September 22, 1946: Bari Lazio 1-3
Puccinelli brace inspires Lazio to victory in Bari
A dominant second-half performance saw the Biancocelesti overcome Bari with two quick goals from Puccinelli turning a tight contest into a comfortable win.
Season 1988-89
The season so far
In the previous season the teams from Serie A and B had been grouped together and divided into two groups according to geographical location. This was in order to lessen the burden of travel in a devastated country following the end of World War II. Lazio finished seventh. A mediocre season for the Biancocelesti with a terrible first half and a better second.
This season the manager Toni Cargnelli had been confirmed and there had been some new entries as far as players were concerned. Defenders Luigi Cassano (Alessandria), Emilio Carton (Verona), midfielders Antonio Sessa (Pro Gorizia) and Luciano Ramella (Como) and forwards Mario Magrini (Pro Gorizia), Bruno Ispiro (Genoa) and Cesare Ferronato (Bassano). There was a lot of optimism, and Lazio were considered possible outsiders.
Today was the first game of the season.
The match: Sunday, September 22, 1946, Stadio della Vittoria, Bari
Lazio made an impressive start to the 1946–47 championship, overcoming Bari 3–1 in a match that exposed the gulf between a well-organised visiting side and a home team still searching for its identity.
Around 20,000 spectators had gathered in Bari with high expectations after encouraging signs in the hosts' midweek training match against Arsenale. Those hopes quickly disappeared. After only 15 minutes, the applause that had greeted the two teams' arrival had turned into loud whistles directed at the home side, which struggled throughout to find any rhythm or cohesion.
Lazio, by contrast, looked sharper, better prepared and considerably more balanced. Although the Romans did little that was spectacular, their superiority was evident in virtually every department. Their defensive unit was particularly impressive, with Corrado Giubilo making several excellent saves behind a well-matched central defensive partnership of Luigi Cassano and Alessandro Ferri. The midfield and forward line were mobile and energetic, while Antonio Sessa also caught the eye as a promising young player.
Bari's problems were largely self-inflicted. The team was short of both fitness and understanding and appeared caught between different tactical ideas. Several selection decisions also worked against them. Giulio Pellicari was preferred to the out-of-form Luigi Lenzi, Paolo Gianmarco was brought into the side after arriving from Vicenza only the previous day, while Vincenzo Orlando was moved to the right despite normally playing on the left. Tommaso Maestrelli, meanwhile, was left out as the club hoped to secure a substantial transfer fee for him. The result was a hastily assembled side that never looked comfortable.
Lazio dominated much of the opening period without creating an abundance of clear chances. Bari's defence, led by Leonardo Costagliola and Onofrio Fusco, generally managed to contain the visitors, while Giubilo was forced into an excellent early intervention. In the 18th minute he threw himself at Sabino Cavone's feet to prevent what appeared certain to be a goal. Petar Manola then missed an excellent opportunity to score into an unguarded net shortly after the half-hour mark.
The visitors continued to press before the interval, with Aldo Puccinelli repeatedly supplying crosses that his teammates were unable to convert. The match remained goalless at half-time, but there was little indication that Bari could sustain its resistance.
After an unusually long 20-minute interval, the home side briefly emerged with greater purpose. Three minutes after the restart, Cavone's overhead kick was headed on by Mario Tondonati, only for the ball to strike the post. It was a warning that Bari might finally have found some life.
Instead, Lazio struck twice in quick succession.
In the 50th minute, Puccinelli's shot forced Costagliola into a spectacular save for a corner. Costantino De Andreis delivered the resulting set-piece and, although Costagliola initially appeared to have dealt with it, the goalkeeper lost control of the ball. Puccinelli reacted quickest, pouncing on the loose ball to give Lazio the lead.
Just six minutes later, the same player struck again. A misunderstanding in the Bari defence left the ball dropping invitingly in front of Puccinelli, who met it first time and fired beyond Costagliola. In the space of six minutes, Lazio had transformed a competitive-looking contest into a comfortable victory.
Bari's collapse continued. In the 59th minute, Bruno Ispiro took advantage of an error by Caporasele, went past the defender and sent a fine shot just under the crossbar to make it 3–0.
With the result effectively settled, Lazio dropped deeper and allowed Bari to have more possession. Giubilo remained alert, making a fine save from Guido Tavellin's overhead kick in the 62nd minute before producing another excellent intervention to deny Tondonati ten minutes later.
Bari finally found a consolation goal in the 78th minute, Tavellin finishing from a scramble inside the Lazio penalty area. There was still time for Ispiro to add a fourth, but the Lazio forward wasted a golden opportunity in the closing stages.
The final score remained 3–1, although the margin could easily have been greater. For Bari, the defeat highlighted serious problems in preparation, selection and tactical organisation. For Lazio, it was an encouraging opening performance: disciplined, physically prepared and dangerous when opportunities presented themselves.
Puccinelli's second-half double was the decisive contribution, but the overall performance suggested that Lazio had arrived in Bari with a considerably clearer idea of how they wanted to play.
Who played for Bari
Costagliola, Fusco, Pellicari, Carlini, Capocasale, Giammarco, Cavone, Orlando, Tontodonati, Tavellin, Spadavecchia
Manager: Nehadoma
Who played for Lazio
Giubilo, Cassano, Ferri, Alzani, Sessa, Gualtieri, Puccinelli, Manola, Ispiro, Lombardini, De Andreis
Manager: Cargnelli
Referee: Silvano
Goals: 50' Puccinelli, 56' Puccinelli, 64' Ispiro, 78' Tavellin
What happened next
At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were tenth with a five-point cushion on the relegation zone and miles away from the top. Very inconsistent, the Biancocelesti had some good wins (Bologna 3-1, Sampdoria 4-0) but bad losses (4-1 against Fiorentina and 5-1 to Torino). After 25 games they were in the relegation zone, but thanks to Enrique Flamini's return they managed to work themselves up and reach tenth place at the end of the season. In the last 13 matches they lost just one and won five.
Aldo Puccinelli was the player with most appearances (36) as well as the top scorer with 13 goals.
Lazio Jersey 1946-47
Image Sources: Football Kit Archive (white shirt enhanced using AI)
In the first season of post-war Serie A, Lazio temporarily turned back the clock, wearing a shirt that recalled the colours of its pioneering years
The 1946–47 season was a season of new beginnings for Italian football. The war was over, the divisions of the previous years had been swept aside, and the national championship returned to a single Serie A. For Lazio, this new chapter was reflected not only on the pitch but also in the shirt worn by the players.
After decades in which celeste had gradually become inseparable from the identity of the Biancocelesti, Lazio entered the first post-war Serie A season in white.
It was a remarkably simple jersey. The body was entirely white, broken only by a celeste V-neck collar, creating an understated but distinctive appearance. According to the S.S. Lazio Museum, the design represented a return to the colours used during the club's earliest years after its foundation.
It was, in a sense, a glimpse of Lazio's past at a moment when the club and the country were attempting to rebuild their future.
White was not an unfamiliar colour in Lazio's history. In the pioneering years of the club, before celeste became overwhelmingly dominant, white featured prominently in the team's colours. The choice to bring it back in 1946–47 therefore had a particular historical resonance.
The jersey also reflected the simplicity of football in the immediate post-war period. There were none of the elaborate designs associated with modern football shirts. The white fabric and celeste collar were enough to identify Lazio, while the construction of the shirt—close-fitting and elasticated—belonged unmistakably to the changing world of post-war football.
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