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
*
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 ...
Championship:
2006–07
*
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 ...
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