October 26, 1986: Campobasso Lazio 0-1
- Simon Basten
- 7 hours ago
- 8 min read
Two wrongs don’t make a right
A last second penalty awarded to the hosts probably to avoid crowd trouble is missed by Campobasso giving Lazio an important win
Also on this day:
The season so far
There was new ownership. The Calleri brothers and Renato Bocchi had taken over from the disastrous Giorgio Chinaglia presidency and possibly even worse Franco Chimenti brief regency, so everything was new. New manager, Eugenio Fascetti, new sporting director, Franco Regalia, new players. There were many farewells and in particular the Biancocelesti said goodbye to Vincenzo D’Amico (Ternana), Arcadio Spinozzi (Reggina) and Oliviero Garlini who was a necessary sacrifice and sold to Inter.
The most important signings were Antonio Acerbis (Pescara), Angelo Gregucci and Giancarlo Camolese (Alessandria), Gabriele Pin (Juventus) plus Giuliano Terraneo (Milan).
There was a certain degree of optimism but any hope of promotion was shattered by the summer events.
On May 2, 1986, Armando Carbone, right hand man of Italo Allodi was arrested. Allodi was a well-known figure in Italian football and worked for a number of clubs, including Juventus and Inter. In 1986 he was working for Napoli. Carbone told the magistrates that there was a match fixing association with clubs at all levels involved. Numerous clubs were investigated: Bari, Napoli and Udinese in Serie A, many more in Serie B and C. Plus Lazio.
Why were Lazio involved? Carbone was a good friend of Claudio Vinazzani, a Lazio player. Vinazzani had played for Napoli for seven years before joining Lazio in 1983. He did like to bet but never on matches he played in.
In Italy one could not legally bet on the result of a single game or on the scores of multiple games. There was just the Totocalcio, where one had to guess the result of 13 games. There was however an illegal betting system called Totonero run by illegal bookmakers similar to how legal bets were organised in the UK. Lazio had already been involved in the 1980 scandal when, despite a total lack of proof or wrongdoing by the club itself, since four players had been involved, they were relegated to Serie B.
If there was basically nothing in 1980, in this case there was even less. There was a telephone conversation between Carbone and Vinazzani where the former asked whether the Lazio player was interested in “buying” a Lazio win against Palermo. Vinazzani’s answer was vague and nothing happened. The vagueness in the response was an indication of Lazio’s guilt, according to the prosecution. For this Lazio were sentenced to relegation to Serie C on August 5.
A difficult summer for the Lazio fans, but a very difficult summer for the new owners, Calleri and Bocchi. “If Lazio go down to Serie C, what are we going to do?” they must have asked themselves. It would have been the end of Lazio; the new owners would probably have backed out. Lazio fans mobilised, there were demonstrations and protests. It was simply not possible to relegate Lazio for nothing.
The appeal started on August 21 with many Lazio fans outside the Hilton hotel in Rome waiting to see what would happen. Carboni should have testified but the court refused to have him present. The decision therefore had to be based on the material provided in the first court case. Hence, the written declaration from Carboni saying that Lazio had nothing to do with the match fixing and that he never fixed a match for the Biancocelesti could not be used.
On August 27, the Biancocelesti had to play Napoli at the Olimpico for the Coppa Italia. Minutes before the match, the Italian State Television, RAI, announced that the sentence had been confirmed. An overzealous member of the court had leaked the news. This ultimately saved Lazio. The court could not confirm the previous sentence otherwise it would have lost face. In the end Lazio stayed in Serie B but with a docking of nine points. This was a very heavy burden with only two points for a victory, but it at least meant that the new owners could continue.
Fascetti told the players: “This is the situation. You can leave, and it would be perfectly normal if you did, or stay and fight. Decide”. All the players stayed.
The start of the season was terrible. Lazio drew the first game away at Parma but then lost at home to Messina. This basically meant that the burden was as if it was -11.
After the catastrophic beginning Lazio started to win and reduce the handicap. They were currently on -3, but now 5 points away from safety.
The match: Sunday, October 26, 1986, Stadio Giovanni Romagnoli, Campobasso
This was never going to be an easy match, but those who decided to send Testa from Prato to ref this game made a serious mistake. The man in black made a number of mistakes culminated in a final one that almost cost Lazio the win.
The Campobasso wolves started strongly and in the 7th minute hit the crossbar after a massive Marco Maestripieri whack. Former Biancoceleste player Claudio Vagheggi created havoc as he usually did in the Lazio defence but it was Roberto Russo who had a chance to score in the 16th minute but challenged by Fabio Poli his header was weak. Massimo Mauti on the half hour wasted a sitter after Vagheggi offered him an easy chance.
Eugenio Fascetti seeing all the difficulties Luca Brunetti had in marking Vagheggi, sent in Gabriele Podavini after 30 minutes. He certainly did a better job, also helped by a forced substitution for the hosts that sent Russo for an early shower after he never recovered from a knock on the head earlier in the game. Vagheggi moved to centre forward and Angelo Gregucci controlled him comfortably.
Lazio were more courageous in the second half with Antonio Schillaci taking Poli's place. The Sicilian in the 74th minute opened a gap in the Campobasso defence but Giuliano Fiorini could only shoot in the face of the keeper. Schillaci too had a chance in the 77th minute but his shot was too high.
Now we come to the final 5 minutes. The crowd were already angry with the ref for not having given Campobasso a penalty in the 58th minute when Poli in order to stop Carmelo Parpiglia from scoring after a Russo cross had put Giuliano Terraneo in difficulty. In the 85th minute Paolo Mandelli received the ball from Giorgio Magnocavallo and in front of the keeper was fouled from behind by Carmine Della Pietra. An obvious penalty which Podavini blasted into the net.
The crowd was restless and furious. There was a concrete possibility of a pitch invasion. At this point Testa gave a non-existent penalty to Campobasso. Parpiglia was about to try a bicycle kick, Raimondo Marino had his arms wide, the home forward collapsed to the ground, referee indicated a penalty. Perrone from the spotkick kicked the ball into the stands.
Precious victory for the Biancocelesti, the first win away from home of the season.
Who played for Campobasso
M.Bianchi, Parpiglia, Della Pietra, Anzivino, Lupo, C.Perrone, Maestripieri (54' Baldini), Mauti, Goretti, R.Russo (46' Accardi), Vagheggi
Substitutes: Picca, Pivotto, Boito
Manager: Vitali
Who played for Lazio
Terraneo, Brunetti (30’ Podavini), Magnocavallo, Acerbis, Gregucci, Marino, Poli (66’ A.Schillaci), Caso, Fiorini, Pin, Mandelli
Manager: Fascetti
Referee: Testa
Goal: 86’ Podavini (pen)
What happened next
Two games later the Biancocelesti were finally on +1. The relegation zone was left in the 15th match with an away win at Cagliari. Lazio played very well and showed to be far better than the other teams in Serie B. At the end of the first half of the season they were 16th, three points above the relegation zone.
Towards May however they started to tire. Being under constant pressure was taking its toll. Four losses, two draws and just one win meant that with one match to go Cagliari were already in Serie C, Lazio and Taranto were on 31 points, Campobasso, Sambenedettese, Vicenza and Catania on 32. Last games of the season Bari-Sambenedettese, Messina-Campobasso, Taranto-Genoa, Cesena-Catania, Lazio-Vicenza. Even a win may not have been enough.
With seven minutes to go, it was still 0-0. Gabriele Podavini got the ball and shot. It was more out of desperation than an actual goal scoring attempt. He miskicked it but the ball reached Giuliano Fiorini who turned on himself and scored.
Final verdict: Lazio, Campobasso and Taranto needed a playoff to determine who would join Cagliari, Catania and Vicenza in Serie C. In Naples on June 27 Lazio played their first game against Taranto and lost due to a goal in blatant offside. Then Taranto and Campobasso drew 1-1 on July 1. This meant that Lazio had to beat Campobasso to stay in Serie B. They did thanks to a Fabio Poli goal. The Biancocelesti were safe.
Let’s talk about Gabriele Podavini
Gabriele Podavini was a very modern right back, more similar to Manuel Lazzari than many of his fellow players at the time. He also had a cracking shot and always scored a few goals each season. He is one of my personal favourites.
Born in Gavardo on November 25 1955, he grew up in the Brescia youth team. He was sent on loan to Bolzano in Serie C in 1975 where he did well enough to make the Brescia first team in the next season. He stayed in Lombardy for six years, five in Serie B and one in Serie A.
In 1982 he was purchased by Lazio, following a suggestion from Roberto Clagluna. Podavini made a major contribution to Lazio’s promotion to Serie A. He played 43 games that season with two goals and one of his shots, deflected by a defender, was fundamental in beating Catania and allow the team to need just one more point for promotion.
Despite Giorgio Chinaglia’s promises of making the Biancocelesti great, Lazio in the next three years were certainly not great. A first season of suffering as Lazio managed to stay in Serie A despite making only 9 points in the first half of the season. A second year with a surprise relegation. A third season in Serie B when from being initial favourites for promotion they were almost relegated in Serie C.
And then came the famous -9 season of 1986-87. After the match fixing scandal of 1986 emerged, Lazio were first relegated, and later reinstated in Serie B but with an initial docking of nine points. What needs to be remembered is that at that time there were just two points for a win, so a huge uphill start. Lazio started well but faltered towards the end and in the last match Lazio had to win to hope to go to a play off to avoid relegation.
With seven minutes to go, it was still 0-0. Podavini got the ball and kicked. It was more of a desperate attempt than actual possibility of a goal. He miskicked it but the ball reached Giuliano Fiorini who turned around and scored. Lazio were safe for the moment. Thanks to Podavini. Lazio would go on to secure permanence in Serie B with a dramatic play-off win against Campobasso in Naples.
After five very intense years, Podavini in 1987 was sold to Genoa in Serie B (much to my displeasure!!!). He stayed there for just a year and in 1988 he moved to Siena in Serie C where he basically finished his professional career.
After quitting football, he worked as manager of minor teams, but his time at Lazio was so intense that he became a Lazio supporter. “When I see Fiorini’s goal I still get emotional. Despite the fact that many years have passed, the memory is very much alive”, he said recently.
He played 171 games for Lazio, 47 in Serie A, 102 in Serie B and 22 in Coppa Italia, scoring 12 goals, one in Serie A, 6 in Serie B and 5 in Coppa Italia.
All Lazio fans will forever be indebted to Gabriele Podavini. Our hero of the -9 season.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1982-83 | 39 (2) | - | 34 (1) | 5 (1) |
1983-84 | 23 | 22 | - | 1 |
1984-85 | 30 (2) | 25 (1) | - | 5 (1) |
1985-86 | 39 (3) | - | 34 (2) | 5 (1) |
1986-87 | 40 (5) | - | 34 (3) | 6 (2) |
Total | 171 (12) | 47 (1) | 102 (6) | 22 (5) |
Sources
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