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Silvio Piola (September 29, 1913 in Robbio
Lomellina, Italy - October 4, 1996 in Gattinara,
Italy) was an Italian football (soccer)|footballer
whose career lasted from 1929 until 1954.

Piola began his career with Italian club side Pro
Vercelli, making his Serie A debut against Bologna
F.C. 1909|Bologna on February 16, 1930. He went on
to score 51 goals in 127 appearances in Serie A
for Pro Vercelli. In 1934, he moved to S.S.
Lazio|Lazio, who had been on the receiving end of
his first Serie A goal on November 11, 1930. He
was to spend the next nine seasons there. Piola
was the Serie A top scorer twice while at Lazio,
in 1937 and 1943. After leaving Lazio, he spent
war-torn 1944 at Torino Calcio|Torino, where he
scored an amazing 27 goals in just 23 games.
Towards the end of the war, he joined Novara
Calcio|Novara. Then, from 1945 to 1947, Piola
played for Juventus, before moving back to Novara,
where he stayed for seven more seasons.

His first game for Italy national football
team|Italy came against Austria national football
team|Austria on March 24, 1935, when he also
scored his first goal for the team. He was a
Football World Cup|World Cup winner in Football
World Cup 1938|1938, when he scored two of Italy's
goals in the 4-2 victory over Hungary national
football team|Hungary. Piola went on to play 34
games for Italy and score 30 goals, a tally that
would surely have been greater if not for the
interruption caused by World War II. His last
international appearance was in 1952, when Italy
drew 1-1 with England national football
team|England.

Piola is currently the List of top
goalscorers#Italy|highest goalscorer in Serie A
history, with 274 goals, a full 49 goals ahead of
anyone else. He played 536 (or 537) Serie A games,
putting him 4th on the all-time list for
appearances in Italy's top flight.