Welcome to the latest installment of the Gloucester Groundhopper blog.
For this chapter, we travelled to Rome for some Coppa Italia action as Lazio took on Juventus at the Stadio Olympico.
It's All In The Name
The Italian word Lazio is derived from the Latin word Latium, which refers to the Latin region, Latini in the Latin language spoken by them, and was passed down to the Latin city-state of Ancient Rome. The eagle on Lazio's traditional club badge was chosen by founding member Luigi Bigiarelli. This is their monicker. It was chosen as a symbol of the Roman legions and emperor to represent power and victory; it also identifies the club with its birthplace.
Some Notable Former Players
Alessandro Nesta
Dejan Stankovic
Pavel Nedved
Lucas Leiva
Mirolslav Klose
Massimo Oddo
Roberto Mancini
Diego Simeone
Some Notable People From Rome:
Julius Caesar-Roman Statesman
Max Biaggi- Motorcyclist
Danny Huston- Actor
Francesco Totti- Footballer
Augustus- First Roman Emperor
A History Lesson From The Gloucester Groundhopper
On 9th January, 1900, the Società Podistica Lazio was established in Rome's Prati district. The club played at an amateur level until 1910, when it officially joined the league competition as soon as the Italian Football Federation began organising championships in the centre and south of Italy, and reached the national championship playoff final three times, but never won, losing in 1913 to Pro Vercelli, 1914 to Casale, and 1923 to Genoa 1893.
In 1927, Lazio was the only major Roman club to defy the Fascist regime's attempt to merge all of the city's teams into what would become Roma the following year. The club competed in the first organised Serie A in 1929 and finished second in 1937, led by legendary Italian striker Silvio Piola, its best pre-war result.
The 1950s saw a mix of mid-table and upper-table results, culminating in a Coppa Italia victory in 1958. Lazio was relegated to Serie B for the first time in 1961, but returned to the top flight two years later. Following a string of mid-table finishes, the club was relegated again in 1970-71. With a team that included captain Giuseppe Wilson, midfielders Luciano Re Cecconi and Mario Frustalupi, striker Giorgio Chinaglia, and head coach Tommaso Maestrelli, Lazio emerged as a surprise challenger for the Scudetto to Milan and Juventus in 1972-73, only losing out on the final day of the season. Lazio built on its previous successes the following season, winning its first title in 1973-74.
However, the tragic deaths of Re Cecconi and Scudetto trainer Maestrelli, as well as Chinaglia's departure, would be a triple blow to Lazio. During this time, the emergence of Bruno Giordano provided some relief, as he finished League top scorer in 1979, when Lazio finished eighth.
Lazio and Milan were both relegated to Serie B in 1980 as a result of a remarkable scandal involving illegal bets on their own matches. They remained in Italy's second division for three seasons, marking the club's darkest period. They returned in 1983 and narrowly avoided relegation the following season. The 1984-85 season would be a nightmare, with only 15 points and a last-place finish.
In 1986, Lazio was docked nine points for a betting scandal involving player Claudio Vinazzani (a true deathblow in the days of the two-point win). Following the same season in Serie B, the club led by trainer Eugenio Fascetti narrowly avoided relegation to Serie C thanks to play-off victories over Taranto and Campobasso. This would prove a watershed moment in the club's history, with Lazio returning to Serie A in 1988 and consolidating the club's position as a solid top-flight club under the careful financial management of Gianmarco Calleri.
Sergio Cragnotti's arrival in 1992 changed the club's history because of his long-term investments in new players to make the team a Scudetto contender. The signing of English midfielder Paul Gascoigne from Tottenham Hotspur for £5.5 million was a notable early transfer during his tenure. The transfer of Gascoigne to Lazio is credited with increasing interest in Serie A in the United Kingdom during the 1990s. Cragnotti repeatedly broke transfer records in pursuit of major stars, including signing Juan Sebastián Verón for £18 million, Christian Vieri £19 million, and breaking the world transfer record, albeit for a few weeks, in signing Hernán Crespo from Parma for £35 million.
Lazio were Serie A runners-up in 1995, third in 1996 and fourth in 1997, then losing the championship just by one point to Milan on the last championship's match in 1999 before, with the likes of Siniša Mihajlović, Alessandro Nesta, Marcelo Salas and Pavel Nedvěd in the side, winning its second Scudetto in 2000, as well as the Coppa Italia double with Sven-Göran Eriksson (1997–2001) as manager.
Lazio won the Coppa Italia again in 1998 and 2004, as well as the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1999. They also qualified for the UEFA Cup, but were defeated 0-3 by Internazionale. Lazio also won the Supercoppa Italiana twice and the UEFA Super Cup in 1999, defeating Manchester United. Lazio was also the first Italian football club to be listed on the Piazza Affari stock exchange in 2000.
With money running out, Lazio's results deteriorated over time. A financial scandal involving Cragnotti and his food products multinational Cirio forced him to leave the club in 2002, and Lazio was run by caretaker financial managers and a bank pool until 2004. As a result, the club was forced to sell its star players, including fan favourite captain Alessandro Nesta. Claudio Lotito, an entrepreneur, bought the majority of the club in 2004. Under coach Delio Rossi, the club qualified for the 2006-07 UEFA Cup. However, due to their involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal, the club was barred from participating in European competitions.
Despite a later-reduced points deduction, Lazio finished third in the 2006-07 season, earning qualification to the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, where they defeated Dinamo București to advance to the group stage, finishing fourth in a group that included Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, and Olympiacos. Things did not go much better in the league, with the team spending the majority of the season in the bottom half of the table, sparking fan protests and eventually finishing the Serie A season in 12th place. Lazio won their fifth Coppa Italia in 2008-09, defeating Sampdoria in the final.
Lazio began the 2009-10 season by defeating Inter in the Supercoppa Italiana in Beijing, winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Matuzalém and Tommaso Rocchi. Lazio defeated Roma 1-0 in the 2012-13 Coppa Italia, with Senad Lulic scoring the only goal. Lazio defeated Atalanta 2-0 in the 2018-19 Coppa Italia final, their seventh title overall.
Honours
🏆 Serie A (Winners: 1973–74, 1999–2000)
🏆 Coppa Italia (Winners: 1958, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2018–19)
🏆 Supercoppa Italiana (Winners: 1998, 2000, 2009, 2017, 2019)
🏆 Serie B (Winners: 1968-69)
🏆 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (Winners: 1998–99)
🏆 UEFA Super Cup (Winners: 1999)
Matchday:SS Lazio 2-1 Juventus
We travelled to the Stadio Olympico on a hot Spring evening. We had planned for a week long holiday in Rome and luckily the game fell kindly within our itinerary. We had a wonder round Rome in the morning, taking in the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps and Palatine Hill, then headed to the ground.
It has to be said, getting to and from the ground is an absolute nightmare. It is way out the way, and a significant distance from the city centre, and only falls on a couple of bus routes. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when the bus drivers pick and choose when they will stop and when they won’t, it becomes a major problem.
Anyway, we arrived at the ground, after (finally) getting the 280 bus from the Pyramide. We pretty much entered the ground straight away as we weren’t allowed access to any other parts of the ground. This was a shame because this meant we had no access to the club shop (although we did later get to go in when we did the stadium tour on a different day) as there is no access from the Curva Nord.
Entering the ground, there was a thorough searching process, with us having to show our IDs and being searched a total of FOUR times. After we finally got access to the ground, we went for some food. There is a wide variety of food available at the ground, for a decent price. This included pizzas, burgers, paninis and hotdogs all for €5 each. I went for the ham and mozzarella panini, although I’m not convinced there was any mozzarella in it. This made it very dry and very bland. As a result, I bought a hamburger which was much nicer and great value for money.
The stadium itself is in great condition. With it being built for the Italia 90 World Cup, it would be expected to have some signs of wear and tear, but it was well kept, and very very clean. The views from the seats were decent (although fairly far away).
The atmosphere was really good, with the acoustics of the ground amplifying the noise of the Lazio supporters. The songs at the start of the game were spin tingling, although the ground was fairly quiet during the game itself. A notable mention has to go to the fans who felt the need to kick the back of the stands every five minutes, that really helped the atmosphere. I really enjoyed the show at the start of the game, with an eagle being bought into the ground, it was really entertaining and it was a bit different to what we were used to.
Teamsheet
SS Lazio
Manager: Igor Tudor
Christos Mandas
Nicole Casale
Alessio Romagnoli
Mario Gila
Elseid Hysaj
Danilo Cataldi
Matteo Guendouzi
Adam Marusic
Felipe Anderson
Luis Alberto (c)
Taty Castellanos ⚽️ ⚽️
Substitutes
Patric
Matias Vecino
Pedro
Ciro Immobile
Nicolo Rovella
Luca Pellegrini
Gustav Isaksen
Diego Gonzalez
Luigi Sepe
Davide Renzetti
Juventus
Manager: Massimiliano Allegri
Mattia Perin
Danilo (c)
Bremer
Alex Sandro
Andrea Cambiaso
Weston McKennie
Manuel Locatelli
Adrien Rabiot
Filip Kostic
Dusan Vlahovic
Federico Chiesa
Substitutes
Arkadiusz Milik ⚽️
Kenan Yildiz
Timothy Weah
Carlos Alcaraz
Wojciech Szczseny
Samuel Iling-Junior
Fabio Miretti
Carlo Pinsoglio
Daniele Rugani
Tiago Djalo
Hans Nicolussi Caviglia
In the second leg, Lazio took the lead in the 12th minute thanks to Castellanos' thunderous header from a Luis Alberto corner, rekindling fans' hopes for a comeback from the first leg setback.
Just before the break, Castellanos burst into the area after catching another one of Alberto's clever passes, but Juve keeper Mattia Perin stopped his low effort.
After the interval, though, Castellanos tied the score with a low shot that went past Perin and into the net after Alberto set him up just outside the box.
A goal by either team would have advanced them to the Coppa Italia final given the stalemate. Two minutes after entering the field, Weah squared the ball to Milik, who finished with a tap-in to send Juventus into the final.
Scores on the Doors
Atmosphere: 8.5/10
Food and Drink: 6/10
Stadium: 7/10
Welcome: 7/10
Overall Experience: 6/10
GG
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