Gino Giaroli (27 June 1924,

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

– 23 May 1991,

) was an Italian footballer, active mainly during the 1950s. He is the second all-time capped player of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, with 151 caps, many as club captain.

Career

Giaroli was born in

in 1924, and took part in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a private soldier in the

Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

on the

Italian cruiser Bolzano ''Bolzano'' was a unique heavy cruiser, sometimes considered to be a member of the , built for the Italian ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) in the early 1930s, the last vessel of the type to be built by Italy. A modified version of the earlier ''Tr ...

. In the aftermath of the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brig ...

, the cruiser was left afloat by Italian and Allies forces in order to prevent the Germans, who have occupied nearer

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

to reuse it, while the serving soldiers were left without any order. Giaroli and other Italians were captured by Wehrmacht in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and taken to Germany, where they were freed by American forces at the end of the war. At the end of the war, Giaroli returned to its native town and came through the youth ranks of Reggiana, becoming a starter for its local club for four seasons thanks to the appreciation of Hungarian managers János Vanicsek and Árpád Hajós. He was bought by

in 1949, where he spent six seasons, becoming the team captain and an iconic figure in the history of the Sicilian club. During his tenure with the "rosanero", he played with

Şükrü Gülesin Şükrü Gülesin (September 14, 1922 – July 10, 1977) was a Turkish football player and sports journalist. Almost two meters tall, he was a strong and quick striker, as well as a free kick and penalty specialist, and played for Beşiktaş, ...

, Čestmír Vycpálek, Aredio Gimona, Ferruccio Santamaria and Enrique Martegani among others; the club was owned by count

Raimondo Lanzia di Trabia Raimondo is an Italian given name. Its English equivalent is Raymond. Notable people with the name include: *Raimondo Boucheron (1800–1876), Italian composer, chiefly of sacred music * Raimondo D'Inzeo (1925–2013), Italian show jumping rid ...

, who refused to sell Giaroli to

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

. During the time in Palermo, he was capped by the Italy national team B. Giaroli transferred to Veneto side Lanerossi Vicenza, where he spent four seasons. After his retirement in 1958, Giaroli started to coach in Reggiana youth teams. He managed in Schio, Como, Pistoia and Carpi, and later opened some businesses in Reggio Emilia. He died of cancer in 1991.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Giaroli, Gino Italian men's footballers 1924 births 1991 deaths Men's association football defenders Footballers from Reggio Emilia Regia Marina personnel of World War II Italian prisoners of war Italy men's B international footballers AC Reggiana 1919 players LR Vicenza players Palermo FC players Serie A players Italian football managers Deaths from cancer in Emilia-Romagna Como 1907 managers AC Carpi managers US Pistoiese 1921 managers