Pierluigi Pagni was born in Livorno, on June 26 1939.
He began his football with local club ASSI Spartacus. He was a promising fullback and was called up for a training camp with the national youth squad in Florence. Here he was spotted by a talent scout, former Lazio player Oreste Brondi, who mentioned him to Fulvio Bernardini, the Fiorentina manager at the time.
The following season, in 1958, when Bernardini became Lazio manager he brought Pagni with him, but he was skinny and overeager, not ready for first team Serie A football. He therefore played with the youth team for a couple of years.
On June 18, 1960 he finally made his debut in a Coppa Italia game, lost 0-3 away to Juventus.
In 1960 -61 made his league debut, on November 20 in a 0-4 away defeat in Florence. Pagni also played the next match at Padova but Lazio lost again and Pagni was dropped. Lazio then changed managers from Bernardini to Enrique Flamini (with Englishman Jesse Carver as T.D) but Pagni made no more league appearances. Lazio finished 18th and were relegated. They reached the final of Coppa Italia but lost 0-2 to Fiorentina in Florence. Pagni played 1 game in the domestic cup.
In 1961 Pagni was loaned to Cosenza in Serie B. He played regularly, making 29 league appearances, first under Hungarian Gyula Zsengellér and then Cosenza legend Francesco Morgine. The "Lupi della Sila" (The Sila Wolves) finished 18th but avoided relegation due to Novara's misdemeanours.
In 1962 he was back in the capital where he would then stay for six seasons.
In 1962-63 Lazio were in Serie B but got promoted under Roberto Lovati and Juan Carlos Lorenzo as T.D (manager Carlo Facchin was sacked after 4 games). Pagni played 25 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia.
Back in Serie A in 1963-64 Lazio finished 8th under Lorenzo. Pagni played 34 league games with 1 goal (Modena) and 1 game in Coppa Italia. Lazio's best results were beating Milan 1-0 and Juventus 3-0, bith away while they drew both derbies.
In 1964-65 the manager was Umberto Mannocci and Lazio finished 14th. Pagni was the player with most appearances, 35 (33 in A plus 2 in Coppa Italia). Lazio drew both derbies.
In 1965-66 Lazio finished 12th in a season which saw the arrival of Umberto Lenzini as President in November. Pagni played 31 league games and 2 in Coppa Italia. Lazio's best results were winning a derby 1-0 (the other was a draw) and beating Milan 2-0 away.
In 1966-67 Lazio were relegated, first under Mannocci and then, from November, Maino Neri. Pagni played 30 league games and 2 in Coppa Italia. Lazio's best result was beating Inter 1-0 at home while in the derbies Lazio lost one and drew one.
The 1967-68 season was a mediocre one, first under Renato Gei (1-24) and then Bob Lovati (25-42) and Lazio finished 11th. Pagni played less, only 13 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia. He was probably past his peak now and was losing some of his speed.
In 1968, he joined SPAL on loan in Serie B. The Estensi however, under three different managers (Francesco Petanga, Serafino Montanari to Giovan Battista Fabbri) were relegated to Serie C. Pagni played 16 league games. He played alongside a young Alberto Bigon (65 games with Lazio) and future top manager Luigi Del Neri.
In 1969 Lazio were back in Serie A but Pagni retired. He stayed in Rome and worked for a construction firm.
He had a good career at Lazio. He started as a full-back but at Lazio was transformed into a centre-back. He was a no frills but extremely efficient defender. For many years he was the pillar of the Biancocelesti's backline and was known for the consistency of his high-level performances. At Lazio he played in the number 5 shirt and was captain in the 1964-65 season. He was definitely captain material, reliable, fair and loyal, so much he was nicknamed "Modino" (precise/ decent / scrupulous).
He played 185 games for Lazio and after retiring remained close to the Biancoceleste family, often appearing official ceremonies, celebrations and get togethers.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup | Cup of the Alps | Italo-French Friendship Cup |
1959-60 | 2 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
1960-61 | 4 | 2 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - |
1962-63 | 26 | - | 25 | 1 | - | - | - |
1963-64 | 35 (1) | 34 (1) | - | 1 | - | - | - |
1964-65 | 35 | 33 | - | 2 | - | - | - |
1965-66 | 33 | 31 | - | 2 | - | - | - |
1966-67 | 36 | 30 | . | 2 | 4 | - | - |
1967-68 | 14 | - | 13 | 1 | - | - | - |
Total | 185 (1) | 130 (1) | 38 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
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