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EXCLUSIVE – How a World Cup in 1974 led Roberto Venturato to produce a Cittadella miracle decades later

On January 10, 2025 by Jake Iovine

An 11-year-old Robert Venturato curiously watched his television as West Germany faced the Netherlands in the World Cup 1974 Final. A Dutch team that featured a 27-year-old Johan Cruyff looked to win the country’s first World Cup in the team’s first final appearance.

Cruyff’s influence and the Dutch’s “Total Football” during the tournament caught the eye of Venturato, who had just settled in Italy after spending the first 10 years of his life in Australia. Little did he know that moment would shape his career, both as a player and eventually on the sidelines as a coach.

“I still remember watching the final,” Venturato said over the phone in an exclusive interview with CittaCalcioUsa. “I watched the Netherlands play throughout the tournament. Their style was very new and something I had never seen before.”

Venturato may be seen as the mastermind behind A.S. Cittadella’s rise between 2015 and 2021. The team came within the cusp of a historic promotion to the Italian Serie A in five straight seasons despite low squad spending. But this story started decades ago, when Cittadella still played in the amateur divisions and Venturato lived thousands of miles away.

The former coach, born in the rural northeastern Australian town of Atherton to Italian parents, moved back to Italy when he was 10-years-old. Even before the World Cup in 1974, Venturato’s love for football had already begun Down Under.

“My passion started when I was young. I went to Club Marconi games,” he said. “They were a club where many Italians played. From there, I started having this love for the game and started to play it.”

“These are memories that I still hold close to me, even at 61-years-old.”

A move to a different continent wasn’t going to stop Venturato from continuing his passion. He was eventually integrated into the youth system of Montebelluna, and a promising playing career looked in sight for the young Australian. Interest from Cremonese and Atalanta were there, but a bad car accident changed his plans.

Venutrato instead played 12 years in Serie C between 1984 and 1996 for the likes of Giorgione, Pergocrema, Venezia, Treviso and Pizzighettone. The latter of which became his stepping stone for coaching, where he started as a youth coach for the Biancoazzurri.

Now he finally had the perfect opportunity to express his way of playing as he remembered the Dutch team of 1974.

“This was the football I wanted to play when I started coaching,” Venturato said of his time with Pizzighettone. “It was my way of telling players to play a type of football which was still very new. Few coaches tried playing with interchanges and intensity where they focus more on the technical aspect than the physicality.”

It was indeed a new phenomenon in the country. Traditionally, Italy has produced defensive tactics and constantly thrives for emphasis in defense. Venturato, however, wanted to try something different, like shown in the Johan Cruyff era.

“The style of play was still new here,” he said. “Only a few people proposed and tried it. I continued studying and tried to understand how it could improve each year. I was able to show it both with the youth and first teams.”

Venturato continued coaching in the third and fourth tiers of Italian football, having helped Pizzighettone win promotion to Serie C1 during the 2004/05 season. It wasn’t until ten years later when Cittadella came calling, in which Venturato ultimately took the job in the summer of 2015.

It was a decision that changed the history books not only for Venturato, but for Cittadella.

The Granata, who had dropped to the third division for the first time in seven seasons, immediately won promotion back to Serie B in Venturato’s first year. Under the Australian-born coach, Cittadella won 11 straight games for the first time in Serie C history and finished with 76 points, 11 points ahead of second. It remains the club’s highest finish and point tally in the professional leagues.

The best was yet to come. In Serie B, Venturato continued his tactical philosophy as the club reached the promotion playoffs in five straight seasons. Cittadella achieved three sixth place finishes, in addition to one fifth and seventh place finish. Venturato managed 270 matches for the club, putting up a 1.62 points per game record as head coach. Venturato’s men made the small town of 20,000 inhabitants dream of an improbable promotion to Serie A, where the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Giorgio Chiellini and Lautaro Martinez playing at the Stadio Piercesare Tombolato became a genuine possibility.

Despite this success and two trips to the playoff finals, the job didn’t have a fairytale ending.

Out of the five seasons in Serie B, Venturato still believes the team had its best chance of reaching the top flight in the 2019/20 season, more specifically on Matchday 33 against Crotone. As the league paused in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cittadella sat six points from the Calabrian side in second place. When play resumed, Venturato’s side welcomed Crotone to an empty Tombolato for a promotion six pointer, but ultimately lost the game and the chance of clinching automatic promotion.

“I still have some regrets,” Venturato said reflecting on that game. “I thought we had a real possibility of beating Crotone and getting second place, without having to go through the playoffs. We deservedly lost that game, but I still feel bad in each season where we weren’t good at continuing in decisive moments that could’ve allowed us to achieve this result.”

Another opportunity for Venturato and Cittadella to achieve promotion into Serie A came in the 2020/21 season, where the Granata faced Venezia in the playoff final. After a 0-1 home loss in the first leg, Federico Proia scored after 26 minutes in Venice, putting the Granata one goal from history.

It got better for Cittadella as the hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 36th minute. But this may have been a curse in disguise for Venturato’s team, as they were forced to break down a stubborn and concentrated Venezia defense for the remainder of the game.

“Psychologically, the red card placed a mental burden on Venezia,” he said. “Now they had to play with great attention and concentration defensively. We needed a moment of quality or an individual play to breakthrough, but unfortunately we did not succeed.”

Venezia held on and sealed promotion at the expense of Venturato’s men. Despite missing out on the narrowest of margins, the former Cittadella boss assures he has no regrets about the final, but thinks the team’s performance throughout the two games was worthy of promotion.

“In the first leg [of the final] we made a few mistakes that limited our chances of playing until the end,” Venturato said. “But from the second half of the first leg to the entirety of the second leg, we deserved to go in Serie A. For changes I could’ve made, maybe I would have substituted Mario Rosafio and Mario Gargiulo earlier as they had already showed their qualities throughout the season.”

Venturato announced he would leave the club a month after the game. Even with a year left on his contract, the coach decided his time was over at the club and had nothing left in the tank.

“I felt empty after the final,” he said. “A coach must have great determination and motivation to improve. Once one of these aspects leaves, you cannot continue. I didn’t have any problems with anyone at the club: Cittadella was an extraordinary moment in my career and gave me a lot. But at the moment I felt empty, so I made the very difficult decision to leave.”

Cittadella is yet to reach the promotion playoffs since Venturato departed: the Granata have finished 11th, 15th and 14th under Edoardo Gorini, Venturato’s former assistant. Gorini, who was fired last October, made way for rumors of a possible return for Venturato. However, he denied these rumors to CittaCalcioUsa, saying there were no contacts between him and the club.

Nonetheless, Venturato continues to follow Serie B. In fact, he recently attended Sassuolo’s 2-1 victory against Cosenza four days after Christmas, where he emphasized the chaotic nature of the league. He also gives hope to Cittadella, who is looking to avoid relegation for the ninth straight season as the team sits 15th in the league.

“Serie B is a very balanced league,” he said. “Every team is competitive and can play their game. Cittadella demonstrated this: three weeks ago they were bottom of the table, but now they are out of the relegation zone after three straight wins. The league is made for continuity and to never give up.”

Venturato’s era may not have ended the way he wanted with Cittadella, but he continues to be grateful for his time with the Granata. He says the six years will forever be etched into Italian football history, making a tiny town in the heart of Veneto dream big while continuing to pursue his Cruyff-inspired style of football, which all began five decades ago.

“My time at Cittadella was a beautiful journey,” he said. “We created a mentality which brought great team results.”

“It was a beautiful period.”

TOP PHOTO: Massimo Felicetti/A.S. Cittadella