Renzo Rovatti had already left football behind when an ordinary banking errand in Milan turned into an unlikely episode from the city’s crime films of the early 1970s. On 28 September 1971, the former Inter, Palermo and Lecco player found himself facing two armed robbers at a Banca Subalpina branch in Via Indipendenza.
It was shortly before midday and fewer than ten people were inside the branch at number 12. Rovatti, a Milan native who had passed 30, was at the counter to deposit 500,000 lire when a gunman in dark glasses and a wool cap announced the robbery.
Quick facts
- Renzo Rovatti made 12 Serie A appearances and 78 in Serie B.
- His clubs included Inter, Palermo, Lecco, Pro Patria, Pavia and Lugano.
- The robbery took place on 28 September 1971 at Banca Subalpina, Via Indipendenza 12, Milan.
- Bank director Carlo Cavallucci put the stolen sum at 1.5 million lire.
- Rovatti later became a successful businessman and joined Inter’s board during Ernesto Pellegrini’s presidency in the mid-1980s.
Rovatti had been an attacking midfielder, quick in movement and thought, and those instincts served him again. Ordered to hand over the banknotes he was holding, he dropped to the floor and pretended to be ill.
As he fell, he slipped the envelope containing his money into his jacket pocket. He then stayed down, groaning and convulsing convincingly enough to unsettle the robbers.
The pair were later identified as the only two men involved in the raid. One grabbed cash from the tills while the other held open a leather bag, but their hurried work left some banknotes scattered on the floor.
Rovatti continued his performance, making increasingly alarming sounds as the thieves tried to complete the job. Faced with the prospect of a medical emergency as well as an armed robbery, they abandoned the branch in a rush.
Before leaving, they threatened the staff and customers. The account reported at the time had them warning those inside not to move, saying they would return and shoot.
The robbers escaped with a bag that was far from full. Cavallucci’s estimate placed the loss at 1.5 million lire, while outside the branch the two men struggled to start their sand-coloured Vespa in front of bemused passers-by.
Eventually the scooter started and they rode away. In a Milan where bank robberies had become a recurring part of the urban news, the scene still appeared strange enough for onlookers to wonder whether a film was being made.
Only once calm returned did Rovatti rise from the floor, brush himself down and check the jacket pocket. The envelope was still there.
A football life beyond the pitch
Rovatti’s playing career had taken him through Italian football and across the border to Lugano, where he finished as a professional. His Serie A record was limited to 12 matches, but he accumulated 78 appearances in Serie B with a range of established clubs.
He would build a successful business career after retirement and later return to Inter in a boardroom role under president Pellegrini. But on that September morning in 1971, the former midfielder’s most important piece of improvisation came not in a stadium, but on the floor of a Milan bank.
