| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 10 February 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | Rome, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Pescatori Ostia | |||
| Lodigiani | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1984–1987 | Lodigiani | 49 | (18) |
| 1987–1988 | Arezzo | 19 | (0) |
| 1988–1990 | Reggiana | 67 | (32) |
| 1990–1992 | Napoli | 39 | (6) |
| 1992–1995 | Torino | 82 | (24) |
| 1995–1997 | Nottingham Forest | 12 | (0) |
| 1996–1997 | → Venezia (loan) | 26 | (4) |
| 1997–1998 | Reggiana | 8 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Ravenna | 23 | (3) |
| 1999–2000 | Torino | 11 | (2) |
| 2000–2001 | Ravenna | 7 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1994 | Italy | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Andrea Silenzi (born 10 February 1966) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a centre forward.
He was known for his goal-poaching ability, but at a highly inconsistent level. The scorer of 89 league goals during his career, Silenzi was also the first Italian to play in the Premier League, when he signed with Nottingham Forest in 1995.
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Silenzi was born in Rome. Nicknamed Pennellone (Big brush) due to his height, he began his playing career with local club A.S. Lodigiani. During his third season there he started scoring, and finished as second top scorer in Serie C2, with 18 goals. In the next season he moved to Serie B, with A.C. Arezzo, but the season as a disaster both individually and collectively; the club finished last and was relegated to Serie C1, with the player appearing in 19 games and failing to find the net once.
He was transferred to another third level club, A.C. Reggiana 1919, for 1988–89, where his fortunes changed dramatically. The club won promotion that year, finishing in first place, with Slienzi contributing nine goals in 31 appearances. The next season he fared even better, finishing the season as the league's top scorer in division two; he scored an astonishing 23 goals out of the squad's 33, doing it in 38 matches, the best goal-per-match ratio in the competition.
Silenzi's prolific scoring garnered the attention of Scudetto and Coppa Italia winners S.S.C. Napoli, which was looking to strengthen its attacking options, in a side which featured the great Diego Maradona. 1990–91 started brightly, with Napoli capturing the Italian Super Cup – a 5–1 thrashing of Juventus FC, with Silenzi contributing with two of the five goals. However, the rest of that season proved unlucky for the player, who only managed two Serie A goals (Maradona only netted six, all on penalties). The club finished eighth, but fourth the following year, mainly thanks to the firepower of Careca and Gianfranco Zola, who had taken over for the banned Maradona - Silenzi only scored four times in 20 games.
The next season, Silenzi, aged 26, was signed by Torino FC, brought in with some of the funds that the club made on the then world-record sale of Gianluigi Lentini to A.C. Milan. That season Torino finished in 9th place, with Silenzi again grabbing only a handful of league goals (three). The only bright spot of that season was the conquest of the team's fourth Italian Cup, as he endeared himself to the club's fans with his display in the final, where Toro defeated A.S. Roma after two legs on the away goals rule, the aggregate score being 5–5; he scored both of the crucial goals in the second leg in Rome (2–5 loss).
In 1993–94, Silenzi had his best top flight year, as he finished the season with 17 goals, (tied for third in the scorers list), and the club managed to get to the semi-final of the domestic cup. That season, he was spearheading the attacking trio of Enzo Francescoli and a young Benito Carbone, and this impressive form garnered him a call-up to the national team in early 1994. The next season saw the arrival of Ruggiero Rizzitelli at Torino, and he took over the leading goal-scoring spot from Silenzi, netting 15 more goals (19 to four).
In the summer of 1995, Silenzi was signed by Nottingham Forest's manager Frank Clark for £1.8m, becoming the first ever Italian to play in the Premier League. But he never fitted into the set-up at the City Ground, making 10 league appearances in the 1995–96 season without scoring. After only two appearances in the following season, he returned to his country and joined S.S.C. Venezia, on loan.
In total, Silenzi made only 20 official appearances (seven starts) for Forest, scoring only twice: one in the FA Cup against Oxford United[1] and one in the League Cup against Bradford City.[2] It is alleged that his contract was torn up by manager Dave Bassett (who took over in March 1997), for allegedly refusing to return from his loan spell at Venezia.[3] In the English press he is considered as one of the worst ever signings by a club in the country,[4] his failure at City Ground reportedly costing the club nearly £3million.
Silenzi continued his playing career with various clubs back in Italy, going on to play for Reggiana and Ravenna Calcio for a season each, and also returning to Torino for a solitary season, his two goals in 11 games being too little to save Emiliano Mondonico's side from top division relegation. He finished his playing career in 2001 at the age of 35, with another return, at Ravenna, playing seven scoreless games in 2000–01's second level.
Silenzi's only international cap for Italy came on 16 February 1994, as he played against France as part of the warm-up process for the FIFA World Cup being held that summer. In the match held in Naples (0–1 loss), he came on as a second-half substitute.