Alessandro Pistone (born 27 July 1975) is an Italian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager. As a player he was full-back who notably played for

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 ...

side

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

and

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

sides

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and Everton. He also played for Solbiatese,

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

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and R.A.E.C. Mons. He earned 11 caps for the Italy Under-21 national team, whom he represented in the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Playing career

Early career

Pistone was born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. He started his career at Solbiatese and , two small Italian teams who in recent years have slid to the lowest tier of professional Italian football, before moving to

for the duration of the 1995–96 season. Whilst at Vicenza, Pistone caught the eye of

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstad in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to t ...

, who was manager of

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

at that time.

Internazionale

Pistone transferred to

for the 1996–97 season, fulfilling a childhood ambition by signing for his home town club. By now an Under-21 international, Pistone made 45 appearances for Inter. Pistone also featured in the 1997 UEFA Cup Final, which Inter lost to

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

Newcastle United

After an impressive single season at Internazionale,

manager

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

signed Pistone for a fee of £4.5 million in July 1997. Despite primarily being a full-back, Pistone made his debut against Sheffield Wednesday as a central defender (a position which he appeared in on a number of occasions in his first season with the Magpies). Pistone played in the 1998 FA Cup Final against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, which Newcastle United lost. After only two games into his second season with the club, Pistone was injured whilst playing away at Chelsea. This game proved to be Dalglish's last for Newcastle United, and he was subsequently sacked, Pistone was subsequently frozen out of the team by Dalglish's replacement,

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a former Dutch Association football, footballer and subsequent manager. Regarded among the greatest footballers of all time, he was also noted for his Utility player#Association football, abili ...

. Pistone was not allocated a squad number and was forced to train with the reserve team, along with former club captain

Rob Lee Robert Martin Lee (born 1 February 1966) is an English former professional footballer and sports co-commentator. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and West Ham United. His time at S ...

. During this time, Pistone was sent out on loan to

for four months, where he made 10 appearances. However, after Gullit was sacked, Pistone was restored to the first team by new manager

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...

, and once again became a first team regular. In his time at Newcastle he scored one league goal, against Middlesbrough in May 2000, in what proved to be his penultimate appearance for the club.

Everton

In July 2000, Pistone was transferred to Everton for a fee in the region of £3 million. He appeared in the first match of the 2000–01 season before being beset by a succession of injuries (including a six-month layoff for a knee injury). As a result, Pistone only managed to make 8 appearances for the Toffees during his first season. Throughout the 2001–02 season, Pistone again suffered a major injury, which resulted in him missing most of the campaign. However, during the 2001–02 season Pistone did score his first goal for the club against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. Pistone overcame a succession of injuries, and he featured in the vast majority of Everton's games throughout the 2004–05 season. However, his contract was due to expire at the end of this season, and with manager

David Moyes David William Moyes (born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player, who currently manages Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton. He was the 2003, 200 ...

having doubts about Pistone's ability to remain injury-free, he was only offered a one-year contract. Pistone refused to sign, and looked to be heading out of Goodison Park at the end of the 2004–05 season. However, with Everton qualifying for the Champions League for the 2005–06 season, the club were short of defensive cover. As such, he was subsequently offered a new two-year contract, to which he agreed. Pistone returned to Everton's first-team line up for the 2005–06 season. However, he only managed to feature in 3 games before suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury, ending his season prematurely. Following this, Pistone failed to make a further first-team appearance for Everton, and did not feature at all during the 2006–07 season. After making 103 appearances for Everton in 7 years, Pistone was eventually released by the club on 14 May 2007.

Free agent

After being released by Everton, on 31 August 2007 it was confirmed by

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

manager

Gareth Southgate Sir Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional Association football, football manager and player, who played as a Defender (association football), defender and midfielder. A Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace Crystal ...

that Pistone was having a trial at the Premier League club and, as Pistone was a free agent, he could be signed after the transfer deadline, giving Southgate more time to decide. It was reported on 9 September 2007 that Southgate had decided against offering Pistone a contract. Pistone also went on trial with Championship side

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

but he could not convince

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who was most recently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he ...

to offer him a contract.

RAEC Mons

After failing to secure a contract with a club in England, Pistone spent a week on trial with Belgian club RAEC Mons. After impressing manager Geo Van Pyperzeele, Pistone signed for the club on 6 December 2007 until the end of the season, and was given the number 4 jersey. After signing for the club, Pistone was quoted as saying ''"I signed here because I felt that the club immediately believed in me. R.A.E.C. Mons gives me the opportunity to play at a certain level and, very importantly, I felt the confidence of the club and the direction towards me"''. However, after only making four appearances, Pistone left the club at the end of the 2007–08 season.

International career

As part of the Italian Under-21 national team, Pistone won the European Under-21 Championships in 1996, taking and scoring Italy's second penalty in an eventual 4–2 shoot-out victory in the final against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, following a 1–1 draw. Pistone also played for

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

at the 1996 Olympic Game s in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Coaching career

Since retiring, Pistone has coached youth players at Aldini Bariviera and Varese Calcio. In September 2015, he managed the first team of Oggiono in Italy's fifth tier, the

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Official ...

. He departed Oggiono in November 2016 due to the club's financial position. The club merged with local rivals Nibiono to become A.S.D. NibionnOggiono.

After football

Since retiring from football, Pistone has made a number of appearances on the Italian Poker Circuit, and participated in the eight Annual Night of Aces event in 2010. Pistone also owns and runs a restaurant in Milano near Central Station, Italy, which specialises in Saveloy Dip.

Notes

External links

*
FIGC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pistone, Alessandro 1975 births Living people Footballers from Milan Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Italy men's under-21 international footballers Serie A players Serie C players Premier League players Belgian Pro League players ASD Solbiatese Calcio 1911 players LR Vicenza players Inter Milan players Newcastle United F.C. players Everton F.C. players R.A.E.C. Mons (1910) players Olympic footballers for Italy Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England 20th-century Italian sportsmen