Rino Marchesi, perhaps better known as manager of Napoli, Inter and Juventus, was part of the generation of gentlemen players of the 1960s, an attitude he would also have as a manager.
Born on June 11 1937 at San Giuliano Milanese, he started playing football at Lodi and then he moved to Bergamo to play for Atalanta. After three years he was sold to Fiorentina where he stayed for six seasons. In Florence he won the Coppa Italia twice, a Cup Winners Cup and a Mitropa Cup. In 1966 he moved to Lazio.
In Lazio he played as a sweeper. Always rational and elegant, he stayed for five years, in seasons that cannot be considered easy, but those were formative years for some of the players that were to win the scudetto in 1974.
He played 68 games in Serie A for Lazio, 57 in Serie B, 10 in Coppa Italia, 3 in Mitropa Cup, 4 in the Anglo Italian Cup and 9 in the Cup of the Alps. He scored 4 goals (2 in Serie A and 2 in Serie B) all on penalties.
Marchesi also played two games for his country, two friendlies against Argentina and France in 1961 and 1962.
He was the first non-goalkeeper who came on as substitute in history of Lazio. It took place on September 29 1968 when he took the place of Nello Governato in the beginning of the second half.
After Lazio he played for Prato in Serie C in the last two years of his career.
In 1973 he became manager at Montevarchi, soon followed by a couple of years at Mantova and a year at Ternana. In 1978 he was in charge of Avellino in their first year in Serie A and he successfully guided them to safety, as he did a year later.
In 1980-81 he almost took Napoli to their first scudetto. They were fighting with Juventus and Roma until 5 matches from the end when they surprisingly lost at home to Perugia. They finished third and a year later fourth. For the 1983-84 season he managed Inter but he only lasted a year despite a good third place.
In 1984 he was called to rescue a Napoli in dangerous waters and he did so. He was confirmed and therefore became Diego Maradona’s first manager in Italy. The Argentinian only really started coming good in the second half of the season and Napoli did not do particularly well. Marchesi was not confirmed.
After joining Como in the 11th match of the 1985-86 season and taking them to safety, he was called to manage Juventus in 1986 taking the place of Giovanni Trapattoni who had won everything with the club. It was not an easy year and it was also Michel Platini’s last year as a footballer. He did not do too badly, taking the Bianconeri to second place behind Napoli. He was not so successful in the following year and was not confirmed.
He went back to Como only to be fired with ten games to go. In 1989-90 he was called to Udinese to save them but he fell just short. His last games as manager in Serie A were with Lecce in 1993-94 but he he was not able to avoid the Salentini's relegation.
He was unlucky as manger, always arriving either at the end of cycles or at the very beginning, therefore unable to have competitive teams.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup | Anglo-Italian Cup | Cup of the Alps |
1966-67 | 22 (2) | 19 (2) | - | 2 | 1 | - | - |
1967-68 | 21 (1) | - | 19 (1) | 2 | - | - | - |
1968-69 | 38 (1) | - | 38 (1) | - | - | - | - |
1969-70 | 43 | 30 | - | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
1970-71 | 27 | 19 | - | 3 | - | - | 5 |
Total | 151 (4) | 68 (2) | 57 (2) | 10 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
Sources