Guido Gratton (; 23 September 1932 – 26 November 1996) was an

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 ...

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 ...

Club career

A Friulian from

Monfalcone Monfalcone (; Venetian language#Regional variants, Bisiacco: ; ; ; archaic ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia, Regional decentralization entity of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, located on the Gulf of Tr ...

, Guido Gratton played for

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

in the 1950s, together with players such as Julinho, Virgili, and Montuori. During his time at the club, the team won the

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 ...

championship during the 1955–56 season, followed by 4 consecutive 2nd-place finishes; Fiorentina also reached the 1957 European Cup Final but lost to

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 ...

. In the 1958–59 season the team established the record for the most goals scored in an 18-team league (95, nearly 3 goals per game). Before his time with the 'Gigliati' he played for

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. In

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

he went to play for

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

and finally

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

at the age of thirty.

International career

Gratton also played as an

offensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for the Italy national team, where he earned eleven caps between 1953 and 1959, scoring 3 goals, and was on the roster for the 1954 World Cup.

Death

In 1996, Gratton was murdered by robbers who entered his home to steal proceeds from a tennis club Gratton was managing.

Honours

Fiorentina *

: 1955–56 Individual *

ACF Fiorentina Hall of Fame This is a list of ACF Fiorentina players who have been inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. History and regulations ACF Fiorentina's Hall of Fame has been launched in 2012, resulting from a collaboration between ACF Fiorentina and Museo Fiorent ...

: 2023

References

1932 births 1996 deaths Footballers from Monfalcone Italian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Parma Calcio 1913 players ACF Fiorentina players LR Vicenza players SSC Napoli players Como 1907 players SS Lazio players Inter Milan players Serie A players Serie B players Italy men's international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players Italian murder victims People murdered in Tuscany 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-footy-midfielder-1930s-stub