Tullio Ghersetich (born 28 April 1930) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Throughout his career, Ghersetich played for several different Italian clubs. He began his career at

Carrarese Carrarese Calcio 1908, commonly referred to as Carrarese, is an Italian football club based in Carrara, Tuscany. The team plays in Serie B, second tier of Italian football, after promotion from Serie C in 2023–24. History The club was foun ...

in 1950, and gained prominence while playing for

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

, which earned him a transfer to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

in 1952. He stayed at the Florentine club for one season, scoring 5 goals in 13 league matches. Ghersetich was then sold to

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

, and later played for

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...

and

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

before retiring in 1959. On 18 January 1953, Ghersetich recorded the fastest goal in the history of Serie A, scoring the 1–0 goal for Fiorentina in an away game against

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

after only ten seconds. He held this record for 35 years, being surpassed by Gianfranco Matteoli in 1988. Ghersetich still holds the record for Fiorentina's quickest goal in Serie A.

Career

Early years

A native of

Pisino Pazin (, ) is a town in western Croatia, the administrative seat of Istria County. It is known for the medieval Pazin Castle, the former residence of the Istrian margraves. Geography The town had a population of 8,638 in 2011, of which 4,386 li ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

, at the time Italian territory (today Croatia), he was signed by

, which at the time competed in the Italian

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

, in 1950. With the Tuscans he showed to be a prolific striker (attracting attention in particular for a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against

). In the following season he was signed by Empoli, still in Serie C, of which he became the top scorer with 18 goals. Thanks to his goals, Empoli finished second behind

, promoted to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

Fiorentina, Monza and Salernitana

Ghersetich's excellent season at Empoli earned him a call from Fiorentina, a

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

team. He made his debut with the ''Viola'' on 5 October 1952, in a 1–0 win at

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

. In total, he scored five goals in 13 league matches with Fiorentina. Among his goals there is one scored in a

-Fiorentina 2–1 loss on 18 January 1953, after only ten seconds from the start of the match, which is the fastest goal scored by a Fiorentina player in the league. It was also the fastest goal in the history of Serie A for 35 years, from 1953 to 1988. At the end of the season he was sold to

. After just one season he moved to

, where he scored nine goals in 19 games.

Cagliari and the return to Salerno

In the summer of 1955 Fiorentina sold him outright to Cagliari, in Serie B, of which he became the top scorer with 16 goals scored in 27 games. The following season, on the other hand, was poor in satisfactions for the Istrian, given that in the face of 29 matches played as a starter, he scored only five goals and all in the final part of the championship, a symptom of an optimal athletic condition reached late in the season. At the end of the season he returned on loan to Salernitana, once again in Serie C: he played 12 games and scored two goals.

Honours

Empoli *

runner-up: 1951–52 Individual records *Fastest goal in the history of

: held from 1953 to 1988 *Fastest goal in Seria A by a

player: held from 1953–present

References

{{reflist Living people 1930 births People from Pazin Footballers from Istria County Italian men's footballers Men's association football forwards ACF Fiorentina players Cagliari Calcio players Empoli FC players 20th-century Italian sportsmen