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Giuseppe Spalazzi

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Giuseppe Spalazzi (17 March 1943 – 17 July 2025) was an Italian footballer.[1]

Background

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After his competitive career, he settled in Chiavari, in Liguria, where he opened a boutique.[2] He died on 17 July 2025, at the age of 82.[3]

Career

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Raised in Agazzano, in 1958 he joined the youth team of Piacenza;[4] he made his first team debut at the age of eighteen, on 19 March 1961 on the pitch of Mestrina,[5] in the 1960–61 Serie C championship which ended with the relegation of the Emilians. He remained at Piacenza for the following two seasons in Serie D, as a reserve for Antonio Cucchetti first [6] and Pietro Tappani later.[7] In his three seasons with Piacenza Football Club, he made 9 appearances, conceding 11 goals.

In 1963 he was hired by Bologna,[8] who added him to the De Martino:[9] in his first season he took part in the Viareggio Tournament 1964 playing as a starter[10] and losing the final against Dukla Prague. With the departure of Cimpiel he became a reserve for Negri and subsequently for Giuseppe Vavassori[11] and made his Serie A debut on 23 May 1965, conceding five goals away to Torino.[11] In the 1965–66 season he took part in 15 matches due to the unavailability of starter Negri;[11] in that season he was an involuntary protagonist in the serious injury suffered by Bruno Mora, who fractured his tibia and fibula in a collision with the rossoblu goalkeeper.[12] In 1966, in an evening friendly match in Riccione against local team, he was kicked by center forward Bighi, fracturing his jaw and remaining unavailable for more than six months.[2] He made a slow recovery from this injury[2] and played six games over the next two seasons.[2] He closed his five-year stint with Petroniani with a total of 22 appearances and 27 goals conceded.

Spalazzi (standing, first from right) for Bari in the 1970–71 season

In 1968 he went down to Serie B, on loan to Bari for six million lire,[2] in the deal that brought Lucio Mujesan to Bologna in exchange for six players.[13] The Apulian team was promoted to Serie A in the 1968–69 season and Spalazzi was bought in full for a fee of 140 million.[13] He played a total of four seasons as a starter for galletti (three in second division and one, the second, in Serie A)[14] and was nicknamed the "kamikaze goalkeeper" by fans.[2] He finished his Apulia experience with 121 league appearances, conceding 95 goals; Bari veteran Gianni Antonucci ranked him among Bari's eight best goalkeepers until 1972.[2]

In 1972, he moved to Genoa, where he won the Serie B championship in his first season and was relegated the following season. After two seasons, in the summer transfer window of 1974 he moved to Palermo together with a compensation of 350 million lire, in exchange for Ignazio Arcoleo and Sergio Girardi;[15] in the 1974–75 season he only played the Coppa Italia,[16][17] because shortly before the start of the Serie B championship he seriously injured his knee[18]. He tried in vain to recover for a year before finally ending his racing career.

Honours

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Genoa

Notes

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  1. ^ "Giuseppe Spalazzi, known as Bibi, has died. He was 82 years old and played goalkeeper for Genoa". genova.repubblica.it. 18 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g

    Antonucci

    — p. 660
    .
  3. ^ Vincenzo De Rosa (17 July 2025). "Bari in mourning, farewell to Giuseppe 'Bibi' Spalazzi: the "kamikaze" goalkeeper who saved without gloves" (in Italian). Telebari.it. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  4. ^ Spalazzi and Franchi made their debuts in Piacenza in Mestre, Libertà, 18 March 1961, page 5
  5. ^ Mestrina-Piacenza 2-1 - 1960-1961 Season Storiapiacenza1919.it
  6. ^ Squad 1961-1962 Storiapiacenza1919.it
  7. ^ Squad 1962-1963 Storiapiacenza1919.it
  8. ^ Acquisti e cessioni 1963-1964 Storiapiacenza1919.it
  9. ^ Piacenza F.C. joint stock company was launched. Bissi II purchased, Spalazzi sold to Bologna, Libertà, 28 July 1963, p. 5
  10. ^ No foreign victories at the Viareggio Tournament, La Gazzetta dello Sport, 2 February 1964, p. 7
  11. ^ a b c M. Sappino, Biographical encyclopedic dictionary of a century of Italian football, vol. 2, pag.506
  12. ^ Stagione 1965-1966 Magliarossonera.it
  13. ^ a b Antonucci, pp. 623–625
  14. ^ Solobari.it S.n.c. - A cura di Francesco Resta, Riccardo Attimonelli e Fabio De Pascale. "Almanacco solobari.it - L'archivio storico sull'A.S. Bari". solobari.it. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  15. ^ Having lost De Sisti, Inter would fall back on Vanello, L'Unità, 28 June 1974, page 11
  16. ^ Palermo midfielders shine against Alessandria, L'Unità, 2 September 1974, page 9
  17. ^ Fumagalli liquidates Palermo in 15, L'Unità, 16 September 1974, page 9
  18. ^ Spalazzi, the man of destiny for Mora, Libertà, 12 December 1986, page 16

Bibliography

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  • Antonucci, Gianni (1998). 1908-1998: 90 Bari. Bari: Uniongrafica Corcelli.
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