Tullio Conte, Napoli director who witnessed the Savoldi deal, dies at 91

He was with the club from the early 1960s and served through the Corrado Ferlaino era. In 1975 he ran the youth side that won the Viareggio tournament, and that summer he overheard the deal that brought Savoldi from Bologna.

by Rosaria CimminoWednesday 21 October, 18:23 CET· 23 hours ago

Corrado Ferlaino — Foto: Catenaccio · Public domain

Tullio Conte, one of Napoli's longest-serving directors, died on Wednesday 21 October at the age of 91.

His name is tied to one of the most famous signings in the club's history. When Bologna's directors tried to back out of the Savoldi deal at the last minute, Corrado Ferlaino ended the argument with one sentence: "I have two witnesses to our agreement." Conte was one of them.

"I have two witnesses to our agreement."

He had been part of the club since the early 1960s. He came to Napoli as a supporter before he became a director. He is remembered above all for his years under Ferlaino, whose presidency began on 18 January 1969. In those years Napoli finished third several times, came second in 1974-75 and won their second Coppa Italia (Italy's cup competition) in 1976. It was a side that aimed high but could not yet win the league.

Viareggio 1975 and the room next door

His most important achievement came in the youth set-up. As its head, he oversaw Rosario Rivellino's Primavera (the club's youth team) all the way to victory in the Viareggio tournament, a major youth competition, in 1975.

In the summer of that year he also played a part in the Savoldi signing. Conte was in a hotel in Milan with Romolo Acampora, a journalist from the Naples paper Il Mattino. They were in the room next to the one where the deal was being negotiated, and they heard every detail of it. When Bologna tried to pull out at the last moment, Ferlaino named the two of them as his witnesses. The transfer went through.

Football worked differently then. There were no agents in the room and no medicals shown live. A signing could depend on a hotel door and two people who had heard everything. Told now it sounds almost like a fairy tale, but that is how it happened. It is why Conte's name is still known among those who lived through those years.

He remained a point of reference for people around the club after his work there ended. He kept close ties with many former Napoli players, especially Ottavio Bianchi, the coach who won the club's first scudetto (the Serie A title) in 1986-87.

He dies in the year of Napoli's centenary, at a time when the talk is almost entirely about the coach, press conferences and the league table. Hardly anyone remembers the people who built the club away from the spotlight. Conte was one of them.

Everyone at Arena Napoli sends their condolences to his family.