Alex Brunner (born 8 December 1973) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting o ...

. He currently works as a goalkeeping coach.

Football career

Early career

Brunner started his career at hometown club

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its history. As of the ...

. After the club were relegated to Series C1 in the summer of 1991, Brunner gained his place in first team, making 5 appearances for the club in two Series C1 seasons. In the summer of 1993, he moved to

Formia Formia is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, on the Mediterranean coast of Lazio, Italy. It is located halfway between Rome and Naples, and lies on the Roman-era Appian Way. It has a population of 38,095. Istat 2017 History ...

of Series C2, where he first became a regular.

Foggia & Bologna

Brunner joined

U.S. Foggia Calcio Foggia 1920, commonly referred to as Foggia, is an Italian football club based in Foggia, Apulia. It currently plays in Serie C, having last been in the top level Serie A in 1995. The team gained nationwide popularity as Foggia Calcio ...

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 Cop ...

in 1994, starting his career as a backup keeper for several Serie A clubs. In his first season with the team, he just made 2 appearances, as second goalkeeper behind Francesco Mancini, but after the club suffered relegation, he became regular once again. In summer 1996, Brunner joined newly promoted Serie A team

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. He spent 3 seasons at the

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

club, and made 6 appearances in Series A, as second goalkeeper behind

Francesco Antonioli Francesco Stefano Antonioli (born 14 September 1969) is an Italian former footballer who played as goalkeeper. He was the oldest footballer in Serie A until his club Cesena were relegated to Serie B at the end of the 2011–12 season, after wh ...

Como

He transferred to

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...

in June 1999, where he spent 4 seasons. In his first season with the club, Como just finished 10th in Serie C1, but in the second and third seasons, he helped the team to obtain consecutive promotions to Serie B and subsequently

, which was also aided by the signing of new club president Enrico Preziosi. In the 2002–03 Serie A season, he competed with experienced Fabrizio Ferron for a starting spot, but still made 21 appearances for Como.

Return to Series B

After Como finished bottom of the table and suffered relegation to Serie B, Brunner transferred to

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

of Serie B, replacing

Sergio Marcon Sergio Marcon (born 9 November 1970) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for several Italian clubs during his career which lasted from the 1980s to the 2000s. Football career Born in Cormons, Marcon started his ...

and

Gianmatteo Mareggini Gianmatteo Mareggini (born 8 January 1967, in Modena) is an Italian former footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently a goalkeeping coach for Figline. Career Mareggini spent most of his footballing career playing in Tuscany, mos ...

, who had finished their contract with the club. Brunner played ahead of

Tommaso Berni Tommaso Berni (born 6 March 1983) is a retired Italian professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Inter Milan. Club career Early career Berni started his career at Fiorentina. In 1998, he joined Inter Milan. He was a backup goal ...

as the club's first choice keeper, and Ternana finished 7th that season. Brunner left for

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

in July 2004, where competed for a starting spot with former first choice keeper

Domenico Botticella Domenico Botticella (born 2 March 1976 in San Giovanni Rotondo) is an Italian football coach and former player, who used to play as a goalkeeper. He is the current goalkeeping coach of Casertana. Playing career Botticella played in Serie B with ...

. In January 2005, he left for Cagliari of Serie A, as the club's second choice keeper (replacing the recently departed

Fanis Katergiannakis Fanis Katergiannakis ( el, Φάνης Κατεργιαννάκης, born 16 February 1974) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Ethnikos Pylaias Katergiannakis started his career in the young team f ...

) behind

Gennaro Iezzo Gennaro Iezzo (born 8 June 1973) is an Italian former football goalkeeper. Club career Iezzo began his career at hometown club Juve Stabia before moving on to play for Scafatese, Avellino, Nocerina, Verona, Calcio Catania and Cagliari. He spent ...

and ahead of Luca Tomasig (who replaced the recently departed

Davide Capello Davide Ugo Capello (born 27 September 1984) is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Nuoro, Sardinia, Capello started his career at Sardinian side Cagliari. During the 2002–03 season, due to ...

Return to Lega Pro

After the bankruptcy of Salernitana, Brunner returned to Serie C1 side Lucchese in 2005, on a free transfer,. He was the club's first choice keeper ahead of Mathieu Moreau,

Michele Tambellini Michele (), is an Italian male given name, akin to the English male name Michael. Michele (pronounced ), is also an English female given name that is derived from the French Michèle. It is a variant spelling of the more common (and identically ...

and

Paolo Castelli Paolo Castelli (born 3 January 1980) is an Italian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Monza. He spent his most of his career in the Prima Divisione, seasons in the Seconda Divisione and seasons in Serie B. (3rd, 4th and 2nd highest di ...

. In June 2007, he joined

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana ra ...

of Serie C1. In the next season, he left for Juve Stabia of

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 ...

on a 2-year contract, where he was the first choice until he was released in March and replaced by

Salvatore Soviero Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name * "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015 * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band * '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams' ...

. In October 2009, he left for Itala San Marco of Lega Pro Seconda Divisione. Brunner along with Marcon, served as the backup of young keeper Omar Tusini.

Coaching career

After Itala San Marco were expelled from professional league, Brunner returned to Como in the 2009–10 season as an assistant goalkeeping coach ( it, preparatore dei portieri), under Ottavio Strano, who was both the club's main goalkeeping coach ( it, Allenatore portieri), and the team's head coach, along with

Oscar Brevi Oscar Brevi (born 15 December 1967) is an Italian football manager and a former defender. Career Player Brevi from 1995 to 2009 has played for Solbiatese, Lumezzane, Como, Palermo, Ascoli, Torino and Venezia. Coach On 20 October 2009 he was ...

. On 18 June, his contract was renewed for another year. Brunner spent 7 years as goalkeeper coach at Udanise before in 2022 joining Watford FC

Honours

;Como *

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 ...

: 2001–02

References

External links

* *
Profile at Football.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunner, Alex Italian footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players U.S. Triestina Calcio 1918 players Calcio Foggia 1920 players Bologna F.C. 1909 players Como 1907 players Ternana Calcio players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players Cagliari Calcio players Lucchese 1905 players S.S. Juve Stabia players A.S.D. Itala San Marco Gradisca players S.S. Formia Calcio players Watford F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeepers Italian people of Austrian descent Footballers from Trieste 1973 births Living people