Nicholas Anthony Rizzo (born 9 June 1979) is an Australian former

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 ...

. Rizzo began his career in England with

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, however, he made his professional debut for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

where he featured in the Division 1. He then moved to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and played with

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria and currently compete in the Serie C. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A ...

AC Ancona Associazione Calcio Ancona, commonly referred to as Ancona, was an Italian football club based in Ancona, Marche. It was founded in 2004 as the phoenix club of defunct 1905 club Unione Sportiva Anconitana, which changed its name to Ancona Cal ...

and

AC Prato Associazione Calcio Prato is an Italian association football club, based in Prato, Tuscany. Prato currently plays in Serie D/E, having last been in Serie B in 1964. History The club was founded in 1908. In season 2010–11 the team played i ...

before returning to England with

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

and Chesterfield. He has since played in his native land for

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

and

APIA Leichhardt Tigers APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was forme ...

. He has been capped once for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Club career

After being educated at playing school football at Waverley College in Sydney, Rizzo arrived in England in 1996 joining English giants

. Although not capped in the first team, the then 18-year-old was an unused substitute on four occasions in the Premier League season 1997/98. He was then lured to

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (6 January 1943 – 25 November 2023), often referred to as El Tel, was an English football player and manager who played for clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers and won two caps for E ...

for two seasons and featured in 36 league games before moving to Italian

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side

in 2000. At Palace he scored three times; once in the league against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

and twice in a League Cup tie against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

(once in the first leg and once in the second leg). Following three injury plagued seasons with a knee injury in Italy he then joined English League 1 side

(formerly

Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English Association football, football club formed in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane (1912–1998), Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Cent ...

) on a free transfer in November 2004, where he became a firm favourite with the fans. He is a lively and tricky player, known for his crossing and readiness to shoot on sight as well as his hard work and discipline. The summer of 2006 was not the best of times for Rizzo, who featured in the Dons' first pre-season game against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

but suffered with injury later in the season before going on loan to league two side

and then league one side Chesterfield in 2007. It was announced on 8 May 2007 that Rizzo's contract with M K Dons had been terminated by mutual consent. He then signed a two-year contract with

on 19 May 2007, and made his debut on 26 August 2007, coming on in the 69th minute for

Naum Sekulovski Naum Sekulovski (born 14 May 1982) is an Australian retired soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their f ...

in a game against the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

. Rizzo was not offered a new contract at

, and went on to sign a short-term deal for the

to play in their

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

campaign. It was announced on 20 May 2009, that Nick Rizzo's contract with

would not be re-signed. Rizzo went on to play for

until 2011.

International career

Nicky has represented

at the U17, U20, U23 level and is a full

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

international when he played for the Socceroos against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in 1998. He also played in the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

for the Australian U23 team which failed to go past the group stages.

Coaching career

Since retiring Rizzo has set up his own soccer school named "Nick Rizzo International Football School".

A-League career statistics

(''Correct as of 2 February 2009'')

Honours

Australia U-20 *

OFC U-19 Men's Championship The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup. Between 1974 and 2012, t ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

References

External links

Central Coast Mariners profile

*
Nick Rizzo International Football School
Family he now has 3 daughters {{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzo, Nick 1979 births Living people Soccer players from Sydney Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Olympic soccer players for Australia Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics A-League Men players Serie B players AC Ancona players AC Prato players APIA Leichhardt FC players Central Coast Mariners FC players Chesterfield F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Perth Glory FC players Sydney Olympic FC players Ternana Calcio players Men's association football midfielders Australian men's soccer players English Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in England