Paolo Pochesci played for Lazio from 1979 to 1983.
Paolo Pochesci was born in Frascati, near Rome, on May 26, 1961. His birth date would later be cause for double celebrations but that's another story.
Pochesci started playing in the Lazio youth sector. He was a promising central defender and already on the fringes of the first team when the betting scandal broke out in 1979. Lazio were dragged into it big time and many players including Bruno Giordano, Giuseppe Wilson and Lionello Manfredonia were subsequently barred from playing. Pochesci, along with several other youth players, was suddenly thrown into the deep end in the desperate attempt to prevent Lazio sinking down to Serie B. The youngsters, led by veteran scudetto hero Vincenzo D'Amico, succeeded in the feat only for it all to be thwarted by the court sentence which condemned Lazio to relegation.
The 1979-80 season had however given Pochesci the breakthrough he was looking for. He paired up with another talented young defender Carlo Perrone, and it was hoped by many that they would form the future of Lazio's defence. The high hopes unfortunately never materialised as Perrone left Lazio in 1981, and although Pochesci did stay at Lazio for four seasons, he never quite reached the expected levels forecasted for him.
He played 82 games for Lazio (3 in Serie A, 67 in Serie B and 12 in Coppa Italia) and scored 3 goals (all in Serie B). One of his goals could have gone down in history had Roberto Chiodi not missed a late penalty against Vicenza in 1981 with Lazio thus missing out on promotion to Serie A.
In 1983 Pochesci was sold to Ascoli where he played on and off for 3 seasons (31 appearances), then Campobasso for a year (4 appearances), Brindisi for a year (14 appearances) and finally a solid 5 years at Ternana (124 appearances and 5 goals).
Pochesci was a classic, strong, physical defender, ideal for the man to man marking of Italian football at the time. He did fulfil his childhood dream of playing for Lazio but perhaps never reached his full potential.
After hanging up his boots he had a spell as manager at Monterotondo (near Rome at regional level) and in 2006 returned home to Lazio and worked in the youth sector until 2014. From 2017 he returned to his hometown of Frascati (in the Castelli hills near Rome) to take charge of the youth sector there.
Pochesci also does punditry for Lazio's official TV Lazio Style Channel, so he's definitely still part of the Lazio family.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1979-80 | 3 | 3 | - | - |
1980-81 | 34 (3) | - | 31 (3) | 3 |
1981-82 | 23 | - | 21 | 4 |
1982-83 | 20 | ​ | 15 | 5 |
Totals | 82 (3) | 3 | 67 (3) | 12 |
Sources