Francesco "Ciccio" Tavano (born 2 March 1979) is an Italian

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 ...

coach and former professional striker.

Playing career

Tavano started his professional career with

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

before being sold to a minor

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

team,

Rondinella Rondinella is an Italian wine grape variety. Almost all of the total global growing area of is in the Veneto region of northern Italy, and the grapes are used in wines from the Valpolicella and Bardolino wine regions. Rondinella always appea ...

, then in

Serie C2 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

. He then joined

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 ...

, where he slowly established himself as one of the stars of the small Tuscan team. During the January 2006 transfer window, several Italian football pundits claimed that

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

were interested in signing Tavano, but he eventually signed for

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in mid-2006, for €9 million. He received a call-up from the Italy national team in April 2006, when manager

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional association football, football player and manager, who led the Italy national football team, Italy national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appoin ...

held trials for the 23-man squad that would go on to win the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, but he never made his international debut. His time in Spain, however, proved unsuccessful, as he fell out with the coaching staff after making statements in the press, which led to him being a sub-player for most of his short stay in Spain. Tavano then returned to Italy for a loan spell with

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

, where he mostly served as a reserve player for the main ''Giallorossi'' strikers. However, he was able to win the

2006–07 Coppa Italia The 2006–07 Coppa Italia was the 60th edition of the national domestic tournament. The final was played, like the two previous editions, between Internazionale and Roma. The first match was played in Rome on 9 May 2007, and the second leg in Mi ...

with the club. In 2007, he was permanently signed by

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

, for a reported €5.5 million on a four-year contract. He received the number 10 jersey, previously retired in honour of

Igor Protti Igor Protti (born 24 September 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who currently works as a general manager for Livorno. Throughout his playing career, he made a name for himself as a prolific and opportunistic striker, who mainl ...

and unretired that year under explicit request from the former ''amaranto'' star. Despite being the club's top scorer in his comeback season in Tuscany, his side did not manage to escape from relegation. Tavano agreed to stay at Livorno also in their

2008–09 Serie B The 2008–09 Serie B season was the seventy-seventh since its establishment. A total of 22 teams will contest the league, 15 of which will be returning from the Serie B 2007–08, 2007–08 season, four of which will have been promoted from Ser ...

campaign to try to lead his team back into the top flight. He scored a hat-trick against Avellino on the season's opening day, making it the first round 1 hat-trick since 1994. He would then score at Piacenza before standing back to back with a teammate in celebration. He missed a penalty against Empoli, his former club, with the score tied at 1–1 before

Antonio Buscè Antonio Buscè (born 12 December 1975) is an Italian professional football coach and a former midfielder who is the manager of club Rimini. Playing career Born in Gragnano, Buscè started his career at hometown club Sant'Aniello, then playing ...

scored Empoli's winner. Tavano would, however, get a goal in the 5–2 win over Frosinone on the way to 25 for the season, giving him the

capocannoniere The ''capocannoniere'' award (; ), known as Paolo Rossi Award since 2021, is awarded by the Italian Footballers' Association (AIC) to the highest goalscorer of each season in Italy's Serie A. From the 2010–11 season unti the change of denomina ...

title and ensuring promotion through the playoffs after missing out on automatic promotion to Bari and Parma. However, he had a hard season in Serie A, as Livorno were the only newly promoted team to go down. He scored the winner at Roma, but only scored four more goals. He retired in 2022 after starting the season with

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

Tuscany amateurs Tuttocuoio at the age of 43.

Coaching career

On 15 November 2022, Tavano took on his first head coaching role, in charge of

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

Tuscany club Tuttocuoio, for which he was playing before, therefore forcing him to quit his playing career as a consequence. He was sacked on 14 November 2023.

Honours

Roma *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

: 2006–07

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavano, Francesco 1979 births Living people Footballers from Caserta Italian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players La Liga players Empoli FC players US Avellino 1912 players Valencia CF players AS Roma players US Livorno 1915 players Carrarese Calcio 1908 Pisa SC players Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Italian football managers