The Cagliari scudetto at the University. The rossoblù epic is the subject of study and research. Massimo Baioni, professor of Contemporary History at the University of Milan, approached Cagliari as a fan. He combined the interest of the historian with his always strong passion ("I am very happy for my salvation"). His speech at the conference “The province to the rescue” developed from the essay, dedicated to that sporting feat and published in recent months in the magazine “Pasto e presente”. Football, politics and society in the seventies and eighties" which took place at the University on the initiative of the Department of Historical Studies. «In addition to the striking cases of Cagliari and Verona, winners of the championship in 1970 and 1985 - he explains - the reports focused on some teams, among the various other possible ones, which in those years carved out a leading role for themselves: Lanerossi Vicenza , Perugia, Avellino, Pescara. For many reasons it was impossible not to start from Cagliari and its victory in 1970, which represents the province's first great footballing explosion in the post-war period. Riva's recent death was also an opportunity to return to that memorable event: the extraordinary wave of condolence and affection towards Rombo di Tuono, which has largely crossed the borders of Sardinia, is a fact in itself worthy of attention: postpone evidently to a deeper phenomenon, which also helps to historically rethink the role of football and its relationship with Italian society in years full of more general transformations".
Thunderclap
Massimo Baioni's analysis inevitably started from Gigi Riva: «He remains the undisputed primary architect of that story, the one who made it possible to catapult Cagliari and Sardinia to national attention, contributing to fixing them in the sporting imagination. However, the meaning of sporting exploits must be understood in light of a variety of factors that unite the football level with other levels of investigation. First of all, there is the qualitative depth of a team that possesses many high-quality players and an atypical coach, Manlio Scopigno, who knows how to use them to the fullest: for four years, between 1968 and 1972, Cagliari was among the contenders for the final victory, and only a series of unfortunate circumstances prevents us from repeating the 1970 victory."
An island in the limelight
And the scudetto showcases a different Sardinia, beyond clichés and stereotypes: «Journalists and writers question the importance of the event, they take it as a pretext to make Sardinia better known to Italian public opinion. In the most insightful reportages, the portrait of the island's scenic beauty leaves room for the analysis of still unsolved problems and football success becomes the mirror in which the many contradictions that delay the economic and social development of the region are refracted." Among the contributions that enriched the discussion on the path to glory of the provincial football teams was also that of Marco Pignotti, professor of contemporary history at the University of Cagliari, who dealt with the Verona case, another sporting triumph, with the signature of Osvaldo Bagnoli, who left his mark in the history of football.
