14: Igor Protti, Bari, Merlin’s Calcio 95 Collector Cards

We are picking up a request post today on behalf of Gareth ‘Marco J’ Jackson. First of all we’d like to thank Gareth for his patience as this particular suggestion was made back in December 2021. Secondly we hope this lives up to expectations as Gareth has described himself as a “one man fact bus” for today’s subject. Please feel free to keep sending us suggestions for future posts via our Twitter page.

In March 2008 an American bred horse called Jalil emerged victorious in the Al Maktoum Challenge, Round 3 held at Meydan Racecourse, Dubai. Well done if you won some money on that and similar congratulations if you picked up any eachway cash on Gloria de Campeao or Lucky Find. I would assume, however, that the less equine inclined readership of this blog would have not had such a great day at the races on this particular occasion as they would have found it impossible not to back the British bred outsider who finished in sixth place. After all how many horses have been named after a lethal Italian striker?

Igor Protti, the horse, has to date only raced in one other major event where he finished in a disappointing eleventh. Perhaps his owner, Sheikh Mansour, has had his mind elsewhere in more recent years with his cash allowing Manchester City to bring footballing royalty to the blue side of Manchester as well as a host of domestic trophies. As someone who mainly picks horses based on how funny their name is or whether they are the fifth horse in the six race in honour of The Hold Steady’s ‘Chips Ahoy!’ you will be pleased to read that this is where my attempts to discuss the sport of kings will end and I’ll turn my focus to a far more familiar topic.

Igor Protti, the footballer, began his career with hometown Serie C1 side Rimini at the tender age of sixteen before moving to Livorno for three seasons between 1985 and 1988. After a short spell with the now defunct Virescit Boccaleone he made the step up to Serie B with Messina where he scored 31 goals over a three season spell. His eye for goal attracted the attention of Bari, who had somehow managed to be relegated from Serie A despite a midfield of David Platt and Zvonimir Boban, and he played a key part in I Galletti’s promotion back to the top flight in 1994. While Juventus romped to the Scudetto in 1994/95 Bari finished in a respectable eleventh with Protti’s strike partner Sandro Tovalieri netting an impressive seventeen goals to match the champions’ top scorer Gianluca Vialli. Although not as prolific as his teammate Protti did net an impressive hat trick against Lazio which hinted at what was to come in the following campaign.

Ahead of the 1995/96 season Bari sold promising youngsters Lorenzo Amoruso and Emiliano Bigica to Fiorentina and top scorer Tovalieri to newly promoted Atalanta. Nevertheless the arrivals of Abel Xavier and Kennet Andersson suggested ambition and within three minutes of their opening fixture Igor Protti had found the net against Napoli. By the time Bari secured their first win of the campaign over eventual champions AC Milan Protti had scored six goals in five games, including another treble against Lazio, but I Galletti’s leaky defence prevented them from building on his and Andersson’s promising performances in front of goal. They dropped into the relegation zone in November following a 3-0 defeat to Padova, in which Protti was sent off, and never managed to claw their way back out. Regardless they scored more goals than all but seven other teams in the division and Protti himself finished the season as Serie A’s joint top scorer with 24 goals alongside Lazio’s endlessly prolific Beppe Signori. The Rome club clearly saw the potential for a dangerous partnership and brought Protti to Le Aquile ahead of the 1996/97 season but after just seven goals across two seasons, along with a loan spell at Napoli, Protti dropped back down to Serie B with Reggiana. His eight goals were not enough to save them from relegation and he moved back to Livorno ahead of the 1999/2000 campaign.

In his first season of his second spell with Livorno he chipped in with eleven goals before taking over the capataincy at the start of the 2001/02 campaign. Under Protti’s leadership, and buoyed by another top scorer’s award, Livorno gained promotion to Serie B where they finished in a respectable mid-table position. Protti finished the 2002/03 season as Serie B’s top scorer with 24 goals and his personal achievements translated into further success for the club as they gained promotion to Serie A the following season. Gli Amaranto defied all expectations in the top flight with a very respectable ninth placed finish with hometown hero Cristiano Lucarelli taking the league’s top scorer award with 24 goals. With an obvious heir and Livorno two leagues above where he joined them Protti announced his retirement with an outrageous record of 108 goals in 192 appearances for the club. Livorno expressed their gratitude first by retiring his no.10 jersey and awarding him the freedom of the city two years later. During this ceremony Protti asked the club to put his shirt back into circulation in order to “give anybody back the dream to dress it one day”. Francesco Tavano took up the mantle and went on to score an impressive 48 goals in over a century of appearances for the club.

Igor Protti scored over two hundred goals in his professional career, is one of just two people to have finished as the top scorer in Serie A, Serie B and Serie C1 (Dario Hübner being the other) and remains the only player to have finished as Serie A’s top scorer in the same season as suffering relegation. Whether it was the sheer volume of quality strikers in Italy or the fact that he mainly achieved his feats with some of the country’s less fancied clubs Protti never received an international call up but the likes of Fabrizio Ravanelli, Salvatore Schillaci and Beppe Signori never had a racehorse named after them. Sometimes it’s better to take a chance on an outsider.