Spend an evening chatting about football with Corrado Ferlaino. Yes, the president who had the intuition to bring a certain Diego Armando Maradona to Naples was the guest of honor of the municipality of Seren del Grappa and of the Monte Grappa association.
Alt. Almost certainly you are wondering why Ferlaino was in these parts. A simple holiday in the Feltre area? Yes, in a sense yes. But not only. Yes, because Ferlaino’s partner, Roberta Cassol, is originally from Rasai. He told it himself, opening a pleasant hour and a half of exciting stories, funny anecdotes and a great willingness to answer questions from the public. There was also no shortage of autographs to sign, as Ferlaino will forever remain among the figures capable of writing pages in the history of Italian football.
And on such an occasion, the presence of Napoli fans was inevitable, happy to meet the one who was able to lead the blue team to the conquest of two league titles and a Uefa Cup, won in the double final against Stuttgart. Here are some of the ideas provided during the evening.
President, why in Rasai?
“My partner is from this very country, where she still has relatives and friends. Here in the Feltrino you feel really good, the food is excellent and it will probably force me to take a few days of slimming treatment as soon as I return to Naples. You really feel the genuineness of the local products ».
So you still live in Naples?
“Yes, of course. I’ve also tried to change a few times, but homesickness has always taken over. And then, especially at my age, I certainly couldn’t go and live anywhere else ».
How is Ferlaino outside the role of president?
«I played football, but I was very poor. I also took away several satisfactions as a driver in the Italian championship of track racing and uphill racing. I competed in Monza, Vallelunga, Targa Florio and so on. But there was no fun there: when I won a race, there were at most two lines in the newspapers. On the contrary, as president of Napoli everything I said ended on the six-column headlines the next day ».
How did he become Napoli’s number one?
«I am an engineer, I build houses, I do subdivisions. A friend of mine was almost in conflict with the then president Achille Lauro, making a collection and involving me. At that point, Lauro suddenly wanted to elect me. It was almost without my knowledge, so much so that I received a phone call from the company in which they told me: “Congratulations president”. I asked the president of what and they replied: “Del Napoli” ».
A very demanding square.
“It can be said that it is an easy and difficult city at the same time. From a footballing point of view, he played some bad leagues and some excellent ones. This is why I am happy: bringing two tricolor titles to a southern city is almost impossible nowadays. And I still wonder how we managed to lose the third against Milan … ».
We arrive Maradona. 80 thousand people at the stadium to welcome him. But it is curious how he managed to bring him to Naples.
«At the end of the 1983-1984 season, we finished in fourth from bottom place, in the face of three relegations. In short, we avoided the B for very little. The economic situation was certainly not the most prosperous and so I called the manager Antonio Juliano to organize a friendly before the summer break. We then thought of Barcelona, we agreed on the sum, but on one condition: Maradona had to be there. But they said he was ill and this created a lot of suspicion in us. Juliano called Diego’s manager and he said that he was actually on a break with the Blaugrana company. At that point we decided to try and get it. After a long negotiation, Barcelona yielded. However, the support of the mayor of Naples, Scotti, was fundamental, who called Ventriglia of the Banco di Napoli to finance the operation. At that point they advanced the sum necessary to buy Maradona. We paid 13 billion for it in three years, then returned to the bank with the collection of subscriptions and so on. Among other things, there are two nice anecdotes related to the conclusion of the deal ».
Please.
“I sent two people to Barcelona to negotiate the engagement. When they called me, I had to leave because everything was ready and my signature was missing. At the same time, however, the market session was about to close. So before going to Barcelona, I went to Milan depositing an empty envelope in Lega Calcio on schedule. Once the agreement with Maradona was signed, I returned to Milan and convinced the night guard to be able to go and change the envelope: I took back the empty one and replaced it with the one containing the contract. Perhaps it became known but many turned a blind eye, because having Diego in Italian football was something extraordinary ».
And the second?
“While waiting to embark from Barcelona to return to Naples, I went to a bar to have a whiskey. The bartender asked me if I was Italian, and I told him: “Yes, yes, I’m from Naples”. He replied: “Ah, we have fed you a bin”. That whiskey at that moment I found it hard to digest it, but luckily he was wrong … Anyway, Maradona’s arrival was due to an incredible series of lucky coincidences. Then for two years we won nothing, winning the Italian flag in the third year ».
What memories do you have of him?
“A very good person. He was born in a poor ward in Buenos Aires and tried to help everyone. So many people have exploited it. His death was painful, but I was beginning to expect it ».
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