Serafino Montanari was born in Portomaggiore, near Ferrara, on January 15 1921.
He started his career as a centre-forward playing in his hometown team, Portuense, in Serie C. In 1941 he signed for Rovigo, again in the third tier, and the year after he moved to Padova in Serie B but did not play much, just 5 league games. After the war he started playing at midfield for Spal again in Serie B. In three years he appeared in 83 games and scored 5 goals.
He became a very highly regarded player, noted for his class and elegance. In 1948, together with his team mates Marco Brandolin and Bruno De Lazzari, he signed for Lazio. He stayed for six years in the capital and played both at midfield and defence appearing 81 times in Serie A (with one goal) and twice in the Latin Cup.
In 1954 he signed for Chinotto Neri and played 62 games in two years before retiring.
Once he stopped active football he became a manager. He started with the youth teams of Spal from 1957 to 1961, but was called to the first team in 1960 for the last seven games of the season. In 1961 he took over from Luigi Ferrero after just three games and stayed as manager until 1963.
He then was head coach for Triestina in 1963-64 in Serie B (10th place), Padova for one and a half seasons (1964-66, he was sacked half way through the 1965-66 season), Livorno in 1966-67 substituting Carlo Parola but later replaced by Parola, Foggia in 1967-68 and Spal again in 1968-69. His last job as manager was for Ternana in 1970.
Once he retired from football he went back to his old job in a pharmacy, and was President of the Ferrara Order of Pharmacists.
He died in Ferrara on February 14, 1988.
Lazio Career
Season | Total apperances (goals) | Serie A | Latin Cup |
1948-49 | 23 | 23 | - |
1949-50 | 13 (1) | 11 (1) | 2 |
1950-51 | 10 | 10 | - |
1951-52 | 8 | 8 | - |
1952-53 | 15 | 15 | - |
1953-54 | 14 | 14 | - |
Total | 83 (1) | 81 (1) | 2 |
Sources