THE VITALS:

Team: Lazio

Brand: Puma

Era: 2003-04 (Used for the 2003-04 Serie A season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: VERY GOOD

This shirt remains in very good condition with the material bearing no more than the pulling and wear one expect from a shirt that is nearly 18 years of age at the time of writing.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Medium

Pit to Pit Measurement: 19.5 inches

Shirt Length: 28 inches 

Made as part of Puma’s ‘Authentic Team Apparel’ range; although the sizing label has washed out from the inside; the dimensions of this shirt lend themselves to a size medium, but I have no doubt that it would also fit a size small too.

DESCRIPTION:

After Puma’s all blue offering that was Lazio’s home shirt in 2002-03, the new home shirt would see white return as the secondary colour of the home shirt; adoring the sleeves, collar and side panels. The Puma logo itself would be adapted as well in 2003-04, with the Puma insignia now being joined the word ‘Puma’ written in felt text. After Siemens Mobile ended their 3 year relationship with Lazio, the club began the season without a shirt sponsor, before Parmacotto, and Indesit stepped in as the club’s main shirt sponsors; this edition is one of the aforementioned sponsor-less versions of the shirts. In Roberto Mancini’s final season in charge of his beloved ‘Aquile’, this shirt would be fondly remembered as Lazio won their first piece of silverware since 2000 in the form of the Coppa Italia! This would also be the last series of Lazio shirts to be worn by Dejan Stankovic, Sergio Conceicao, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Jaap Stam, Dimetrio Albertini, Stefano Fiore and Bernardo Corradi.

THE SEASON:

Last season’s incredible 4^th place finish saw Lazio prepare for the 2003-04 season with the possibility of Champions League football to look forward to for the first time since the 2001-02 season! Standing in their way would be Benfica, and Lazio would be impressive in dispatching of the Portuguese giants 4-1 over aggregate to reach the Group Stages. Despite starting with a 2-0 win over Besiktas, their tenure in the competition would end in disappointment as they finished 4^th in a group that also featured: Chelsea and Sparta Prague.

In Serie A, the campaign would be a tale of inconsistency as clusters of back-to-back wins were often disrupted by draws and defeats to opponents below them in the standings. After losing star-man - Dejan Stankovic to Inter Milan in January, 2004 would prove to be a running battle against the ‘Nerazzurri’ for 4^th place, and despite going unbeaten against Inter in both fixtures, they would ultimately be pipped by both Inter and Parma; finishing in 6^th place.

Those disappointments would be offset however by Lazio winning the 2003-04 Coppa Italia, where they dispatched of: Modena, Parma and AC Milan before vanquishing Juventus 4-2 on aggregate in the final! It would be the perfect swansong for Inter bound – Roberto Mancini, as well as: Sinisa Mihajlovic, Jaap Stam, Dimetrio Albertini, Stefano Fiore and Bernardo Corradi whom all moved on in the summer of 2004.

The notable players that season were:

Roberto Muzzi, Claudio Lopez, Bernardo Corradi, Simone Inzaghi, Stefano Fiore, Sergio Conceicao, Cesar, Christian Manfredini, Dejan Stankovic, Fabio Liverani, Giuliano Giannichedda, Demetrio Albertini, Dino Baggio, Jaap Stam, Fernando Couto, Massimo Oddo, Giuseppe Favalli, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Paolo Negro, Luciano Zauri, Angelo Peruzzi