Fabrizio Ravanelli

Fabrizio Ravanelli
Personal information
Full name Fabrizio Ravanelli
Date of birth December 11, 1968 (1968-12-11) (age 43)
Place of birth Perugia, Italy
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Striker (retired)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1989 Perugia 90 (41)
1989 Avellino 7 (0)
1989–1990 Casertana 27 (12)
1990–1992 Reggiana 66 (24)
1992–1996 Juventus 111 (41)
1996–1997 Middlesbrough 35 (17)
1998–2000 Olympique de Marseille 64 (28)
2000–2001 Lazio 27 (4)
2001–2003 Derby County 49 (14)
2003 Dundee 5 (0)
2004–2005 Perugia 41 (9)
Total 522 (190)
National team
1995–1999 Italy 22 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Fabrizio Ravanelli (born December 11, 1968) is a former international Italian football player, who won five titles with Juventus, including a Serie A championship in 1995 and a Champions League title in 1996.

Ravanelli was born in Perugia. He started and finished his playing career in the local team Perugia Calcio. Other notable career stops were Juventus and Marseille. In all, during his career he played with twelve clubs from four countries; his native Italy, England, France and Scotland. He earned 22 caps for the Italian national team.

Ravanelli currently works as a youth coach with Juventus.[1]

Contents

Career

Known as the "White Feather" in recognition of his prematurely whitened hair, he was one of Europe's top goalscorers in the mid 1990s. Playing for Juventus, Ravanelli won one Serie A title (1994–95), one Coppa Italia (1994–95), one SuperCoppa Italiana (1995), one Champions League (1995–96), where he scored in the final against Ajax, and one UEFA Cup (1992–93). On September 27, 1994, he memorably scored all 5 goals for Juventus against CSKA Sofia in their 5–1 win. In the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final he put Juventus 1–0 up. Ajax subsequently equalised but Juventus still won the game in a penalty shootout.

He made an immediate positive impact on moving to the Premier League with Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough though his success was not sustained. He scored a hat-trick on his debut against Liverpool on the opening day of the 1996–97 season. Despite being one of the league's top scorers, Middlesbrough were relegated in the year that he joined. He did however help them to the final of both domestic cup competitions that season. He started both finals as Middlesbrough went down to Chelsea in the FA Cup Final and Leicester City in the League Cup Final, he scored in the final of the latter only for Emile Heskey to equalise and send the game to a replay, which Leicester subsequently won. He alienated himself from teammates and fans with his constant complaints and criticisms of the club's training regime and facilities, as well as the town itself, despite being the highest paid footballer in the Premiership at the time.[2] Whilst at the club he resided in the local small North Yorkshire village of Hutton Rudby where Middlesbrough football associates such as Paul Merson, Gordon McQueen and several other notable individuals have had residences. He was regarded as very supportive of the local community and specifically charity events.

He joined Derby County in 2001, but could not save the club from relegation in 2002. Due to Derby's financial problems they had to defer his wage payments which they paid for several years. He then joined Dundee following the end of his Derby contract but was sacked after the club released all of their top earners. The only game in which Ravanelli scored for Dundee was against Clyde in a League Cup match. He ended up scoring a hat-trick.[3] After the experience in Scotland he went back home to finish his career with Perugia, where he tried to help the club out of relegation trouble.

Ravanelli's signature celebration when scoring a goal was pulling his shirt over his head and running around the field. Ravanelli has been a big opposer to the new FIFA rule put in place where a player gets a yellow card for removing his shirt during a celebration. He now works as a football pundit for SKY Italia and Mediaset.

On the 23rd October 2010 it was reported by Sky Sports in the UK that Ravanelli wished to become manager of Middlesbrough FC stating it was his 'dream' to manage one of his former clubs.

Career statistics

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
1986–87 Perugia Serie C2 26 5 ? ? - - ? ?
1987–88 32 23 ? ? - - ? ?
1988–89 Serie B 32 13 ? ? - - ? ?
1989–90 US Avellino Serie B 7 0 ? ? - - ? ?
1989–90 Casertana Serie C1 27 12 ? ? - - ? ?
1990–91 Reggiana Serie B 34 16 ? ? - - ? ?
1991–92 32 8 ? ? - - ? ?
1992–93 Juventus Serie A 22 5 ? ? ? ? ? ?
1993–94 30 9 ? ? ? ? ? ?
1994–95 33 15 ? ? ? ? ? ?
1995–96 26 12 ? ? 7 5 ? ?
England League FA Cup Europe Total
1996–97 Middlesbrough Premier League 33 16 7 6 - - 40 22
1997–98 First Division 2 1 0 0 - - 2 1
France League Coupe de France Europe Total
1997–98 Marseille Ligue 1 21 9 ? ? ? ? ? ?
1998–99 29 13 ? ? ? ? ?
1999–00 14 6 ? ? ? ? ? ?
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
1999–00 Lazio Serie A 16 2 ? ? ? ? ? ?
2000–01 11 2 ? ? ? ? ? ?
England League FA Cup Europe Total
2001–02 Derby County Premier League 30 9 ? ? - - ? ?
2002–03 First Division 19 5 ? ? - - ? ?
Scotland League Scottish Cup Europe Total
2003–04 Dundee Premier League 5 0 0 0 - - 6 3*
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
2003–04 Perugia Serie A 17 6 ? ? - - ? ?
2004–05 Serie B 24 3 ? ? - - ? ?
Total Italy 369 131 ? ? ? ? ? ?
England 84 31 ? ? - - ? ?
France 64 28 ? ? ? ? ? ?
Scotland 5 0 ? ? - - ? 3
Career total 522 190 ? ? ? ? ? ?

* = Scored 3 goals in a Scottish League Cup match.

Honours

Juventus F.C.
Middlesbrough F.C.
S.S. Lazio

References

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Malcolm Christie
Derby County Top Goalscorer
2001-02
Succeeded by
Malcolm Christie & Lee Morris