Luigi "Gigi" Radice (; 15 January 1935 – 7 December 2018) was an Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and player. A strong, tenacious, and consistent defender, he was usually deployed as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. As a manager, he was known for his use of "

zona mista ; ), often referred to as ''mixed plan'' () and, in the English-speaking world, as ''the game in Italian style'' (); is a tactic used in Italian association football mainly from the second half of 1970s to the mid-1990s. The introduction of this ...

" tactics, and his early attempts to implement "pressing" and

zonal marking In association football, marking is an organized defensive tactic which aims to prevent a member of the opposing team (usually a striker) from taking control of the ball. Several marking strategies exist in football, and they mostly differ from e ...

tactics into his teams.

Club career

Radice played in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

for teams such as

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to US Triestina or just Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, in the northern Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. Originally established in 1918, Triestina was one of the fo ...

and

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

. Initially a member of the Milan Youth squad, he struggled to find space in the first team; he made his

debut with Milan on 25 March 1956, in a 0–0 away draw against

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly referred to by the acronym SPAL (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. During the 2024–25 season the team played in Serie C, the third tier of the Italian foot ...

. He made only 19 appearances in total during his first three seasons at the club, as Milan won the 1956–57 and the

1958–59 Serie A The 1958–59 Serie A season was the 29th edition of Serie A, the top-level football competition in Italy. The championship was won by Milan. Teams Triestina and Bari had been promoted from Serie B. Final classification Juventus was the cupw ...

titles. He subsequently moved to Triestina and Padova to gain more playing time, where he impressed fans before being recalled to Milan. During his second stint with the club, he played a pivotal role in helping Milan to win the

1961–62 Serie A The 1961–62 Serie A season was won by Milan. Teams Venezia, Mantova and Palermo had been promoted from Serie B. Final classification Results Top goalscorers References and sources *''Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2 ...

title and the

1962–63 European Cup The 1962–63 European Cup was the eighth season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by AC Milan, who beat two-time defending champions Benfica in the final at Wembley Stadium, London, on 22 May ...

. However, serious injuries to his knee cut his playing career short, and he retired in 1965. In total, he made 95 appearances for Milan, 75 of which came in Serie A, scoring 1 goal throughout his Milan career, which came in Serie A.

International career

Radice was also a member of the Italian squad for the World Cup in 1962, making two appearances at the tournament as Italy was eliminated in the first round; he made five appearances for Italy in total between 1961 and 1963.

Managerial career

Radice began his managerial career with

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

, winning the 1966–67 Serie C Girone A; he remained at the club from 1966 until 1971, apart from a year-long spell with

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

between 1968 and 1969. After his experience with Treviso he moved to

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

, with whom he achieved the club's first promotion to

in 1972–73. He made his managerial debut in Serie A the following season with

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

. After a brief time at

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

in 1975, Radice moved to

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, where he became the first and only coach to lead the club to the

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' (; Italian for 'little shield') is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous ...

since the Superga tragedy, winning the title during the 1975–76 season. Radice was awarded the ''Seminatore d'Oro'' that season as the best coach in Serie A. On 17 April 1979, he was involved in a car accident on the Autostrada dei Fiori in which former football player

Paolo Barison Paolo Barison (, ; 23 June 1936 in – 17 April 1979) was an football in Italy, Italian association footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Club career During his club career, Barison played for S.S.C. Venezia ...

lost his life. Radice was severely injured and hospitalised at

Imperia Imperia (; or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the Regions of Italy, region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini create ...

, a 56-year-old man was also killed in the crash. During the 1979–80 season, in February 1980, he left Turin. In 1980–81, Radice led

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

to a 7th-place finish despite starting the season with a 5-point penalty following the Totonero scandal. He coached Milan in the 1981–82 season, but was replaced by Italo Galbiati halfway through the season which ended with the relegation of the ''Rossoneri''. In 1983, he replaced Enrico Catuzzi as the manager of

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

in Serie B, coaching the ''Galletti'' for the remaining 13 games of the season. He managed

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in the 1983–84 season, then returned to Torino in 1984–85; notably achieving a second-place finish in his first season back. In 1989 he left Torino, subsequently managing

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

and Bologna. In the 1992–93 season Fiorentina was entrusted to Radice. The team started well, and at the turn of the year was sitting in second place, having scored 15 points in the first 13 matches. However, a mid-season feud with the club's chairman

Vittorio Cecchi Gori Vittorio Cecchi Gori (; born 27 April 1942) is an Italian film producer and politician. He pleaded guilty to bankruptcy and was sentenced in February 2020 to eight years and five months of imprisonment. Born in Florence, Italy, he is the son o ...

led to the departure of Radice, and Fiorentina nose-dived in the standings. They scored only 15 more points in the remaining 21 matches, and finished only 16th. The result was relegation to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

. Radice later returned to Cagliari in 1993–94, and in 1995 he managed

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. He ended his managerial coach where he had started, in Monza, with whom he obtained promotion to Serie B in the 1996–97 season.

Personal life

On 26 April 2015, his son revealed that his father was suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. Radice died on 7 December 2018.

Honours

Player

AC Milan *

: 1956–57, 1958–59, 1961–62 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: 1962–63

Manager

Torino *

: 1975–76 Monza *

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

(Girone A): 1966–67

Individual

*Seminatore d'oro: 1975–76 *AC Milan Hall of Fame *

Torino FC Hall of Fame This is a list of Torino FC players who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame Granata. History The Hall of Fame Granata (''granata'' is the English for "maroon", the club's traditional colour) was created by the Museo del Grande Torino e della ...

: 2014 *

Italian Football Hall of Fame The Italian Football Hall of Fame () is the hall of fame for association football players that have had a significant impact on Italian football. It is housed at the '' Museo del Calcio'' in Coverciano, Italy. History and regulations The Hall o ...

: 2019

References

External links

AC Milan.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radice, Luigi 1935 births 2018 deaths Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Milan Italy men's international footballers AC Milan players UEFA Champions League–winning players US Triestina Calcio 1918 players Calcio Padova players Serie A players Serie B players Italian football managers AC Monza managers AC Cesena managers Torino FC managers AC Milan managers Inter Milan managers AS Roma managers ACF Fiorentina managers SSC Bari managers Serie A managers 1962 FIFA World Cup players Men's association football defenders Italian men's footballers Deaths from dementia in Italy Deaths from Alzheimer's disease 20th-century Italian sportsmen