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Ilario Castagner, historic coach of Perugia, has died

2023-02-19T08:48:54.249Z


Ilario Castagner, historic coach of Perugia and several other Italian teams has died. (HANDLE)


Ilario Castagner left on tiptoe.

Without fanfare, as was his style, on and off the football field.

Although by chance the news of his death at the age of 82 arrived just as Perugia, which became "miracles" with him on the bench, the first unbeaten team in Serie A, overtook Ternana at Curi in Umbrian derby.

"Today the most beautiful smile of Italian football is gone. Bye dad..." his son Federico wrote on Facebook.


Ilario Castagner was a symbol of football and a key figure in the sporting history of Perugia.

Originally from Vittorio Veneto (Treviso), as a very young footballer he had his first experience in red and white in the early 1960s.

They were only the first pages of a bond that became even stronger in his rich coaching career.

Atalanta, Lazio, Milan and Inter among the other teams he leads.

But for Castagner there was above all a lot of Perugia, starting from the golden period between 1974 and 1980. Right at the end of the 1974-1975 championship the first great joy, with a historic promotion to Serie A. On the occasion of a In the interview for his 80th birthday, he told ANSA that he still had images of the city "that was tinged with red and white" imprinted in his mind.

Soon Castagner would write another glorious page of Perugia and football.

In fact, in the 1978-1979 season his "Perugia dei miracoli" closed the Serie A championship unbeaten. It was the first team to succeed and he was the first coach.

Recalling that feat, he proudly said that "Milan and Juventus came later".

In that season, which nonetheless remained historic, the red and white finished in second place, with 41 points behind Milan who made 44. "If Franco Vannini hadn't been hurt - said Castagner - we would have finished first, with him we would have won those five points more for the scudetto".

With Castagner, who then returned to lead Perugia in the 1993-1995 and 1998-1999 seasons, another symbol of Perugia's football history is gone,

who for a year has mourned the loss of another important name, Pierluigi Frosio, libero and captain of that team.

"My heart cries for the pain of your passing and with me cry all those who knew and loved you" wrote his coach.

"Castagner has written a historic page of Italian football with his Perugia, an unbeaten record carved among Serie A companies", recalls Lorenzo Casini, the president of Lega Serie A, expressing his condolences for the disappearance of "a character symbol of our sport, a man never over the top, example and teacher for many players and coaches".

The mayor of Perugial Andrea Romizil remembered him as a "legend of Italian football. A coach who wrote the history of this sport,

but also the paternal and charismatic reference figure, always ready to rush to the aid of 'his' Perugia". "The human void is even greater.

Ilario Castagner was a rare person, a gentleman from the past, a man with a heart of gold, loved by fans and football players.

A professional who embodied values ​​that are increasingly rare in today's football and whose name will always remain inextricably linked to Perugia and Perugia" underlined the mayor.

Source: ansa

All life articles on 2023-02-19

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