25/9/1927 85 years since Roma’s debut victory in Serie A
The machine used to water the pitch broke down and the fire department had to lift it away, meaning the moment so much of the city had been anxiously waiting for was put back an hour. That’s how AS Roma’s life began in Serie A on 25 September 1927. The Giallorossi, with Englishman William Garbutt at the helm, played their opening game at home at the Motovelodromo Appio against Livorno. The starting line-up that day was the following: Rapetti, Mattei, Corbyons, Ferraris IV, Degni, Rovida, Ziroli, Fasanelli, Bussich, Cappa, Chini. A day to remember which will go down in history. Since then 85 years have gone by and Roma have spent 82 seasons in the top flight (there were two during the war when no national championship was played and one in Serie B). They have won the Scudetto 3 times (1940/41, 1982/83 and 2000/01) and been relegated once (1950/51).
That much is more or less common knowledge. It’s less simple to rattle off figures and statistics from this epic journey. Like the total points, for example. Summing them all up from each season, from 1927 to May 2012 (excluding the seasons played during the war, 1943/44, 1944/45 and the one spent in Serie B in 1951/52), the total is 3,301 points. Of these, 163 were obtained against Lazio. Roma’s record in the derby is 48 wins, 54 draws and 36 losses.
It should be remembered that from 1927 to 1994 two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw. From the following year three for a win and one for a draw. The 2007/08 season was the one that ended with the most points: 82 and a Scudetto almost conquered on a final day with so many regrets. When the third Scudetto arrived (2001), Fabio Capello’s team reached 75 – at the time a record for seasons in which three points are awarded for a win and thirty-four matches played.
A league with twenty teams, which has been in effect since 2004, has inevitably raised the bar. On the subject of victories, there have been 1,083 in Serie A. In 2008 and 2010 came the highs: 24 in a single year. Fewer, much fewer, are the defeats: 780. And how many times have Roma taken to the pitch? 2,684. There is also a positive balance between goals scored and conceded: 3,843 goals scored, 3,070 let in. On average, 1.43 goals scored per game.
The man with all the records, who has no rivals when it comes to the number of appearances and goals, is Francesco Totti: 501 appearances with 215 goals scored. A love story without end, which began on 28 March 1993 in Brescia. The coach with the longest reign on the Roma bench is Nils Liedholm with 12 seasons in total, though not consecutive. Franco Sensi was the president who held the job longer than any other, with 15 years at the helm.
Sifting through the almanacs another curious fact emerges: the most common result is 1-0, earned on 274 occasions. The first one came just two years after the founding of the club: AC Milan v Roma on 16 June 1929, settled by a penalty from Barzan.
Scrolling down, we find that the second most common result is 2-1, occurring 181 times. And to cite one of them, how can we forget that game against Pisa from 1983 (Falcao, Di Bartolomei), crucial in the conquest of the second Scudetto. The first 2-1 came against La Dominante on 25 November 1928 with goals from Volk and Bernardini.
In third place on the podium is the 2-0 victory, with 168 in total. And it was precisely by this score line that Roma beat Livorno at home on 25 September 1927 (Ziroli and Fasanelli).
Coming in fourth place is 3-1 (131 times), which was the score when Roma beat Inter at the San Siro on 2 September this year. And it was another 3-1 finish for the Giallorossi, this time against Parma, that sent the entire city into raptures on 17 June 2001 to secure the Scudetto: the goals came from Totti, Montella and Batistuta.
In fifth place is the 3-0 victory (97 in total). The one from 27 November 1994 comes to mind: Balbo, Cappioli and Fonseca, along with Mazzone, celebrated in front of the curva.
The least occurring result – a one-off – is 9-0, which was registered against Cremonese on 13 October 1929.
As regards the three Scudetto-winning coaches, Schaffer (1942) earned 6 of his 30 victories by a 2-0 score line. Liedholm (1983) claims 133 wins, 52 by a 1-0 finish. Capello holds 89 wins, 21 with a 3-1 score line.
Roma have given all this, and so much more, to Serie A. Eighty-five years of emotions. Eighty-five years today. |
发表于 2012-9-26 16:45:23
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发表于 2012-9-26 17:45:18