Looking back at the Allievi’s 1982 Scudetto triumph
The 1981/82 season wasn’t a particularly great one for our colours: we suffered our first ever relegation, finishing second from bottom in Serie A. Nevertheless, there was something to smile about on 26 June 1982, after the league had come to an end.
During that campaign, Italian football discovered the talents of Roberto Mancini, who enjoyed an excellent season but wasn’t able to save a Bologna side initially led by Burgnich and then Liguori from the drop. Not only was he heavily involved in the first team, he also gave his all for the Rossoblù’s youth setup, featuring for Club’s Allievi side (Under-17s) that year.
Coached by Antonio Soncini, it was precisely the Allievi who experienced great joy that season, winning the Scudetto. The team got their hands on the title after beating Gravina’s Bari over two legs. The first game finished 4-1, with Mancini bagging a brace and Pierluigi Marcomini and Claudio Treggia also getting on the scoresheet on 19 June 1982, while the second fixture finished 1-0 in Puglia a week later to the delight of Di Donato, Marocchi, Marcomini, Lo Bianco and Co.
The then left-back Maurizio Lo Bianco still remembers the celebrations as the team returned home: “We departed the same evening by train. There were sleeping berths, but nobody slept. After arriving at the station in Bologna, we had breakfast on Via Indipendenza and then headed to the training centre, where, still in a state of euphoria, we had a kickabout.”
In order to reach the final, the team had to overcome Pordenone, Rondinella, Latina and Milan over two legs in the national finals, with a penalty shootout required to beat the latter.
That team was a great group: “We got on really well,” Lo Bianco continued. “It was an extraordinary group full of excellent players who would go on to play either professionally or at a semi-professional level. Even those who played less regularly accepted it, we were a real team.”
Having taken centre stage in the first team, the current Head Coach of Italy joined back up with his young peers to help secure Bologna’s first Scudetto title at youth level: “I remember how professional he was. He was a year older than me and was leading from the front in Serie A. At the same time, he was very much willing to lend us a hand. He was a great person and an incredible champion. He and Marocchi were the pride and joy of that team,” concluded Lo Bianco.
