Titina, the wife of presidentissimo Anconetani: “Who was Romeo off the pitch, the great joys and the cheering for Pisa”
Our interview with Agata Buonomo: how she met her husband, her relationship with football and the bitterness for failure
PISA. «I hope that Pisa will win on Sunday. I’d like the team to win Serie A ». To speak is Agata Buonomo, for all Mrs. Titina, the wife of the very president Romeo Anconetani. Despite the 99 springs and the ailments of her age, Titina has remained as it is: a great fan of football and the Nerazzurri colors. For some years she has lived with her son Adolfo and her family in via del Borghetto. A simple life, marked by the rhythms of an almost centennial, but when football makes itself felt, Mrs. Titina is always in the front row in front of the television. “My mother doesn’t lose a game,” says Adolfo Anconetani. And on Sunday she will be glued to the screen when Pisa will challenge Monza on the lawn of the stadium that bears her husband’s name. «I will be in front of the television – she tells us – and I will cross my fingers, hoping for a victory. This is an important milestone for both the team and the city. If my husband were alive you saw the race with me. On the other hand, I have always followed him in all his trips, I have traveled far and wide in Italy and I have wonderful memories. Romeo in October, if he were here, he would have turned 100, perhaps he would have been a bit bruised like me, but I’m sure that the fighting spirit that distinguished him would have remained the same “.
Ms. Titina, as one of Pisa’s promotions in Serie A, has remained in her memories?
«The one in Cremona, in 1987, we were all at the stadium. I followed my husband and the team. It was a great party already at the stadium. Our children were also with us. Romeo to Pisa by bus with all the players back, I by car with some relatives. And then in the evening a nice dinner was organized with the team in Versilia ».
Who was Romeo Anconetani, outside the football fields?
«My husband was a person with a strong character, some called him terrible, perhaps he was also so because of the fact that he had so many responsibilities, especially in recent years and for everything that has happened since. But removed the role of the president of Pisa, he was a good and very generous person, he did so much good in silence, without waving it to the rooftops. Even abroad, in less fortunate countries than ours, he helped build hospitals ».
And the city, according to her, how it behaved towards him?
“They left him alone. During the years associated with failure, I feel I can say that many have turned their backs on him. We were left alone in a complex situation and did not come out well. Then, after his death, they remembered him and thanks to the interest of some, there is the stadium of the city that bears his name. I think it is a well-deserved recognition ».
Come met her husband?
“It was during the war. He had fought in Sicily and had been taken prisoner by the Germans, but had managed to escape. He was awarded three war crosses for escaping certain death three times. He was welcomed by my family, I am originally from Vietri sul Mare (Salerno). At the time we were displaced in the countryside and luckily we were not short of food. My mother cooked for the troops and for him too and that’s how I met Romeo ».
How did you get to Pisa?
«His work is taking us to Tuscany. He works for Montecatini, a chemical company. He was first transferred to Milan, then to Signa and it is here that he began to take his first steps in the world of football. Little by little he made himself known among the teams and embarked on his own adventure which took him over time to take the path of the football mediator. In this field he met many people who later became famous, including Moggi. He was agent of the Prato team, then he also worked for Turin and later in the 1960s with the purchase of Pisa, and it all started ».
If her husband were alive in October he would blow out 100 candles. Do you expect the city to organize something for him?
“I would like. My son Adolfo would like to make a philatelic cancellation to remember him. He has moved me in various fields and we hope that someone will give us a hand. In the past some initiatives have been carried out, such as the last one at the Verdi theater, which made me very happy with the many players who have been close to him over the years. But I don’t have too many illusions ».
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