Roberto Stellone (born 22 July 1977) is an Italian football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and 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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Early career

Son of former footballer Gaetano Stellone, Roberto Stellone starter his career at hometown club Lodigiani, where he met

David Di Michele David Di Michele (; born 6 January 1976) is an Italian football manager and former player in the role of striker, last in charge as head coach of Serie C club Turris. Throughout his playing career, he played for several Italian clubs, and also ...

, his team-mate at Reggina and Torino. After 4 seasons in

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978 ...

, he left for Lucchese of

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named 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 been ...

in mid-1997. In the summer of 1998, he left for

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

, but he had limited opportunities at the club and left for fellow Serie B side

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the provinc ...

on loan, in January 1999. He made a name for himself throughout the remainder of the season, as he scored 6 goals in 19 league matches, helping the team to win Serie A promotion, and receiving a call-up to the Italy U21 team.

Napoli

In the summer of 1999, he left for Serie B side

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Italian professional football club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Campania that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. Napoli ha ...

in a co-ownership deal. He added 10 more goals to his Serie B tally, which also helped Napoli win Serie A promotion, after finishing the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

in 4th place. At the end of the season, Napoli bought Stellone's remaining registration rights, keeping him at the club. However, despite scoring on his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

debut the following season, in a 2–1 home defeat to

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

on 30 September 2000, Stellone's league appearances in his first Serie A season were limited to just 3 due to injury, and as a result, Napoli were unable to avoid relegation. Stellone remained with Napoli in Serie B for the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons, scoring 19 goals in 51 matches, but missing out on several matches once again due to injury, however; in the summer of 2002, he was named the club's new

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Facing financial difficulties, Napoli loaned Stellone to Serie A side

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are ni ...

during the 2003–04 season. Due to the presence of strikers

and

Emiliano Bonazzoli Emiliano Bonazzoli (; born 20 January 1979) is a former Italian footballer who played as a striker. Club career Bonazzoli started his career at Brescia. He played his first professional match on 15 May 1997 against Lecce, which his only matc ...

, Stellone struggled to find space in the team, and scored only once in 16 league appearances. The next season, he left for Serie B side

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

, where he partnered with

Diego Milito Diego Alberto Milito (born 12 June 1979) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently a sports manager. Milito began his club career in Argentina with Racing Club in 1999, and later moved to Italian ...

and

Stephen Makinwa Stephen Ayodele Makinwa (born 26 July 1983) is a retired Nigerian footballer who played as a striker. Makinwa also played for the Nigerian national team. His name, Ayodele, means "''Joy has come home''". Club career Early career Makinwa was ...

up-front, and scored over 70% of team's total goals. Although the team won the Serie B championship, the club was later penalised and awarded last place due to their involvement in the

Caso Genoa Caso Genoa was an Italian football scandal in 2005. In the 2004–05 Serie B season, Genoa won the Serie B championship and were set to be promoted to the Serie A for the first time in 10 years. Genoa went into their final match of the season ...

, and as a result suffered relegation to

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega ...

Torino

Stellone was signed by Serie B runner-up

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

in co-ownership deal in August 2005, who were forced to remain at Serie B due to financial difficulty. Now partnered with

Enrico Fantini Enrico Fantini (born 27 February 1976) is an Italian footballer who plays as a forward for Cuneo. Career Born in Cuneo, Piedmont Fantini started his professional career with Piedmontese club Juventus F.C. Venezia In 1996 Fantini left for Vene ...

and

Roberto Muzzi Roberto Muzzi (; born 21 September 1971) is an Italian former professional football striker, currently contracted with Cagliari as a "club manager". During his career, he played for several Italian clubs including A.S. Roma, Pisa Calcio, Ca ...

in attack, Stellone failed to replicate his prolific performances at Geona, scoring 7 goals in 31 appearances, but Torino still bought him outright, outbidding Genoa. Despite Stellone's struggle to find the back of the net consistently, Torino still managed to obtain Serie A promotion that season. With Torino in Serie A the following season, he alternated playing as a starter and as a substitute for the club. Although Stellone and the club's other strikers failed to score, with help of Alessandro Rosina and a strong defensive line, the team still managed to avoid Serie B relegation. The next season, with the signings of

Nicola Ventola Nicola Ventola (born 24 May 1978) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Ventola played for several clubs in Italy throughout his career, and also had a loan spell with English side Crystal Palace. At international ...

and

Álvaro Recoba Álvaro Alexánder Recoba Rivero (; born 17 March 1976; nickname "El Chino"

, Stellone only made 18 starts, scoring just 4 goals. In his last season with the club, the 31-year-old forward faced competition from

Rolando Bianchi Rolando Bianchi (; born 15 February 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. With 77 total goals, he is Torino's 11th-highest all-time goal scorer. Bianchi was primarily known for his ability in the air. Clu ...

and

Nicola Amoruso Nicola Amoruso (born 29 August 1974) is a former Italian footballer who played as a striker. An elegant, technically gifted, and agile forward, known for his delicate touch on the ball and use of feints, he usually played in a central role; ...

; following the team's change of formation, which only used one striker, usually Bianchi, Stellone made half of his appearances as substitute. With the departure of Alessandro Rosina in January 2009, the team struggled to score, and ultimately failed to stay in Serie A on the final match-day of the season.

Frosinone

After the relegation of Torino in 2009, he became

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in June. After months without a club, he signed a 3-year contract with Serie B club

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the ...

in November 2009 where he was coached by

Francesco Moriero Francesco "Checco" Moriero (; born 31 March 1969) is an Italian football former player and current manager, who played as a midfielder, usually as a winger on the right flank. He is the current head coach of the Maldives national football team ...

. In the 2009–10 season his goals contributed to helping the team avoid relegation; following the club's relegation to

Lega Pro The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

the following year, on 28 June 2011, he announced his retirement from football.

Style of play

A complete striker, Stellone could act either as a main striker or as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, due to his vision, ability to score goals, hold up the ball in tight spaces, and create chances for team-mates. Despite his height and imposing physique, which enabled him excel in the air, he was also known for his dynamism and technique; indeed, his main qualities a

were his

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

and heading ability.

Managerial career

After his retirement, he stayed at Frosinone as a youth coach in charge of the under-19 team (''Berretti'') for the 2011–12 season. Under his tenure, the team won the national ''Berretti'' title.

Frosinone

Thanks also to his impressive results with the youth team, Stellone was appointed as

head coach role for the season 2012–13 in

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978 ...

. In his first season in charge, Stellone guided the team to seventh place and was confirmed for one more year. In the

2013–14 Lega Pro Prima Divisione The 2013–14 Prima Divisione season is the thirty-sixth and final football league season of Italian Prima Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the fifth since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It is divided into two phases: the ...

, Stellone's Frosinone immediately emerged as one of the promotion favourites, losing direct promotion only on the last matchday to

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and par ...

. In the subsequent playoff tournament, however, Frosinone managed to achieve the ultimate goal of getting back into

, defeating Salernitana in the first round,

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ...

in the semi-finals and, most notably, a

Fabrizio Miccoli Fabrizio Miccoli (; born on 27 June 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored 103 goals in 259 matches in Serie A across nine seasons, representing Perugia, Juventus, Fiorentina and Palermo, also spend ...

-led

in a two-legged final after extra time. On 16 May 2015, he led Frosinone to second place in Serie B and direct promotion to

with a game to spare, with victory against

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages unti ...

3–1. On 7 March 2016, Stellone won the Panchina d’Argento for the previous 2014–15 season. On 8 May 2016, Frosinone were relegated back to Serie B after one season in Serie A. One day after Frosinone's last match of the Serie A season, on 15 May, Stellone was relieved of his managerial duties.

Bari

On 4 July 2016, Stellone was appointed manager of Bari. He was sacked on 7 November.

Palermo

Stellone was appointed manager of

club

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for it ...

on 28 April 2018, taking over from

Bruno Tedino Bruno Tedino (born 13 August 1964) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is currently manager of club Trento. Managerial career After a short career as a player cut short by an injury at the age of 22, Tedino turned i ...

, with five games to go and the team in third place, level on points with second-placed

. He ended the season in fourth place, behind second-placed Parma and third-placed

. After defeating

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

on the semi-finals, Palermo was defeated 2–3 on aggregate by Frosinone in a two-legged final. This marked the end of Stellone's tenure, as he was not confirmed for the new season, with Tedino being reappointed as head coach. On 26 September 2018, he was reinstated as Palermo head following a 1–2 loss to

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Ise ...

on the fifth matchday of the season. Stellone started his second tenure in a very impressive fashion, as he successfully led Palermo to a streak of positive results that brought the ''Rosanero'' back on top of the league table by December. He was sacked on 23 April 2019.

Ascoli

Stellone was appointed manager of

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

on 3 February 2020. He was sacked on 16 April 2020.

Arezzo

On 18 January 2021 he was hired by

club

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation o ...

in place of

Andrea Camplone Andrea Camplone (born 27 July 1966) is an Italian professional football coach and a former player. He was most recently the head coach of Serie C club Arezzo. Playing career Born in Pescara, Camplone grew up playing with his hometown club, for ...

. Arezzo was relegated to

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

at the end of the season, and Stellone left the club.

Reggina

On 24 January 2022, Stellone was named new manager of

club

, thus becoming the third manager of the season for the Calabrians. He guided Reggina safely above the relegation zone with a 14th place finish in Serie B. His contract was not renewed following the sale of the club.

Benevento

On 6 February 2023, Stellone was appointed head coach of struggling Serie B club

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and t ...

, replacing

Fabio Cannavaro Fabio Cannavaro (; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of club Benevento. A centre-back, he spent the majority of his career in Italy. He started his career at Nap ...

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Individual * Panchina d'Oro Lega Pro: 2013–14 Lega Pro * Panchina d’Argento: 2014–15

References

External links

Profile at FIGC

Profile at Torino

Profile at La Gazzetta dello Sport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stellone, Roberto 1977 births Living people Footballers from Rome Men's association football forwards Italian footballers Italian football managers A.S. Lodigiani players Lucchese 1905 players Parma Calcio 1913 players US Lecce players SSC Napoli players Reggina 1914 players Genoa C.F.C. players Torino FC players Frosinone Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Frosinone Calcio managers S.S.C. Bari managers Palermo F.C. managers Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. managers Reggina 1914 managers Benevento Calcio managers