Bruno Ballarini (; 18 April 1937 – 17 January 2015) was an Italian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender.

Career

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 ...

, Ballarini started his football career with

Rovereto Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the fronti ...

in 1956, where he played as

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent one season there, scoring 11 goals in 23 appearances. In the 1957–58 season, he moved to

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 ...

club

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

, but did not play a single match during his time there. In the 1958–59 season, he moved to

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 ...

, where then-coach

Hugo Lamanna Hugo Lamanna (3 March 1913 – 11 October 1991) was an Argentine professional footballer and manager, who played as a forward. Player career Having started his career at CA Talleres de Remedios de Escalada with only 15 years old, Lamanna gain ...

used him in a defensive role as a libero. He played in the Como team that won twelve consecutive championships, seven in

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 ...

and five in

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 ...

, and was also the club captain. He holds the official appearance record for Como with 350 appearances. At the end of his career Ballarini was

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

FC Chiasso FC Chiasso is a Swiss football club based in Chiasso. It was founded in 1905. Chiasso also played in the Italian first league between 1914 and 1923. The team currently play in 3. Liga, the seventh tier of Swiss football. History Between 1927 ...

in the 1971–1972

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

season.Ruggero Glaus. ''Chiassottanta. 1905-1985''. Lugano, Edito F.C. Chiasso, 1985. pp. 89, 155, 231.

Honours

Player

Como *

: 1967–68

References

1937 births 2015 deaths Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Serie B players FC Chiasso players Como 1907 players Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Italian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Italian football managers FC Chiasso managers Italian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Footballers from Milan 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-footy-defender-1930s-stub