Nicola Pavarini (born 24 February 1974) is an Italian former professional

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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Playing career

Pavarini started his career at

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. After he made his first team debut in the

1996–97 Serie B The Serie B 1996–97 was the sixty-fifth tournament of this competition played in Italy since its creation. Teams Ravenna Calcio, Ravenna, Empoli Calcio, Empoli, US Lecce, Lecce and Castel di Sangro Calcio, Castel di Sangro had been promoted fr ...

season, he was loaned to Serie C1 clubs Gualdo and

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

. In summer 2001, he left for

Acireale Acireale (; , locally shortened to ''Jaci'' or ''Aci'') is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the north-east of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, at the foot of Mount Etna, on the coast facing the Ionian Sea. It is home to ...

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 ...

, where his started to play regularly in the second season. in summer 2003 he moved back to Serie B for

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 ...

, replacing

Marco Amelia Marco Amelia (; born 2 April 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and current coach in charge of Serie D amateurs Nuova Sondrio. A Roma youth product, Amelia spent most of his professional club career ...

who left Livorno on loan. Pavarini was signed for Reggina in summer 2004, along with new signing Salvatore Soviero to compete the first choice. In 2005–06 season, he became new signing

Ivan Pelizzoli Ivan Pelizzoli (; born 18 November 1980) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Early career After playing for Atalanta and Triestina from 1997 to 2000, he made his Serie A debut with Atalanta on 5 ...

backup. But due to his injury, he managed to play 18 Serie A games. In June 2006, he was signed by another Seire A club

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, replacing

Antonio Mirante Antonio Mirante (born 8 July 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Serie A club AC Milan. Club career Juventus and loans After starting his professional career with Juventus, Mirante was loaned to Croto ...

and

Marco Fortin Marco Fortin (born 8 July 1974) is an Italian former football goalkeeper. During his playing career, Fortin frequently wore the number 14 shirt, as the pronunciation of his surname sounded similar to the number fourteen in English. Career Earl ...

. But he played as Austrian international

Alexander Manninger Alexander Manninger (born 4 June 1977) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played internationally for the Austria national team on 33 occasions, including at UEFA Euro 2008, and has represented football ...

's backup. In January 2007, he was exchanged with

Francesco Benussi Francesco Benussi (born 15 October 1981) is a retired football in Italy, Italian footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Club career Venezia Benussi started his career at A.C. Venezia, Venezia, After he made hi ...

U.S. Lecce Unione Sportiva Lecce () is a Football in Italy, professional Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia. The club play in Serie A in the 2023–24 Serie A, 2023–24 season, the top level of the Italian football league system, Italian footb ...

, joining the Serie B team on loan. In August 2007, he joined Parma and became first choice after the 2008 departure of

Luca Bucci Luca Bucci (; born 13 March 1969) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Bucci played for several Italian clubs throughout his career; he is mostly remembered for his choice of unusual shirt numbers and successf ...

. He won promotion back to Serie A in the 2008–09, but lost his place in the team to new signing

in the summer of 2009 and made just five league appearances in the following two seasons. After injuries to Mirante in 2011–12, Pavarini made 10 league appearances. On 15 May 2014, Pavarini announced his retirement at the end of the season after seven years at Parma.

Coaching career

In 2014, Pavarini was appointed goalkeeping coach coordinator at

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, ...

. He then became a goalkeeping coach coordinator for the youth teams of

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

(2018 to 2019), and the Italian youth national teams (2019 to 2022). In 2022, Pavarini joined

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian association football, football manager (association football), manager and former professional player. Considered one of the greatest Midfielder (association football)#Deep-lying playmaker, mi ...

's coaching staff at

Fatih Karagümrük Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

(2022–23), working as a goalkeeping coach. He successively followed Pirlo at

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

in July 2023 after the latter was appointed the club's new head coach.

Honours

Brescia *

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 ...

: 1996–97

External links

Gazzetta dello Sports player profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavarini, Nicola 1974 births Living people Italian men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Brescia Men's association football goalkeepers Brescia Calcio players US Pergolettese 1932 players AS Reggina 1914 players ASD Gualdo Casacastalda players SSD Città di Acireale 1946 players AC Cesena players US Livorno 1915 players Siena FC SSD players US Lecce players Parma Calcio 1913 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Italian football managers Italian expatriate football managers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Turkey Juventus FC non-playing staff UC Sampdoria non-playing staff