Stefano Eranio
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stefano Eranio | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder/winger | ||
Stefano Eranio (born 29 December 1966 in Genova, Italy) is an Italian former football player, most remembered for his time with AC Milan and Derby County. Eranio played as a winger and represented Italy 20 times between 1990 and 1997. He was voted one of Derby County's 11 greatest ever footballers.
Biography
Clubs
Stefano Eranio started his professional football career with Genoa in August 1984. His first five seasons at Genoa were in Serie B before in 1989 the club were promoted to Serie A. In total, Eranio played for the club for eight seasons before he moved to AC Milan in August 1992. At Milan he won three league titles (1993, 1994 and 1996), three Italian Super Cups (1992, 1993 and 1994) and he also played in two Champions League finals. The first was in 1992–93 when Milan lost 1–0 to Olympique de Marseille, and the second was in 1994–95 when his club lost 1–0 to Ajax Amsterdam. Part of the team's successful campaign in 1993–94, he did not play in the final due to injury. He added to his trophy collection with the 1994 European Super Cup.
In May 1997 he moved for free to the English club Derby County where he became a fans favourite, and he made his Derby, and FA Premier League debut, on the 9 August 1997 against Blackburn Rovers. His first goal for the Derbyshire club came on the 30 August 1997 when he scored in a league game against Barnsley. In this season, Derby County moved from their former home at the Baseball Ground to their new home, Pride Park Stadium, and Eranio's goal, to take the score to 1–0 against Barnsley was the first that was scored at Derby's new home ground. Eranio had thought of retiring after the 2000–01 season, but manager Jim Smith persuaded him to stay on. When Smith was fired in October 2001, Eranio chose to retire as a footballer.
He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential players to play for the club and, on 1 May 2006, Eranio and Ted McMinn were inducted as Derby Legends. Subsequently, he was named coach for one of AC Milan's youth teams.
National team
Eranio debuted for the Italian team on the 22 December 1990 in a game against Cyprus. The game was a qualification match for the 1992 European Championships, and Italy won the game 4–0. His first international goal came against the Netherlands on the 9 September 1992. Italy won the game 3–2.
On 29 March 1997, Eranio played his last game for Italy, against Moldova in a 3–0 home win. In total, he received 20 caps, and scored three goals, with six of the appearances in qualifiers for World Cups, and other five in qualification for European Championships.
Career as a player
Club games
| Club | Contract | Club games | League games | Club goals | League goals | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Italy
|
Genoa | Contract | ? | 212 | ? | 13 | 08/1984 - 05/1992 |
| Italy
|
Milan | Contract | ? | 98 | ? | 6 | 08/1992 - 05/1997 |
 England
|
Derby County | Contract | 108 | 95 | 10 | 7 | 05/1997 - 10/2001 |
Sources
- Mortimer, Gerald (2004): The Who's Who of DERBY COUNTY.
Breedon Books Publishing, Derby. ISBN 1-85983-409-4