Davide Baiocco (born 8 May 1975) is an Italian former

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

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 ...

, and current politician

Football career

From Perugia to Juventus

A product of the

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

youth system, he transferred to

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in January 2002 for 7.2 million euros, in a swap with

Fabian O'Neill Fabian may refer to: People * Fabian (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Pope Fabian (died 250), Catholic saint * Fabian Forte (born 1943), 1950s American teen idol, singer and actor, known by the mononym Fabian * ...

who went to Perugia. He arrived in the summer of 2002. He signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Juventus, but failed to settle into the club and has been loaned out several times, to clubs including

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

and Reggina.

Return to Perugia

On 31 August 2004, he was signed by

on loan with the option to purchase for a nominal fee.

From Catania to Siracusa

Due to the bankruptcy of Perugia, Baiocco joined the then Serie B side

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

in August 2005 and helped them gain promotion to the Serie A for the 2006/2007 season. Since then, he has become the club's captain and influential first-team player. He played with

until the end of the 2008–09 season. From 2009 to 2011 he played for

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. In the 2011–12 season, he played with

U.S. Siracusa US Siracusa S.r.l., commonly referred to as simply Siracusa, was an Italian association football club located in Syracuse, Sicily. The club withdrew from professional football in 2012. An illegitimate phoenix club, was promoted to Lega Pro in ...

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in 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 ...

. On 7 August 2012 Baiocco was signed by

U.S. Cremonese Unione Sportiva Cremonese, commonly referred to as Cremonese, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Cremona, Lombardy, which plays in Serie A following their promotion from Serie ...

. On 17 January 2014 he was signed by

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

in a 6-month contract. Baiocco returned to Siracusa in 2015. The club won promotion to

2016–17 Lega Pro The 2016–17 Lega Pro Divisione Unica was the third season of the unified Lega Pro division, the third highest division in the Italian football league system. The championship name, which is ''Divisione Unica'' according to the FIGC regulations, ...

Siracusa Calcio Siracusa Calcio was an Italian football club founded in 2013. In 2019 the first team of the club was withdrawn from the professional leagues. The club, originally known as A.C. Palazzolo A.S.D. relocated from Palazzolo Acreide to Syracuse in 201 ...

Style of play

Baiocco was a dynamic, energetic, and versatile defensive midfielder known for his tactical intelligence, tackling ability, and ability to carry the ball and push forward from midfield.

Political career

In July 2023, Baiocco accepted to run as a mayoral candidate in Perugia for

Popular Alternative Popular Alternative (, AP) is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy that was founded on 18 March 2017 after the dissolution of New Centre-Right (NCD), one of the two parties that emerged at the break-up of The People of Freedom (PdL, t ...

, a party led by Terni mayor and former

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria and currently compete in the Serie C. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A ...

chairman

Stefano Bandecchi Stefano Bandecchi (born 4 April 1961) is an Italian politician and entrepreneur. A member and coordinator of the centrist party Popular Alternative, he holds the office of Mayor of Terni since 2023. He founded the Niccolò Cusano University i ...

, for the 2024 local election.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baiocco, Davide Living people 1975 births Footballers from Perugia Men's association football midfielders Italian men's footballers AC Perugia Calcio players Siena FC SSD players Alma Juventus Fano 1906 players Juventus FC players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players AS Reggina 1914 players Catania FC players Brescia Calcio players AS Gubbio 1910 players US Siracusa players US Cremonese players US Alessandria Calcio 1912 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players