee: Casarin

Goals: 41' Viola, 50' Spinozzi (og)

What happened next

Lazio went very close to promotion but just fell short and finished 4th. Lazio battled all season with the frontrunners and seemed on course to go up. In the next 27 games they won 8 (including SPAL 2-0), drew 14 and lost 5. Then came the June 14 home game against Vicenza. The table read Milan 48, Genoa 44, Cesena 44, Lazio 44 for three places in A.

With the score on 1-1, Lazio were awarded a penalty in the 87th minute. Stefano Chiodi, the specialist who had never missed a penalty, stepped up and... missed, obviously…, hitting the post. Cesena and Genoa won and a demoralised Lazio then only drew the last away game at Taranto and so came 4th. A huge disappointment. The top scorer was Alberto Bigon with 10 goals (9 in B).

In Coppa Italia, in the quarter finals, Lazio lost both home and away 0-2 against Bologna. The cup was eventually won by Roma who beat Torino on penalties.

SPAL finished 12th. The Estensi never really challenged for promotion and in the next 29 games they won 6, drew 12 and lost 11. The top scorer was Aldo Grop with 9 league goals.

In the Coppa Italia they were eliminated by Torino 1-4 on aggregate.

From today's squad defender Renato Miele would play for Lazio between 1982 and 1985 (he is from Rome and had come out of the Lazio academy).

SPAL would finally make it to Serie A in 2017 for three seasons but are now in the 5th tier and renamed Ars et Labor Ferrara.

Lets talk about Ferdinando Viola

Ferdinando Viola, known as Fernando or Nando, was born in Torrazza (Torino), on March 14, 1951.

He grew up in the Juventus youth academy and made his debut in 1971-72 playing 4 league matches, 2 in Coppa Italia and 3 in the UEFA Cup. The Bianconeri won the Scudetto under Czech manager Čestmír Vycpálek (Zdeněk Zeman's uncle).

In 1972-73 he played for Mantova on loan for a season in Serie B. The Virgiliani struggled and under three different managers: Renzo Uzzecchini, Willam Negri and then former Lazio player Alfredo Foni were relegated to C1. Viola played 35 league games with 2 goals and 4 in Coppa Italia.

In 1973 he returned to Juventus. Vycpálek was still manager and the "Old Lady" finished 2nd behind champions Lazio. The following year Carlo Parola was manager and Juventus won the Scudetto. In his two seasons in Turin, Viola played 17 league games with 1 goal (Napoli).

In 1975 he joined Cagliari. The manager was first Luis Suarez and then Mario Tidda but the "Casteddu" were relegated to Serie B. Viola played 28 league games with 3 goals plus 4 games in Coppa Italia.

In 1976 he joined Lazio. The manager was Brazilian Luis Vinicio and the Biancocelesti had a good season finishing 5th (UEFA Cup). Viola played 19 games with 2 goals (Verona, Fiorentina) and 3 games in Coppa Italia. Lazio won one derby and lost the other.

In 1977-78 he was loaned to Bologna. The managers were first Cesarino Cervellati and then Bruno Pesaola. The Felsinei finished 12th. Viola played 18 league games with 1 goal (Perugia) and 4 games in Coppa Italia. He played alongside past and future Lazio connections Franco Nanni, Stefano Chiodi and a young Giuliano Fiorini.

In 1978 he was back at Lazio. The manager was Bob Lovati and Lazio finished 8th. Viola played 13 league games and 2 in Coppa Italia. Lazio drew one derby and won the next 2-1, with a last-minute Aldo Nicoli goal.

The 1979-80 season was terrible for Lazio. First a fan, Vincenzo Paparelli, was killed by a flare shot from the Roma end before a derby and then in March four Lazio players were arrested in connection to the Totonero match fixing scandal. Lazio avoided relegation on the pitch but were then punished with relegation for their players' alleged involvement in the scandal. Viola had a good season with 28 league games and 5 in Coppa Italia but the season ended badly.

In 1980-81 he stayed on in Serie B under manager Ilario Castagner. Lazio narrowly missed out on promotion also due to a Stefano Chiodi penalty miss in the penultimate game. Viola played 37 league games with 7 goals (Rimini, Bari, Lecce, Pisa, Catania, Monza, Cesena) and 6 games in Coppa Italia.

The 1981-82 season was a depressing one for Lazio. Castagner was sacked after twenty games and replaced by Roberto Clagluna. Lazio finished 11th but at one point even risked relegation to Serie C. Viola played 24 league games with 3 goals (Brescia, Pistoiese, Rimini) and 4 games in Coppa Italia.

In 1982-83 he moved to Genoa in Serie A. Under future Lazio manager, Gigi Simoni, the "Grifone" (The Griffin) finished 12th, their best result was beating Juventus 1-0 at home. Viola played 22 league games with 1 goal (Catanzaro). In the squad were future Lazio, Silvano Martina and Giuliano Fiorini.

In 1983-84 he stayed with the Rossoblu but they were relegated to Serie B (Lazio stayed up due to having better results in the direct matches). Viola played 19 league games.

In 1984 he joined Barletta in C1. From a town famous for producing world famous sprinter Pietro Mennea, the "Furie Rosse" (The Red Furies) finished 8th. Under two different managers: first former Lazio 73-74 league title winner Mario Facco, then Giovanni Meregalli and then Facco again, Viola played 32 league games with 3 goals.

Viola then ended his career playing a season in Subiaco near Rome at amateur level. He then retired at 35.

Viola was a midfielder. He was 1.74 metres and 77 kilos. He was extremely dynamic but also technical. He had good vision and was an inventive player, so good to watch. He could play in various midfield roles and had a powerful shot. He played 130 games for Lazio with 12 goals.

He was a cultured man and had degrees in Languages and Law. These off-field interests may have limited his success on the field as he was a very good and versatile player but his life, unlike some, was not only football. He was well liked by all for his pleasant and calm character.

Fernando Viola died tragically in a motorbike accident in Rome, on February 5, 2001. He was not yet 50. A tragic loss for the Lazio family.

Lazio Career

Season	Total appearances (goals)	Serie A	Serie B	Coppa Italia
1976-77	22 (2)	19 (2)	-	3
1978-79	15	13	-	2
1979-80	33	28	-	5
1980-81	43 (7)	-	37 (7)	6
1981-82	28 (3)	-	24 (3)	4
Total	141 (12)	60 (2)	61 (10)	20

Sources

Lazio Wiki

Lazio Stories