This is a day of sorrow for Lazio who lost their legendary captain Giuseppe “Pino” Wilson on Sunday morning. Aged 76, defender Wilson was the captain who led the Biancocelesti to their first, historical Scudetto in 1974. He suffered a fatal stroke in his house in Rome.
Born in Darlington, UK to an English father and an Italian mother, Wilson soon moved with his family to Naples. He started to play football with local club Internapoli, where he met another future Lazio legend, Giorgio Chinaglia.
He moved to Lazio with Chinaglia in 1969. The Biancocelesti were playing in Serie B at that time, but once coach Tommaso Maestrelli took the helm in 1971, Lazio experienced a sudden turnaround that culminated with winning the Scudetto just two seasons later.
Wilson was an old-school libero and was considered among the best defenders in Italy the 1970s decade even though he found little space with the national selection. He collected three caps with the Azzurri and was part of Italy’s squad at World Cup 1974.
With Lazio, he played 392 games and scored 6 goals. He also held the record for the Biancocelesti most capped players for many years, before closing his career with a short stint at Montreal in the Canadian Professional Soccer League.
Pino Wilson was known in Rome as Lazio’s timeless Capitano and was still a familiar voice to many Eagles supporters as he used to comment Lazio games for local radios.