Sergio Petrelli is one of the Lazio heroes of the 1974 scudetto. He is nicknamed “Pedro” by the Lazio fans and by his former team mates.
Born in Ascoli Piceno on July 27 1944, Petrelli first started playing football in the local amateur club Del Duca Montedinove, where he was noticed by Juventus. He progressed through all the Juve youth teams from 1960 but just as he was about to start his adventure with the pros, he suffered a bad injury. He played the 1964-65 season with Carrarese in Serie C and the following year with Pisa.
His breakthrough year is 1966-67 in Serie B with Hellas Verona who were promoted to Serie A. Verona had invested in him and under manager Nils Liedholm, Petrelli started playing full back. He would play 90 games for Verona in three years with 7 goals.
1969 saw the move to Roma. Everyone predicted he would become a nazionale player but instead he had big problems with the Roma manager Helenio Herrera and did not get the expected playing time. Following 64 games and five goals in three years with the Giallorossi, he moved to Lazio, one of the very rare deals between the two clubs.
His first year with Lazio was complicated. Tommaso Maestrelli preferred Mario Facco and he appeared only 9 times in the 1972-73 season. He was about to change clubs the following year but Facco got injured and Maestrelli gave him an opportunity. He will no longer sit on the bench. He became one of the strongest players of the Lazio team that went on to win the first scudetto.
Despite originally being a left-winger, Maestrelli moved him to right back and he became one of the main pieces of that strange puzzle that made up the victorious Lazio 1973-74 squad.
In four years of Lazio, Petrelli played 47 games with two goals in Serie A, 12 in Coppa Italia (three goals) and six in the UEFA Cup.
He left Lazio in 1976 and played the rest of his career in Serie C and D nearer to home, with Anconitana, Tortoreto and Aquila. He retired from football in 1982 at 38 years of age.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup | Anglo Italian Cup |
1972-73 | 12 | 9 | 1 | - | 3 |
1973-74 | 31 (1) | 22 (1) | 5 | 4 | - |
1974-75 | 12 (2) | 8 (1) | 4 (1) | - | - |
1975-76 | 12 (2) | 8 | 2 (2) | 2 | - |
Total | 68 (5) | 47 | 12 | 6 | 3 |
Sources