Michael Ferrante (born 28 April 1981) is an Australian former footballer. He is currently the senior men's head coach of Essendon Royals SC.

Biography

He attended St. Joseph's College Melbourne from years 1992–1997 being a star week in week out for his school side. He came through the ranks at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

and from there he moved on to the youth team at West Ham United. He captained the team in one of the games of the 9–0 aggregate

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

Final triumph over Coventry in 1999. The team included Joe Cole, Michael Carrick who went on to become established Premiership and England players plus fellow Australian and current Australian international

Richard Garcia Richard Garcia (born 4 September 1981) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for Australia's U23 team, having previously managed A-League Men's side Perth Glory. As a player, Garc ...

. He had a spell in Italy with Comprensorio Stabia and Serie C side

Benevento Calcio Benevento Calcio, commonly referred to as Benevento, is an Italian football club based in Benevento, Campania. The club was originally founded in 1929 and then re-founded in 2005. They currently compete in Serie B, having been relegated from Se ...

before returning to Australia to join

Fawkner Blues Manningham United Blues Football Club is an Australian soccer club from Templestowe, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1965 by local Italian Australians and was formerly known as Fawkner Blues. In 2010, Fawkner SC split ...

in 2004. He joined Melbourne's inaugural A-League squad for season 2005–06 and featured in all of Melbourne Victory league games. Following the signings of Fred and Grant Brebner he was frozen out of the squad for the second season and struggled to make appearances. He made 21 appearances for Melbourne in 2005–06, scoring one goal, and five appearances in 2006–07. After Victory released him from his contract by mutual consent in February 2007, new

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

team Wellington Phoenix signed Ferrante on a two-year deal for the start of the

A-League 2007-08 A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

season. In 2010, he returned home to Melbourne, signing for local club Richmond Eagles mid-season. On 12 July 2012 he announced that a major back injury would prevent him participating in the VPL for the remainder of the 2012. By mutual consent his contract was terminated and Richmond released him to sign with Pascoe Vale who sit top of League State 1 and who are managed by his brother Vitale.

A-League career statistics

:''Correct as of 24 February 2010''

Honours

; Melbourne Victory *

Championship: 2006–07 *

Premiership: 2006–07

References

External links

Wellington Phoenix profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrante, Michael 1981 births Living people Australian people of Italian descent Soccer players from Melbourne Australian expatriate soccer players Association football midfielders West Ham United F.C. players Melbourne Victory FC players Wellington Phoenix FC players A-League Men players Benevento Calcio players Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand Australian soccer players People educated at St Joseph's College, Melbourne Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Australian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand