SS Lazio (Italy)

Società Sportiva Lazio; or plain Lazio is an Italian football club that was formed on January 9th 1900 as Società Podistica Lazio by young sportsmen who gathered by the Tiber on Piazza della Libertà in the Prati district of the city to swim, canoe and run.

Luigi Bigiarelli was the head of the group as the name of the administrative region of Lazio was chosen as the club name. Football was also adopted in 1901 as introduced by Bruto Seghettini, starting out playing matches at Campo di Piazza d'Armi.

The team’s first ever game was in 1902 against local rivals Virtus. Lazio played in amateur friendly games being played until 1910 when federal competitions began, having moved to play at Parco dei Daini from 1905.

The 1912-13 season was the first time that the Prima Categoria national championship became open to teams from the south. Lazio went al the way to the final where they were defeated 6-0 by Pro Vercelli in Genoa.

The club were evicted from Parco dei Daini after an errant shot hit a lady sat in a carriage behind the goal. The club found a new home at Campo della Farnesina; where an undaunted Lazio reached the decider the following season, this time going down 9-1 on aggregate to Casale.

Soon after Lazio moved to Stadio della Rondinella, which was located between where Stadio Flaminio and Palazzetto dello Sport now stand. In 1922-23 in the retitled Prima Divisione where the team were defeated 6-1 in the national final on aggregate to Genoa, before the club changed their title to Società Sportiva Lazio in June 1926.

The FIGC began a full national championship at the same time, with Lazio remaining in Prima Divisione, which was now demoted to the second tier. In 1927 the fascist regime ordered all Rome clubs to merge into what would become AS Roma. Giorgio Vaccaro was a general in the organisation and a Lazio fan. He ensured that the club kept their own identity.

‘La Biancocelesti’, the white and sky blue were given a place in Serie A when it began in 1929-30 under Brazilian coach Amílcar Barbuy. Lazio moved into Stadio Nazionale PNF in 1931, fefore Barbuy was replaced by the Austrian Karl Stürmer in 1932 and then Walter Alt two years later.

The side included star men Silvio Piola and Attilio Ferraris IV. Piola would go on to become Serie A’s highest ever scorer and a World Cup winner in 1938. This was after Lazio ended as league runners-up in 1936-37 under coach József Viola.

In 1937 Lazio moved into the finally completed Stadio dei Centomila, given its title because it could accommodate 100,000 spectators. The stadium, whose title was changed to Stadio Olimpico in 1960 was shared with AS Roma.

After a couple of decades of mediocrity Lazio won their first honour in 1958 when the Coppa Italia was lifted under coach Fulvio Bernardini. Fiorentina were beaten 1-0 with Maurilio Prini scoring the goal as goalkeeper Roberto Lovati captained the side.

Humberto Tozzi and Arne Selmosson were leading scorers around the time before Lazio were relegated in 1960-61 before returning to the top flight in 1962-63 under coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo. Umberto Lenzini became President as the club hit financial troubles.

The team went back down to Serie B in 1966-67 before returning to Serie A as champions in 1969-70 with Nello Governato orchestrating the midfield with returning coach Lorenzo back in charge of the Biancocelesti.

Lazio were relegated again in 1970-71 but bounced back as runners-up twelve months later. The talented side included English-born captain Giuseppe Wilson, Luciano Re Cecconi, Mario Frustalupi, Renzo Garlaschelli and Giorgio Chinaglia with Tommaso Maestrelli as coach.

After finishing as league runners-up in 1972-73, Lazio would win their first Scudetto in 1973-74. The side didn’t build on their success and had to deal with setbacks including the early and unexpected deaths of Re Cecconi and Maestrelli.

Luís Vinício and then Roberto Lovati had spells as coach as Bruno Giordano finished as Serie A top scorer in 1977-78. A betting scandal including illegal bets on their own matches led to the FIGC relegating the club at the end of the 1979-80 campaign.

Head coaches came and went over the next few years as Lazio regained their top tier status in 1982-83 before dropping back down again in 1984-85 despite the emerging talent of Francesco Dell'Anno and Francesco Fonte.

Lazio escaped relegation to Serie C in the tie-breaker in 1986-87 under the tutelage of Eugenio Fascetti after being deducted nine points for a further betting scandal. The club didn’t look back from the wake up call as promotion was sealed in 1987-88.

Giuseppe Materazzi was appointed to lead the team before being replaced by Dino Zoff in 1990 as Rubén Sosa banged in the goals along with Karl-Heinz Riedle. Sergio Cragnotti took over as President in 1992 as cash was spent on improving the squad.

Paul Gascoigne, Giuseppe Signori, Giuseppe Favalli and Diego Fuser all arrived at Stadio Olimpico to link up with the likes of regulars Cristiano Bergodi and Angelo Gregucci to take the team to fifth place in 1992-93.

Zdeněk Zeman took over as coach in 1994 as the team continued to finish in the top four places with the help of the goals of Pierluigi Casiraghi, including ending as runners-up in 1994-95.

Sven-Göran Eriksson was appointed as coach in 1997 as Signori moved on. Pavel Nedvěd was signed along with Alen Bokšić as Lazio defeated Milan 3-2 on aggregate to lift the Coppa Italia for the second time.

More money was spent on the star signings of Siniša Mihajlović, Dejan Stanković, Roberto Mancini, Christian Vieri and Marcelo Salas who bedded in alongside regulars Luca Marchegiani and Alessandro Nesta.

The team reached the 1997-98 UEFA Cup final; going down 3-0 to Internazionale before going on to lift the UEFA Cup-Winners Cup of 1998-99 when Real Mallorca were defeated 2-1 at Villa Park.

Lazio ended up as league runners-up that same season before claiming their second Scudetto title in 1999-00. The double was achieved with a Coppa Italia victory over Internazionale with Diego Simone one of the scorers in the 2-1 win.

Alberto Zaccheroni took over from Eriksson who took the England head coach job as the money ran out. The signing of Gaizka Mendieta also failed to work out. Former playing favourite Mancini took over as coach in 2002 leading the side to a third Coppa Italia win in 2003-04.

Juventus were beaten on aggregate in the final with the help of goals from Stefano Fiore before Cragnotti sold the club to entrepreneur Claudio Lotito in 2004 who appointed Domenico Caso, Giuseppe Papadopulo and Delio Rossi in quick succession as head coach.

Angelo Peruzzi, Fabio Liverani and Ousmane Dabo became the new fans favourites of La Biancocelesti as the club successfully appealed against being automatically relegated in yet another match fixing scandal.

The goals of Tommaso Rocchi helped fire Lazio to third place in Serie A in 2006-07 before two mid-table finishes. Rossi’s side collected the clubs’ fifth Coppa Italia as Sampdoria were overcome on penalties after a Mauro Zárate goal in normal time.

Davide Ballardini and then Edoardo Reja were the next incumbents of the head coach role with Reja leading his team to the 2011-12 Coppa triumph over city rivals AS Roma thanks to a solitary goal from stalwart Senad Lulić.

Vladimir Petković took over the following season before the arrival of Stefano Pioli in June 2014 who led his charges to third place in his first season at the helm thanks to the goals of Miroslav Klose and creativity of Antonio Candreva.

Former forward Simone Inzaghi was made Lazio interim head coach in June 2016 as Lucas Biglia captained the team. Marcelo Bielsa was appointed as the new coach lasting just two days before Inzaghi was made the permanent choice.

The goals of Ciro Immobile and Keita Baldé with assists from Felipe Anderson and Lulić helped the team to fifth place in 2016-17 which was replicated the following season as Sergej Milinković-Savić assisted in the goals department.

In 2018-19 Lazio won their seventh Coppa Italia when two late goals from Milinković-Savić and Joaquín Correa saw off Atalanta. Luis Alberto was the source of creativity as the 2019-20 season was halted owing to the COVID-19 outbreak with the side in second place in the table.

SS Lazio will play in Serie A in the 2019-20 season. 


My visit 

SS Lazio 1 Arsenal 1 (Tuesday 17th October 2000) Champions League (att: 42,500)

I was travelling around Europe by train for three weeks on an Inter rail ticket, taking in as many major cities and sightseeing as possible, which of course included visiting football clubs and stadiums. 

As luck would have it I arrived in the eternal city of Rome on the night before the game and I was to spend two nights in the city. I had travelled without purchasing a ticket in advance, reasoning it would be just as easy and cheaper at the stadium. How little I knew!

I had done some sightseeing on the Monday afternoon and reckoned I deserved a few beers at night. I happened to find a bar where there were some Arsenal fans and we generally had a good old session. 

The proprietors were good with us, as they were Roma fans and they wanted Arsenal to win the game. Unfortunately, I was so euphoric that I cleared off leaving my bag behind. During my enjoyable evening I’d got talking to two Irish lads.

A nice pub/bar in the student area.

If anyone should visit, can you see if my camera's been handed in yet!

They had told me all about getting a free ticket for St Peter’s Square the day after the match to see The Pope travel through the square in his “Popemobile” and to give mass. I’m no man of religion, but this wasn’t to be missed, especially as it was free! 

So on matchday I went to get a ticket from the Swiss Guard as well as doing a bit more sightseeing. I was reluctant to venture for a drink owing to reports that the local constabulary and many local youths were unlikely to be too hospitable. 

I could still remember the treatment offered to me at Italia 90 and couldn’t be bothered with all that hassle again as well as the terrible reports from England fans who'd visited for the game that saw us qualify for the 1998 World Cup, so I took a siesta before returning to the bar to try and retrieve my belongings.

My bag was there, but the camera had gone. I decided that a disposable camera would be the way forward so I purchased one before setting out. Some locals had told us to go to the wrong station (probably deliberately), but fortunately some other travelling fans knew the score. 

We got out of the Metro and needed to take a bus. It was a reasonably calm journey, but on nearing the stadium it was soon clear that this was to be a feisty evening. There were plenty of home fans up to no good, creating trouble and generally trying to get at the away fans. 

Because i was on my own and I didn’t have any colours on, I mingled in. I bought the Lazio ultras magazine and stuck it in my back pocket, adding further to any disguise I required. I spoke to some stewards and asked about buying a ticket. I was told to pay on the gate. I somehow found the Arsenal section where the Caribinieri were not sympathetic to my cause. 

They insisted I pay on the gate, but the gateman refused to take money. I shouted out to see if anyone had any spare tickets as the police were getting even more tetchy? My luck was in as a fan had spares because not all of the coach party had turned up. 

He also refused to take any money for it as he said it was hardly worth it after converting the lira back to sterling. Their party was flying straight out after the game and wouldn’t have any opportunity to spend it.

It was about an hour before kick off, but getting inside was the most sensible and certainly the safest option. The police took all loose change from us and any refreshments had the lids removed when we purchased them. A beer was definitely out of the question. 

Unbelievably I sat down to flick through my magazine, only to look up to see a familiar face. I worked at Lord’s Cricket Ground at the time and sat there was one of the Pavilion stewards who I often worked alongside in the shape of Alan Robinson.

We were in a couple of sections in the south west corner of the stadium (Distinto Sud Ovest). To our left was the main Tribuna Monte Mario. The main bulk of the Lazio fans took up the Curva Nord at the far end along with the Distinto Nord Ovest and Distinto Nord Est. 

The far side was the Tribuna Tevere which was not too populated apart from in the middle. To our right there were plenty of locals looking to throw missiles into our section from Curva Sud. The ground was completely fitted out with sky blue seats, with a spectacular cantilever roof hanging over the spectator areas.

It was my first time at an Anglo Italian clash. My brother and plenty of pals had been before and told me all about the volatile atmosphere. They weren’t lying! It was nearly as bad on the pitch as tempers often flared. 

Lazio went ahead through Pavel Nedved after about half an hour, who scored past the veteran John Lukic, who was making his first appearance in two years as cover for the injured David Seaman. Players were clashing and there was obvious animosity on the benches. 

The Italians were time wasting at every opportunity and the home fans continually taunted us once the missiles had run out. Then out of nowhere two minutes from time, Robert Pires broke clear to equalise. The Arsenal section went berserk including myself. I’m not the biggest fan of The Gunners, but it was all for one that evening, and I took great delight when the goal went in. 

The home fans either side of us tried to get over the perspex fences as the police used their batons to keep them back. After the game we were kept back for an hour while the police cleared the area, and as someone mentioned only partly tongue in cheek, it gave the home fans time to find places to greet our return into the city. 

To be fair to the stadium management, they put on an Arsenal video of the season so far on the boards behind the goals. Eventually we were let out and herded onto coaches. There was not the best communication, but I eventually found a bus going back to the central station, which was a five minute quick walk to my backpacker digs. I alighted and got back without any problems, which was a huge relief. 

Pope John Paul II seems happy that I escaped from Stadio Oilimpico uscathed!

To round off a lively few days I was within a few feet when The Pope passed me the next morning, and I bumped into my Irish pals again. We went for lunch by the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps before I went to the Collesium to take a new set of pictures to replace the ones on my lost camera. 

I listened to a tour guide telling visitors from all over the world about the ordeal the Christians faced in the arena when the lions were let loose. I would recommend a trip to the Stadio Olimpico as a visiting English football fan if anyone wants to know what it must have been like! 

Unfortunately the vast majority of pictures of Stadio Olimpico have been taken from the internet owing to my lost camera fiasco and the fact that the disposable one I bought was hopeless under floodlights. Maybe I'll be back one day, but it will have to be for a Serie A game. It's too much as the follower of England or an English club fan!