Mario Sperone

Mario Sperone

Sperone with Torino
Personal information
Date of birth	(1905-07-01)1 July 1905
Place of birth	Priocca, Italy
Date of death	18 December 1975(1975-12-18) (aged 70)
Place of death	Turin, Italy
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Torino
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1923–1932	Torino	143	(1)
International career
1927	Italy	2	(0)
Managerial career
1938	Torino
1938–1939	Torino (assistant)
1940–1942	Torino (assistant)
1945–1946	Alessandria
1946–1947	Biellese
1947–1948	Torino
1948–1951	Lazio
1951–1952	Torino
1951–1952	Milan
1953–1954	Lazio
1955	Palermo
1956	Alessandria
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mario Sperone (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmaːrjo speˈroːne]; 1 July 1905 – 18 December 1975) was an Italian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.

Club career

A midfielder, Sperone played his entire playing career with Torino, the team in which he collected 138 appearances (one in Coppa Italia) in nine consecutive seasons. He began his career in the first team on 10 February 1924 in a home game against Novese (5–0); winning the title in 1926–27 (later revoked) and in 1927–28. The last match he played was a loss away to Milan on 29 May 1932, a 6–1.

International career

On 17 April 1927, he debuted his international career with the Italy national team in a friendly match in Turin won 3–1 against Portugal.

Managerial career

With Torino he also took up coaching, succeeding Gyula Feldmann in 1938. The following season, he was the second-in-command to Ernest Erbstein, in 1940–41 to Tony Cargnelli and in 1941–42 to András Kuttik. In the postwar he managed Alessandria, winning the championship of Series BC Alta Italy 1945–46; in 1947–48 he won the league title at the helm of the Grande Torino, with a 16-point lead and 125 goals scored in 40 games played.

As an established manager, he led among others Lazio, Milan, and Palermo, concluding his career on the bench of Alessandria in 1956–57, when he resigned with seven matches in the league left to play and was replaced by Luciano Robotti. He later worked for Torino as a scout.

Honours

Player

Torino

• Italian Football Championship: 1927–28

Manager

Torino

• Serie A: 1947–48