The inter war period (6)

::The Inter-War Period::

In the early 1930's Lazio played the leagues with dignity and classified itself in the mid positions of the table.


The season 1930-31 Lazio finished eight. That season is remembered for the brawl involving players, officials and fans of both sides, during the second round's derby that ended 2-2. This cost the two clubs a one-day suspension of their respective home grounds. It cost dearly especially to A.S.Roma, who was a main challenger for the league title, ultimately won by Juventus with a four points gap on the "giallorossi". In those years Lazio due to the fact that it had many Brazilian players in the squad, was nicknamed as "Brasilazio". In fact nine Brazilians players (having Italian origins) wore the light-blue shirt as well as the coach Barbuy. However, although playing spectacular football, however did not manage to obtain triumphs. In fact, in the season 1931-32 Lazio avoided relegation only in the last match of the season registering the largest home victory ever, crashing Modena 9-1. The satisfactions given by the "Brasilazio" to the fans, were the wins against Juventus in Turin, and the first ever victory against city-rivals A.S.Roma, in a friendly match that ended finished 3-0. In the season 1932-33, Lazio once again ended in a disappointing mid table position, but registered important important wins in the derby, against reigning champions Juventus and against Inter in Milan. In those days Lazio's best element was its goalkeeper, Ezio Sclavi, who literally spent his entire career with Lazio. During the following season gave Lazio ended in 10th place. At the end of the season, Sclavi announced his retirement. In the summer of 1934, Lazio acquired for a record fee the Italian bomber Silvio Piola from Pro Vercelli. In first season in Rome, Piola scored 21 goals and Lazio finished 5th in the league, twelve points behind Juventus, who won their fifth consecutive title. In the following season, Lazio finished 7th with Piola once again its top scorer scoring nineteen goals out of twenty-seven matches. A year later Lazio built a very strong squad in order to challenge for the league title. At the end of the first round, Lazio was leading the standings, however following a negative spell in the second round , the light-blues were superseded by Bologna who won the league with three points ahead of the eagles Lazio. In that season Lazio also played in the Central European cup (The Champions League for those years) and reached the final against Ferencvaros, eliminating Hungaria and Grasshoppers on its road. The final played on two legs, saw Lazio losing 4-2 in Budapest and 5-4 in Rome. In the match played in Rome, Piola unfortunately missed a penalty when Lazio was winning 4-3. In the season 1937/38, Lazio kicked off well and lead the table for a while, however it declined in the second round and ended in a miserable 8th position, with Piola scoring fifteen goals. In that year, the Lazio striker was crowned world champion in France with the Italian national team.