Corrado Grabbi
Encyclopedia
Corrado Grabbi is an Italian
football player. He plays as a striker
, most recently for Bellinzona
.
Grabbi began his career with Juventus
youth team. He was promoted to first team and scored on his debut against Lazio, in one of his total two appearances in the 1994-1995 season. Unable to break into the team, because of his young age and
the contemporary explosion of Alessandro Del Piero
, he was loaned to Lucchese
(76 games, 88 goals) and then Chievo
(18 games, 2 goals) before switching to Modena
. There he found some real form, scoring 88 times in 70 appearances. This performance saw him signed by Ternana
, where he played for one season before been loaned to Ravenna Calcio
where he scored 13 goals. Back to Ternana he was again a regular scorer, with 91 goals in 84 games and became idol for the local supporters, who still remember him as the best player to ever have played for
Ternana.
His brilliant season with Ternana saw him attract attention of various Serie A clubs, including Udinese and AC Milan. But apparently Luciano Moggi
of Juventus, who had previously pressured Grabbi to change his agent and join GEA World
with no success, made it impossible for Ciccio to play in Italy, so in 2001 he was signed by Blackburn Rovers
for a record fee of £6.75 million in July 2001
, but due to injuries and personal reasons, he failed to repeat this progress, scoring just once in fourteen league games, his goal coming in a 1-0 win over Everton. He scored once more before going on loan to Messina, in the FA Cup against Barnsley. Grabbi's move to Blackburn is widely regarded as one of the worst transfers in the history of the English Premier League.http://www.ave-it.net/Football%20Transfer%20flops.htmhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2096584.ecehttp://www.soccermanager.com/blog/soccer-news/top-25-worst-transfers.html. In an interview with an Italian TV Station, Grabbi stated that he was finding it hard to acclimatise himself to the British weather and game, and also said that he was finding it hard to fit in with the team. The team was accused of singling him out, and not being friendly to him, which also accounted for Blackburn's slump in form.
In the same interview, Grabbi stated that the only person who he became friends with in this time was Tugay Kerimoğlu
.
Despite his unsuccessful spell at Blackburn Rovers, Grabbi still has a cult following with fans of the club.
During a loan spell back in Italy with Messina
, he scored 2 goals in the final game of the season and saved Messina from relegation. Upon his return to England, he failed to reignite his form, and after a further 16 games and three goals (against Liverpool in the league, CSKA Sofia in the UEFA Cup and Walsall in the League Cup) with Blackburn, who had meantime signed ex-Manchester United strikers Dwight Yorke
and Andy Cole
, he was allowed to return to Italy permanently with Ancona
in 2004.
After spending 1 year without a team, trying to recover from the injury caused by a rare form of foot disease (Leveraus Morb) which had afflicted him for the past 3 seasons, he joined Genoa of Serie C1/A
in September 2005. With his new team, he gained promotion to Serie B on playoffs scoring 9 goals in 25 games.
Before the return playoff final, Grabbi announced he was considering retiring from football, because of his physical conditions, but later he declared he was persuaded to go on by the Genoa supporters and fellow players, as well as club president Enrico Preziosi
. Preziosi though decided then that Genoa did not need Grabbi anymore, so during the 2007 winter transfer window, Grabbi signed for Arezzo
, still in Serie B
, after having never made a single appearance in the first half of the season for Genoa. After relegation with Arezzo, scoring no goals, Grabbi signed a contract with AC Bellinzona
, a team from the Swiss Challenge League (second division). Ciccio scored the winning goal (his first after more than 1 year) in the Swiss Cup game Bellinzona-Gossau: 2-1 http://corradograbbi.blogspot.com/2007/12/grabbi-goal.html.
Grabbi was also directly involved in the Calciopoli scandal of summer 2006 as a victim: It was in fact only then that Ciccio could tell the media what Luciano Moggi had done to affect his career: after Ciccio Grabbi had refused to drop his Agent in favour of Luciano Moggi's son, Moggi told him "you will never play football again, if not in my garden!" Grabbi was propriety of Juventus until he was sold to Ternana.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
football player. He plays as a striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
, most recently for Bellinzona
AC Bellinzona
AC Bellinzona is a Swiss football club based in Bellinzona. It was founded in 1904, and won the Swiss Super League in 1948.-History:Since Bellinzona is an Italian speaking region, many Italian Serie A clubs loan youth players to the club to get first team experience. AS Roma are a parent club to...
.
Grabbi began his career with Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
youth team. He was promoted to first team and scored on his debut against Lazio, in one of his total two appearances in the 1994-1995 season. Unable to break into the team, because of his young age and
the contemporary explosion of Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus, of which he is also club captain....
, he was loaned to Lucchese
A.S. Lucchese-Libertas
Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Football Club Lucca 2011 is an Italian football club, based in Lucca, Tuscany that currently plays in Eccellenza Tuscany.The club was founded in 1905 and having last been in Serie A in 1952....
(76 games, 88 goals) and then Chievo
A.C. ChievoVerona
Associazione Calcio Chievo Verona is a professional Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 2,800 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and owned by Paluani, a cake company and the inspiration for their original name, Paluani Chievo...
(18 games, 2 goals) before switching to Modena
Modena F.C.
Modena Football Club is an Italian football club based in Modena, Emilia-Romagna. The club was formed in 1912 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, after being relegated from a two year period in Serie A in the year 2004. The team's previous stay in Italy's top division ended in 1964. The team...
. There he found some real form, scoring 88 times in 70 appearances. This performance saw him signed by Ternana
Ternana Calcio
Ternana Calcio is an Italian football club based in the city of Terni, Umbria.The team's colours are red and green.The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana have twice played in Serie A...
, where he played for one season before been loaned to Ravenna Calcio
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
where he scored 13 goals. Back to Ternana he was again a regular scorer, with 91 goals in 84 games and became idol for the local supporters, who still remember him as the best player to ever have played for
Ternana.
His brilliant season with Ternana saw him attract attention of various Serie A clubs, including Udinese and AC Milan. But apparently Luciano Moggi
Luciano Moggi
Luciano Moggi is an Italian football managing director. He was the general director of Juventus F.C. from 1994 until May 2006, years that anointed him as one of the most successful football managing director except the last two club seasons that were involved in Calciopoli...
of Juventus, who had previously pressured Grabbi to change his agent and join GEA World
GEA
GEA was a Swedish automobile manufacturer founded by Gustaf Ericsson in 1904 in Stockholm. Originally the company was located in Arbetargatan, but later it moved to Liljeholmen. Together with his study friends from Chalmers University of Technology K G Karlsson and Erik L Magnus they had the...
with no success, made it impossible for Ciccio to play in Italy, so in 2001 he was signed by Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
for a record fee of £6.75 million in July 2001
2001-02 in English football
The 2001-02 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.-Arsenal cruise to title glory:In what had earlier been one of the most closely fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal won the championship by seven points. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the...
, but due to injuries and personal reasons, he failed to repeat this progress, scoring just once in fourteen league games, his goal coming in a 1-0 win over Everton. He scored once more before going on loan to Messina, in the FA Cup against Barnsley. Grabbi's move to Blackburn is widely regarded as one of the worst transfers in the history of the English Premier League.http://www.ave-it.net/Football%20Transfer%20flops.htmhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2096584.ecehttp://www.soccermanager.com/blog/soccer-news/top-25-worst-transfers.html. In an interview with an Italian TV Station, Grabbi stated that he was finding it hard to acclimatise himself to the British weather and game, and also said that he was finding it hard to fit in with the team. The team was accused of singling him out, and not being friendly to him, which also accounted for Blackburn's slump in form.
In the same interview, Grabbi stated that the only person who he became friends with in this time was Tugay Kerimoğlu
Tugay Kerimoglu
Tugay Kerimoğlu is a Turkish former footballer who played the majority of his career for Galatasaray and Blackburn Rovers. Primarily a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, he was also competent as an attacking midfielder or playing in the holding role.Continually recognised for his ability he was...
.
Despite his unsuccessful spell at Blackburn Rovers, Grabbi still has a cult following with fans of the club.
During a loan spell back in Italy with Messina
F.C. Messina Peloro
Associazione Calcio Rinascita Messina is an Italian football club based in Messina, Sicily. It currently plays in Serie D.- Brief history :The origins of the team go back to 1900 when Messina F.C was founded in the city. The club has spent most of its history in the lower Italian football leagues...
, he scored 2 goals in the final game of the season and saved Messina from relegation. Upon his return to England, he failed to reignite his form, and after a further 16 games and three goals (against Liverpool in the league, CSKA Sofia in the UEFA Cup and Walsall in the League Cup) with Blackburn, who had meantime signed ex-Manchester United strikers Dwight Yorke
Dwight Yorke
Dwight Eversley Yorke is a Trinidad and Tobago former football player. He played for Aston Villa for most of his career, followed by stints with Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney FC and Sunderland...
and Andy Cole
Andy Cole
Andrew Alexander Cole is a retired English footballer. He is most well known by the name Andy Cole , but in 2000, he reputedly asked to be known as Andrew Cole...
, he was allowed to return to Italy permanently with Ancona
A.C. Ancona
Associazione Calcio Ancona was a professional Italian football club, based in Ancona, Marche. It was founded in 1905 as Unione Sportiva Anconitana, changing its name to Ancona Calcio 1905 in 1981 and being refounded in 2004 with its last denomination....
in 2004.
After spending 1 year without a team, trying to recover from the injury caused by a rare form of foot disease (Leveraus Morb) which had afflicted him for the past 3 seasons, he joined Genoa of Serie C1/A
Serie C
The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico , commonly known as Lega Pro , is the governing body that runs the third and fourth highest football divisions in Italy, the Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione respectively. It also includes the sole professional club of San Marino...
in September 2005. With his new team, he gained promotion to Serie B on playoffs scoring 9 goals in 25 games.
Before the return playoff final, Grabbi announced he was considering retiring from football, because of his physical conditions, but later he declared he was persuaded to go on by the Genoa supporters and fellow players, as well as club president Enrico Preziosi
Enrico Preziosi
Enrico Preziosi is an Italian entrepreneur. He runs numbers of business, which most famously the president of football club Genoa C.F.C..-Toys:...
. Preziosi though decided then that Genoa did not need Grabbi anymore, so during the 2007 winter transfer window, Grabbi signed for Arezzo
A.C. Arezzo
Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Atletico Arezzo is an Italian association football club based in Arezzo, Tuscany...
, still in Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
, after having never made a single appearance in the first half of the season for Genoa. After relegation with Arezzo, scoring no goals, Grabbi signed a contract with AC Bellinzona
AC Bellinzona
AC Bellinzona is a Swiss football club based in Bellinzona. It was founded in 1904, and won the Swiss Super League in 1948.-History:Since Bellinzona is an Italian speaking region, many Italian Serie A clubs loan youth players to the club to get first team experience. AS Roma are a parent club to...
, a team from the Swiss Challenge League (second division). Ciccio scored the winning goal (his first after more than 1 year) in the Swiss Cup game Bellinzona-Gossau: 2-1 http://corradograbbi.blogspot.com/2007/12/grabbi-goal.html.
Grabbi was also directly involved in the Calciopoli scandal of summer 2006 as a victim: It was in fact only then that Ciccio could tell the media what Luciano Moggi had done to affect his career: after Ciccio Grabbi had refused to drop his Agent in favour of Luciano Moggi's son, Moggi told him "you will never play football again, if not in my garden!" Grabbi was propriety of Juventus until he was sold to Ternana.
Websites
- http://www.acbellinzona.ch
- http://corradograbbi.blogspot.com/