One of the Giallorossi players who scored indelible goals in the history of Ravenna passed away yesterday morning, coinciding with episodes still in the memory of fans today (those without much hair on their heads). I’m talking about Domenico Ciani, who turned 78 last December, who from 1965 to 1974 can boast 228 ‘glorified’ appearances with sixty goals (only one from a penalty). That is, third ‘all time’ scorer – after Cecco Cortesi and the ‘pioneer Capra’ – and fifth in terms of number of shirts worn behind the legendary captain Lillo Rizzo, Cortesi himself, Sotgia and Pregnolato. These statistics would be enough to outline the importance of a striker like Ciani, a player who in today’s football would be a second striker: good ball possession, great determination and a master of timing in the last sixteen metres. In today’s football he would have married and in fact in those times (about sixty years ago) there were quite a few talent scouts (in the front row the very president of Spal, Mazza) who had put this boy in their sights, who had an excellent : he played for fun but they were terribly serious when he put on his boots.
He was a semi-professional in the literal sense of the word, because he thought about the future, about post-football, so much so that he never took part in the pre-season training camp, he made the long journeys by train alone or sometimes accompanied by myself, because the his butcher’s shop in the Covered Market couldn’t close on Saturday morning. Nonetheless, he left his mark in both Serie C and Serie D. Here is a poker of demonstrations: after the debut in the last season of the 1965-66 championship wanted by the ‘prophet’ Corrado Viciani, in 1966-67 (the daringly smiling season of the four coaches Ganzer, Sessa, Lucchi and Fioravanti and also that of the debut at the ‘Benelli’) with five matches to go, Ravenna is last but is good at racking up three home wins and two draws away from home.
And Domenico places three fundamental seals. Moral: we go to the play-off against Jesina, in Riccione on 4 June, on a Sunday with the regional bus strike. As if to say that a real caravan of couriers arrives from the Marche, while only cars arrive from Romagna; rivals had clear supremacy in the crowd but in the 7th minute of the second half Ciani seized the fleeting moment with a low cross from the right into the center of the area. A goal worth the entire championship. The following year three coaches succeeded one another on the bench (Fioravanti, Mari and Gardelli) and again a dramatic solution to the photo finish with the Giallorossi saving themselves by a point thanks to the brace of this Pippo Inzaghi ‘ante litteram’ against Vis Pesaro, but glory – the unforgettable one for fans – comes in the following two championships. On March 23, 1969, under torrential rain, Giorgis’ Ravenna inflicted the first defeat of the season on the 27th matchday to a Massese team fighting for Serie B: in the 10th minute of the second half Ciani took away the time from the visiting goalkeeper following Trevisani’s cross from the right Trevisan heads the ball past the post.
An author’s goal also because Trevisan, on his way out, found Domenico’s head in his arms when he arrived that tenth of a second earlier. And a signature goal was the one, which also ended up on the Domenica Sportiva (due to the beauty of the gesture), on 26 September of the same year in the derbissimo at the ‘Benelli’ with league leaders Spal: in the 21st minute of the game on a loose ball in the area guest Domenico, between two or three defenders, invents a ‘cursed’ semi-overhand shot which leaves goalkeeper Cipollini stunned (yes, the one who later became a great manager at high levels) and draws applause from Mazza himself, who in the following transfer campaign he wanted it at all costs. But Ciani didn’t accept because he had to run his butcher’s shop. Before ending his Giallorossi career in 1974 he also achieved promotion from D to C with the Azzali band (34 games, eight goals) and in the decisive 3-2 against Cattolica, three rounds from the end, a goal put him in him again. Ciani, who had been suffering for some years, leaves behind his wife Gabriella and his daughters Barbara and Monica. Athletes will be able to greet him from this morning at the mortuary. The funeral will be celebrated on Monday morning at 9.30 in the parish church of the Redentore.
