Francesco "Ciccio" Tavano (born 2 March 1979) is an Italianfootball coach and former professionalstriker.
 Tavano withLivorno in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1979-03-02)2 March 1979 (age 46) | ||
| Place of birth | Caserta, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1997 | Nola | ||
| 1997–1999 | Fiorentina | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2000 | Pisa | 11 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Rondinella | 46 | (21) |
| 2001–2006 | Empoli | 142 | (43) |
| 2006–2007 | Valencia | 3 | (0) |
| 2007 | →Roma (loan) | 14 | (2) |
| 2007–2011 | Livorno | 128 | (48) |
| 2011–2015 | Empoli | 118 | (63) |
| 2015–2016 | Avellino | 22 | (3) |
| 2016–2017 | Prato | 26 | (6) |
| 2017–2020 | Carrarese | 79 | (39) |
| 2020–2021 | Prato | 27 | (11) |
| 2021–2022 | Ponsacco | 20 | (10) |
| 2022 | Tuttocuoio | ? | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2022–2023 | Tuttocuoio | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
editTavano started his professional career withPisa before being sold to a minorFlorence team,Rondinella, then inSerie C2. He then joinedEmpoli, where he slowly established himself as one of the stars of the smallTuscan team. During the January 2006 transfer window, several Italian football pundits claimed thatReal Madrid were interested in signing Tavano,[1] but he eventually signed forValencia in mid-2006, for €9 million.[2] He received a call-up from theItaly national team in April 2006,[3] when managerMarcello Lippi held trials for the 23-man squad that would go on to win the2006 FIFA World Cup, but he never made his international debut.[4]
His time in Spain, however, proved unsuccessful, as he fell out with the coaching staff after making statements in the press, which led to him being a sub-player for most of his short stay in Spain. Tavano then returned to Italy for a loan spell withRoma, where he mostly served as a reserve player for the mainGiallorossi strikers. However, he was able to win the2006–07 Coppa Italia with the club.
In 2007, he was permanently signed byLivorno,[5] for a reported €5.5 million on a four-year contract.[6] He received thenumber 10 jersey, previously retired in honour ofIgor Protti and unretired that year under explicit request from the formeramaranto star. Despite being the club's top scorer in his comeback season in Tuscany, his side did not manage to escape from relegation. Tavano agreed to stay at Livorno also in their2008–09 Serie B campaign to try to lead his team back into the top flight.
He scored a hat-trick against Avellino on the season's opening day, making it the first round 1 hat-trick since 1994. He would then score at Piacenza before standing back to back with a teammate in celebration. He missed a penalty against Empoli, his former club, with the score tied at 1–1 beforeAntonio Buscè scored Empoli's winner. Tavano would, however, get a goal in the 5–2 win over Frosinone on the way to 25 for the season, giving him thecapocannoniere title and ensuring promotion through the playoffs after missing out on automatic promotion to Bari and Parma. However, he had a hard season in Serie A, as Livorno were the only newly promoted team to go down. He scored the winner at Roma, but only scored four more goals.
He retired in 2022 after starting the season withEccellenza Tuscany amateursTuttocuoio at the age of 43.
Coaching career
editOn 15 November 2022, Tavano took on his first head coaching role, in charge ofEccellenza Tuscany clubTuttocuoio, for which he was playing before, therefore forcing him to quit his playing career as a consequence.[7] He was sacked on 14 November 2023.[8]
Honours
editRoma
References
edit- ^Empoli's Tavano excited by Real Madrid interest[permanent dead link], tribalfootball.com, 5 January 2006
- ^Empoli FC SpAbilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2007(in Italian),PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA[permanent dead link]
- ^"Convocazione Nazionale"(PDF) (in Italian). FIGC. 30 April 2006. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 28 October 2013. Retrieved21 October 2013.
- ^"Test azzurro, Lippi richiama Inzaghi".corriere.it (in Italian). IlCorriere della Sera. 30 April 2006. Retrieved8 April 2015.
- ^"Quattro nuovi acquisti del Livorno Calcio".AS Livorno Calcio (in Italian). 30 June 2007. Archived fromthe original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved14 June 2011.
- ^"Tavano e Rossini al Livorno Via Abbiati, Torino su Sereni".La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 27 June 2007. Retrieved21 June 2011.
- ^"Francesco Tavano si ritira: a 43 anni l'ex attaccante diventa il nuovo tecnico del Tuttocuoio" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb. 15 November 2022. Retrieved15 November 2022.
- ^"Eccellenza, il Tuttocuoio esonera Ciccio Tavano, al suo posto Nicola Sena" (in Italian). PisaToday. 14 November 2023. Retrieved14 November 2023.
External links
editFrancesco Tavano at Soccerway