Francesco Ferdinando Christian Carratta (born 17 August 1987 in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

) is a Belgian

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 ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

descent who plays for Patro Eisden.

Career

Carratta started as a youngster at his hometown club Sporting Houthalen before progressing through the youth team ranks at

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

and then moving to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to join

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

in 1999, playing in their youth team until 2007. In April 2007 he returned to Belgium, on trial with Sint-Truidense, before signing on a free transfer on 25 May on a two-year contract, with an option for a further two years. In the 2007-08 season he made one league appearance for them in the

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

before joining

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club (commonly referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp) is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Antwerp. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Founded in 1 ...

initially on loan, making twelve league appearances and scoring one goal in a 7–0 win over

Beveren Beveren () is a former municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') ...

on 1 March 2008 at the

Freethiel Stadion Freethiel Stadion is a multi-use stadium in Beveren, Belgium. The Freethiel Stadium, also known as the Freethiel for short, is the football stadium where the Belgian football club SK Beveren (formerly known as Waasland-Beveren) plays its home ga ...

. Later in 2008 he joined the club permanently. On 2 February 2009 he signed for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

on a free transfer, signing a contract until the end of the 2008–09 season. Carratta said of the move, "I'm very delighted to make the move, because for me it is a big step to come to England. I couldn't refuse a chance like this and I want to do my best for the team." On 9 June 2009, Blackpool confirmed that Carratta had not been offered a new deal and that he was being released.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carratta, Francesco 1987 births Living people People from Houthalen-Helchteren Belgian men's footballers Belgian people of Italian descent Blackpool F.C. players PSV Eindhoven players Royal Antwerp F.C. players Sint-Truidense V.V. players Giulianova Calcio players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Limburg (Belgium) 21st-century Belgian sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England