Historic XI: The first-ever Derby della Capitale

In the latest in our ongoing series, we look back at another notable starting XI in the club's history...

The year is 1929.

The venue is the Stadio della Rondinella.

The event is historic: the first-ever derby between Roma and Lazio.

Roma’s home, the Campo Testaccio, was already legendary. It was simply something else. And then came the club’s home from home.

Lazio 0-1 Roma – Rodolfo Volk. In the 73rd minute, Attilio Ferraris got away from Malatesta and played the ball to the striker, who had his back to goal.

Bottaccini and Saraceni tried to tackle him, but Volk got the ball on to his right, turned and finished to make it 1-0 to Roma. The Giallorossi went on to defeat their cross-city rivals by that solitary goal. It was one small step for him and one giant step towards normality.

Out of 174 meetings in all competitions, Roma have won 65 and lost just 46. As of 2020, Roma have finished above Lazio in 50 of the 77 Serie A campaigns involving both sides.

Here’s an excerpt from Il Littorale on 9 December 1929:

“We knew that the majority of supporters in Rome were behind the Giallorossi, but we also thought that the Azzurri had a big backing. We had to rethink.

"Nine tenths of the huge crowd at the Stadio della Rondinella were flying Roma flags and getting behind their troops. You could objectively say that Lazio played away from home.”

Bruno Ballanti: One of the goalkeepers who was part of the first Roma squad back in 1927-28. He made his debut in the third game of Roma’s maiden season against Verona. Enrico Cappa bagged a brace that day. Curiously, he was called (including in newspapers) Ballante incorrectly for years, when the correct spelling was Ballanti. 84 appearances.

Gianangelo Barzan: A defender with personality who was born in Adria, in the province of Rovigo. He joined Roma during the 1928-29 season after captaining AC Milan. He was so passionate about tactics that he would explain such notions to his team-mates during lunch with glasses and cutlery. 45 appearances, two goals.

Mario De Micheli: De Micheli, who had his own popular chant at the Campo Testaccio ('De Micheli scrucchia ch’è ‘npiacere' - broadly, 'De Micheli cracks bones and we love it'), was a tough-tackling defender. He was born in Rome and defended the city and the club on and off the pitch. He was the first real derby man, but that is a story for another day. 75 appearances.

Giovanni Degni: Born in Rome, the centre-midfielder featured in Roma’s first competitive game at the Motovelodromo Appio: a 2-0 win over Livorno. Degni, who was also capable of playing in central defence, coached the club for two years after the war between 1945 and 1947. 101 appearances, one goal (in the Coppa Coni that Roma went on to win).

Giorgio Carpi: Despite not being from Rome, the midfielder symbolised the club. It was not by chance that his face was depicted in the derby choreography in 2015 as one of the 16 “figli di Roma, capitani e bandiere” (‘sons of Roma, captains and icons’). He had a visceral love for Roma, so much so that he did not expect a salary in order to be part of the club where he was a footballer, director and coach. 45 appearances.

Attilio Ferraris: The first in all areas: the first captain in Roma’s history, the first Roma player to be called up to the Italy national team. Fulvio Bernardini described him as “a saint”. A versatile midfielder with a fantastic temperament. “Attilio Ferraris world champion” is the epitaph on his tombstone in Verano. Member of the Roma Hall of Fame. 231 appearances, four goals.

Oreste Benatti: His two seasons at the club included a hat-trick against Padova in the 1929-30 Serie A campaign, which was the first to use the round-robin format in Italy. 60 appearances, 11 goals.

Pietro Dalle Vedove: Born in Cremona, the midfielder only played for Roma in the 1929-30 season when the first derby took place. Six appearances.

Rodolfo Volk: The first great striker in Roma’s history. Born in Fiume, the forward was at home in the penalty box: “I don’t think, I shoot.” The forerunner to the likes of Amadeo Amadei, Pedro Manfredini, Pierino Prati, Roberto Pruzzo, Rudi Voeller, Vincenzo Montella and Edin Dzeko, he scored the only goal of the game in the first derby della Rondinella. 161 appearances, 106 goals.

Walter Corsanini: Midfielder whose Roma debut came in the derby that was decided by Volk and would be followed by only one more appearance for the club in the same season against Napoli. Two appearances.

Arturo Chini Luduena: The Argentine winger was Roma’s first ever foreign player. He made a name for himself and was remembered thanks to his derby performances, as he scored in the fixture twice in the league and once in a friendly. 181 appearances, 63 goals.