Professional Footballer. He gained fame as being the goalkeeper for several popular Italian football teams. He was born in Vado Ligure, Italy, and he began his interests in sports as a young adult. He played the position of goalkeeper for the Football Club Savona (aka Savona Foot-Ball Club or Savona F.B.C.), of Savona, Italy, in 20 League Appearances from 1942 to 1943. He then had a brief stint playing for the Football Club Genoa (aka Genoa Cricket and Football Club or Genoa C.F.C.), of Genoa, Italy, in 20 League Appearances in 1944. He also played in 137 League Appearances and won four Serie A four times in a row 1945 to 1946, 1946 to 1947, 1947 to 1948, and 1948 to 1949, for the Football Club Torino (aka Torino Football Club or Torino F.C.), of Torino, Italy, from 1945 to 1949. He also played in 5 League Appearances with the Italian National Football Team from 1947 to 1949. He initially made his senior international debut with the Italian Football Team in a 3–1 win over Czechoslovakia on December 14, 1947. Because of his superb goalkeeping skills, he was considered one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, and he was by far a modern and world-class goalkeeper, who revolutionized his position in his home country of Italy. A precocious talent, he was known for his strong physique, reactions, and excellent positional sense, as well as his athletic diving saves. He was also well-known for being an outstanding shot-stopper, and he was also a dominant goalkeeper, known for his ability to come off his line to collect crosses. He was killed in the Superga Air Disaster on May 4, 1949, when the teams Avio Linee Italiane Fiat G.212 plane took off of from Lisbon, Portugal, and crashed into the retaining wall at the back of the Basilica of Superga which stands on a hill on the outskirts of Turin, Italy, along with most of the Grande Torino team including Aldo Ballarin, Dino Ballarin, Émile Bongiorni, Eusebio Castigliano, Rubens Fadini, Guglielmo Gabetto, Ruggero Grava, Giuseppe Grezar, Ezio Loik, Virgilio Maroso, Danilo Martelli, Valentino Mazzola, Romeo Menti, Piero Operto, Franco Ossola, Mario Rigamonti, and Július Schubert, which also formed a large part of the Italian National Football Team at the time, which was scheduled to take part at the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Also killed were members of the coaching staff, club officials, journalists, and flight crew including, Ottavio Corina, massage therapist, Egri Erbstein, manager, Leslie Lievesley, coach, Arnaldo Agnisetta, general manager, Andrea Bonaiuti, travel organizer, Ippolito Civalleri, travel escort, Renato Casalbore, journalist, Luigi Cavallero, journalist, Renato Tosatti, journalist, Cesare Biancardi, co-pilot, Celestino D'Inca, engineer, Pierluigi Meroni, pilot, and Antonio Pangrazi, radio operator. The aerial accident was later found to be caused by controlled flight into terrain due to low visibility. The crash is commemorated annually and remains of the aircraft including a propeller, a tire, scattered pieces of the fuselage, and the personal bags of Valentino Mazzola, Virgilio Maroso, and Egri Erbstein, are preserved in a museum in Grugliasco near Turin, Italy. The Museo del Grande Torino e della Leggenda Granata, located in the prestigious Villa Claretta Assandri of Grugliasco, was opened on the May 4, 2008, the anniversary of the tragedy. His name is inscribed on the memorial plaque on the Basilica of Superga, near Turin, Italy, which is dedicated to those who died. His older brother, Manlio Bacigalupo, also played professional football before the Second World War, also serving as a goalkeeper for the Football Club Genoa (aka Genoa Cricket and Football Club or Genoa C.F.C.), of Genoa, Italy, and the football Club Torino (aka Torino Football Club or Torino F.C.), of Torino, Italy. The football club where he started his career, Savona (aka Savona Foot-Ball Club or Savona F.B.C.), of Savona, Italy, named its ground Stadio Valerio Bacigalupo in his honour. For his contributions to Italian football, he was also posthumously honored a spot in the Torino F.C. Hall of Fame in 2014.