The 50th anniversary of the great Scudetto trophy mystery

It’s been exactly 50 years since one of the most incredible stories in Roma history emerged...

This is the tale of the 1941-42 Scudetto trophy.

It was on 11 April 1971 that the newspaper Il Messaggero broke a quite shocking story: Roma’s first Scudetto trophy was no longer in the club’s trophy cabinet, but in the possession of a Roma fan.

The supporter in question was Alfredo Mollicone, a 59-year-old carpenter who had been born in Pontecorvo before settling in Rome. His workshop was at No. 112, Via Gabriello Chiabrera, in the Ostiense district. The day before Il Messaggero’s splash, on 10 April 1971, he had turned up at the newspaper’s Via del Tritone headquarters with some rather precious cargo: the Scudetto trophy wrapped up in newspaper.

Il Messaggero immediately put a call in to Roma. The club secretary at the time, Alberto Lievore, went to the trophy cabinet to check. His admission was frank: “I have no idea where the Scudetto trophy could be. We recently changed club headquarters, so it could well have ended up elsewhere in all the confusion.”

In this case, “elsewhere” was the cart of a second-hand dealer who shall remain nameless. Il Messaggero did track him down, but he preferred to keep his identity a secret.

Thankfully, Mollicone could provide an account of what happened.

“I’m a Roma fan and I’ve always been interested in collecting trophies,” he said.

“Six or seven years ago – I can’t remember exactly – the junk dealer came by my store, as he did at least twice a week. Among his odds and ends was a trophy, which I bought. Romolo [not his real name] also told me that he had even better at home and would bring it to me if I wanted.

“Sure enough, the next day he came back with a couple more trophies. When I saw this one, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’ve been a fan for years and I can still remember [Aristide] Coscia doing laps of the Stadio Nazionale, showing off the trophy to the stands, where I was standing.

“I did various checks on the cup, and realised that it really was the Scudetto trophy. I felt like I could reach up and touch the sky.”

Once it had been recovered, the Scudetto trophy was put on display in a window at Il Messaggero. It was Dino Viola – Roma vice president at the time – who then reached out to Mollicone to see if he would give it back to the club.

Mollicone said yes, presenting it back to Guido Masetti during a low-key ceremony at the club’s headquarters. Twenty-nine years after the historic title win, the former Roma captain was lifting the trophy once again.

Nowadays, the trophy is on display in Trigoria. And in 2015, the cup was restored and an exact replica of the metal plaque was fitted, to replace the original one.

It forms an integral part of Roma’s collective memory, which the club strives to preserve and celebrate every day.