Odero Gon, 88, from Palmanova played with the Bianconeri in the 1950s and then joined local teams. Funeral tomorrow
PALMANOVA
The world of football mourns Odero Gon, the legendary Udinese “Roccia” midfielder of the fifties, who died Wednesday afternoon at the Palmanova hospital where he was hospitalized following heart problems. He had been nicknamed “Rock” for his physical structure and for the solidity he gave to all the defense of his team. Gon, who was 88, leaves behind his wife Ida and their son Emanuele. The funeral will be celebrated tomorrow at 10.30 in the church of the hamlet of Jalmicco, where he lived with his family.
Talking about his professional past is his friend Valter Buttò, president of the Unvs (National Union of Sports Veterans) of Palmanova, of which Gon was a founding member. “At that time the football clubs taught their children a lifestyle that was then carried on forever – he says -. He had been in the hospital for some time for heart ailments. I spoke to him on the phone last Friday and he seemed calm enough about the positive course of his illness, and then Wednesday afternoon the tragic news, a great pain for everyone. We are all close to his wife Ida and his son Emanuele, his daughter-in-law and his beloved grandchildren in this difficult moment ».
Gon’s career as a footballer began in 1947 in the Palmanova Football Association, two years later he took the field with the students of the starry city. In 1950 he participated in Milan with Ac Palmanova in the Juniores North-Italy national finals obtaining second place. From 1949 to 1954 he played for his hometown team in the amateur league.
In 1954 he was sold by Palmanova to the Udinese football association where in 1956 he made his debut in Serie A, on the lawn of the old Moretti, against Juventus, winning for 3 to 2. He played with the bianconeri in Serie A until 1960, always as a stopper or centromediano meeting and “marking” popular players such as Benito Lorenzi, Josè Altafini and many others.
Due to a serious injury he remained inactive in the years 1961-1962. In 1962-63 he went to Serie C with Vittorio Veneto. In 1963-64 he returned to Udinese who played in Serie B and in the following championship he was sold to the Us Manzanese. From 1965 until 1969 he played and held the role of captain-coach with the company of origin Ac Palmanova. He had a sports career studded with many injuries that prevented him from fully demonstrating his qualities as a footballer.
Since 1969, the year the Unvs section of Palmanova was founded, he was a founding member and was still a very active executive. In 2010 he was awarded the silver badge by the national UNVS.
Once he hung up his shoes, he collaborated for many years with his wife Ida in the management of the Tavernetta di Palmanova, the mythical meeting place for sportsmen in the star-studded city. Many remember him in his role as an innkeeper while he told some salient episodes of his career, with a style that highlighted how the link with that world of football linked to certain values was always present in his life. –