Roberto Badiani played for Lazio from 1974 to 1979 and from 1981 to 1983.
Badiani was born in Prato, near Florence, on October 9, 1949. He started his youth career with Club Sportivo Firenze and in 1968-69 played for Sangiovannese in Serie D. A year later he moved up to Serie B and played two seasons at Livorno. In November 1971 he signed for Mantova in Serie A. The team was relegated to Serie B and Badiani moved to Genoa to play for Sampdoria. He played fairly regularly there and attracted the attention of Lazio who signed him for the 1974-75 season. He was the only signing of that year for the club.
Badiani suffered the strong personalities in the team and was often the victim of pranks by his teammates. But he was fundamental at Como in 1976, when he scored the equaliser that allowed Lazio to stay in Serie A. He played fairly regularly for four years. In his last year he played less and at the end of the season he was loaned to Napoli.
At Napoli he hardly ever played and after a year he signed for Pistoiese in Serie A, again on loan. Despite the relegation, he became a hero for the Tuscan team when he scored the winning goal against Fiorentina away.
He returned to Lazio in 1981-82 and a year later helped the Biancocelesti to promotion in Serie A.
His last year of professional football came in the 1983-84 season with Vigor Senigallia in Serie C2.
After he quit football he went to work for the family business together with his brother-in-law, another former Lazio player, Walter Speggiorin.
He appeared in 226 games for Lazio and scored 7 goals. He was a good midfield player, one of those players that can be defined as a runner. He also played on the wing a few times. One of Badiani’s characteristics was that when he scored, which did not happen very often, he usually went beserk!!!
Lazio career
Seasons | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup | Intertoto Cup |
1974-75 | 33 | 29 | - | 4 | - | - |
1975-76 | 43 (2) | 30 (2) | - | 10 | 3 | - |
1976-77 | 34 (2) | 30 (1) | - | 4 (1) | - | - |
1977-78 | 39 (1) | 25 | - | 4 | 4 | 6 (1) |
1978-79 | 18 | 13 | - | 5 | - | - |
1981-82 | 33 (1) | - | 31 (1) | 2 | - | - |
1982-83 | 26 (1) | - | 24 (1) | 2 | - | - |
Total | 226 (7) | 127 (3) | 55 (2) | 31 (1) | 7 | 6 (1) |
Sources