Stefano Eranio (; born 29 December 1966) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Throughout his career, Eranio played mainly as a

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

; he is mostly remembered for having played for Italian clubs

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

, and

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, as well as English side Derby County, and he also represented

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 ...

20 times between 1990 and 1997 at international level. He was voted one of Derby County's 11 greatest ever footballers. His main attributes were his technique, pace, stamina, and his ability to make attacking runs. Although he was primarily an offensive or wide midfielder, he was also competent defensively, and he was occasionally deployed as a full-back.

Club career

Genoa and Milan

Eranio started his professional football career with

in August 1984. His first five seasons at Genoa were in

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 ...

, until in 1989, the club were promoted to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. In total, Eranio played for the club for eight seasons, before moving to

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

in August 1992. At Milan he won three league titles (1993, 1994 and 1996), three Italian Super Cups (1992, 1993 and 1994) and he also played in two Champions League finals. The first was in 1992–93, when Milan lost 1–0 to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, and the second was in 1994–95 when his club lost 1–0 to

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. Although he was part of the team's successful Champions League campaign during the 1993–94 season, but he did not play in the final due to injury. He also added the

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

to his trophy collection in 1994.

Derby County and Pro Sesto

In May 1997, he moved on a free transfer to English club Derby County, where he became a fan favourite; he made his Derby, and

FA Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...

debut, on 9 August 1997 against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. His first goal for the

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

club came on 30 August 1997 when he scored in a league game against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

; this was also the first goal scored at Derby's new home stadium, Pride Park, which the club had moved to in the summer. Eranio considered retiring after the 2000–01 season, but manager Jim Smith persuaded him to stay on. When Smith resigned in October 2001, Eranio chose to leave Derby County. He retired in 2003 after spending a season with

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 ...

side Pro Sesto, where he was featured in a player/assistant manager position. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential players to play for Derby County and, on 1 May 2006, Eranio and Ted McMinn were inducted as ''Derby Legends''.

International career

Eranio made his senior international debut for

on 22 December 1990, in a

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

qualifying match against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, which Italy won 4-0. His first international goal came in a friendly against the

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on 9 September 1992; Italy won the game 3–2. On 29 March 1997, Eranio played his last game for Italy, against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

in a 3–0 home win. In total, he received 20 caps, and scored three goals.

Post-playing career

Coaching

Eranio has been part of the

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

coaching staff since 2005, and is currently head of the ''Giovanissimi Nazionali'' (under-15)

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

Media

On 22 October 2015, Eranio was fired by Swiss television station RSI following racist remarks. Criticising an error made by Roma defender

Antonio Rüdiger Antonio Rüdiger (; born 3 March 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and the Germany national football team, Germany national team. He is known for his aggressive playi ...

during the 4–4 draw in the Champions League against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

, Eranio had stated: "Black players in the defensive line often make these mistakes because they’re not concentrated. They are powerful physically, but when it is time to think … they often make this type of error."

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Milan *

: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 1993–94 * UEFA Supercup:

Genoa *

: 1988–89 ItalyTournaments-Part 6 – Scania 100 (1991)
Soccer Nostalgia. Tuesday, September 20, 2016 * Scania 100 Tournament: 1991

References

Sources

* Mortimer, Gerald (2004): ''The Who's Who of DERBY COUNTY''.
Breedon Books Publishing, Derby.

External links

*
Overview of Eranio's international career (RSSSF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eranio, Stefano 1966 births Living people Footballers from Genoa Men's association football wingers Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Derby County F.C. players Genoa CFC players AC Milan players Pro Sesto 1913 managers Pro Sesto 1913 players Premier League players Serie A players Serie B players Expatriate men's footballers in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Italian football managers 20th-century Italian sportsmen UEFA Champions League–winning players