Marino Nicolich

Marino Nicolich (born 30 July 1910), also known as Marino Nicoli, was an Italian professional footballer who played as a full back. He made nearly 100 appearances in the top two tiers of Italian football in the late 1920s and 1930s.

Marino Nicolich
Personal information
Date of birth (1910-07-30)30 July 1910
Place of birth Monfalcone, Italy
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Full back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1928–1930 Monfalconese[lower-alpha 1] 33 (0)
1930–1931 Spezia 9 (0)
1931–1932 Roma 3 (0)
1932–1933 Monfalconese 5 (0)
1933–1937 Triestina 46 (0)
1937–1940 Monfalconese
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Nicolich was born in Monfalcone, and began his football career with his home-town club, Monfalconese. He was a member of the team that won their group of the 1928–29 Prima Divisione, thus gaining promotion to the inaugural season of Serie B.[1] In April 1929, the 18-year-old Nicolich was selected for the representative team of his region, Venezia Giulia, to face their Tuscan counterparts. Il Littoriale reported that the Venezia Giulia team did not live up to expectations, and its strength lay in its defence, which partnered "the cunning and Olympian calm of Lorenzo Gazzari with the exuberant impetuosity of the youthful Nicolich"; the match ended 2–2.[2] He played in all but one of Monfalconese's matches in the 1929–30 Serie B season, before playing nine games for Spezia[3] at the end of the following campaign while stationed in the area on military service.[4][5]

In August 1931, Nicolich signed for Roma, runners-up to 1930–31 Serie A champions Juventus. Because of formalities connected with his military service, he was unable to join up with the squad for several weeks.[5] When he did, he produced a performance in a training match that, according to Il Littoriale, showed he could provide stiff competition for the established full backs, Mario De Micheli and Renato Bodini. While physically similar to Gazzari, and now possessed of a similar calmness, Nicolich was less speedy in clearing the ball but compensated by placing it more precisely, to be more useful to the recipient, and he had the better of individual duels with Serie A top scorer Rodolfo Volk.[6][7] Nicolich made his first-team and Serie A debut on 28 October 1931, replacing De Micheli for the visit to Pro Patria. He made several errors, which unsettled the midfield, and Roma twice had to come from behind to draw 2–2.[5][8] He appeared twice more for the first team, but did not do himself justice,[9] and was transfer-listed at the end of the season.[5]

Roma then sold him back to Monfalconese. His best spell was back in Serie A with Triestina.[9]

Personal life

Nicolich is of Slavic ancestry.[9] He had to change his name due to fascism.[10]

Notelist
  1. The figure only includes appearances in the 1929–30 Serie B season; it omits any prior appearances, e.g. those in the 1928–29 Prima Divisione.

References
  1. "Calcio. A. C. Monfalconese vincitrice del Girone C di Prima Divisione" [Football. A.C. Monfalconese winners of Group C of the Prima Divisione]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). 4 July 1929. p. 2.
  2. "Calcio. Incontri interregionali. Rappresentativa Venezia Giulia Rapp. Toscana 2–2" [Football. Inter-regional matches. Venezia Giulia Select 2–2 Sel. Tuscany]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). 8 April 1929. p. 4. La difesa dei veneto-giuliani invece ha dimostrato di essere el miglior settore della composizione ed accanto all'astuzia e olimpica calma di Gazzari II stava a proposito l'esuberante impetuosità del giovane Nicolich.
  3. "Statistiche su Nicolich Marino". CarriereCalciatori.it. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  4. "1930/31 Serie B". Tifo Solo Spezia. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  5. Massimo, Izzi (2017). L'AS Roma dalla A alla Z [AS Roma from A to Z] (in Italian). Rome: Newton Compton. ISBN 978-88-227-1488-6.
  6. P.L.T. (8 October 1931). "L'orizzonte giall rosso si rischiara" [The yellow-and-red horizon brightens]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). p. 4.
  7. "Volk". AS Roma. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  8. Boccali, Leone (29 October 1931). "Nonostante le incertezze della difesa, i giallo-rossi per due volte annullano il vantaggio dei cerchiati" [Despite the uncertainties in the defence, the yellow-reds twice cancel out the hoops' advantage]. Il Littoriale (in Italian). pp. 1, 5.
  9. "Nicolich Marino". Enciclopedia Giallorossa. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  10. "Marino Nicolich". almanaccogiallorosso.it. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
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