Riccardo Innocenti

Riccardo Innocenti was an Italian footballer from Ardenno, in the province of Sondrio, who scored in Serie A for SPAL and AC Milan and later captained Perugia through five Serie B seasons. A centre-forward by trade who later played as an inside forward, he amassed 47 Serie A appearances with 11 goals and 314 Serie B appearances with 57 goals before retiring in 1974. He died in Perugia on 22 September 2026 at the age of 83.

Innocenti learned the game in his home village side before joining Sondrio, where he debuted in Serie D at 18 in 1961. In 1962 Lecco brought him into Serie B. Across three seasons on the lake he became a reliable goal threat, including a personal best of 12 league goals in 1964. That form carried him to newly promoted SPAL in 1965. President Paolo Mazza bought the young Lombard attacker alongside Antonio Colombo and Franco Carrera, and after a difficult debut defeat at Napoli, Innocenti settled beside teammates such as Massei, Capello, Reja and Muzzio. He scored 10 Serie A goals that season, including against Juventus in a 2-2 draw at Ferrara on 24 October 1965.

In 1966 Milan acquired him from the Lecco-SPAL co-ownership tangle. Under Arturo Silvestri he made 14 Serie A appearances, plus matches in the Coppa delle Alpi and Coppa Italia, scoring once against Lanerossi Vicenza on 5 March 1967. He returned to Lecco for two more Serie B campaigns before moving in 1969 to Perugia, where coach Mazzetti reinvented him as an interior and where he rediscovered rhythm beside former SPAL colleagues. Over five seasons with the Grifoni he made 175 appearances and scored 27 goals, wore the captain's armband for long stretches, and closed his professional career there in 1974.

In September 1964 he had also been named among 22 players preparing for Italy's Olympic football squad for Tokyo, a campaign later abandoned after IOC professionalism disputes. AC Perugia Calcio, Lecco and Italian football media remembered him as a true Grifone and a figure of Lecco's golden years. English and Italian Wikipedia summary pages and club statements confirmed his death on the day it was announced.