Carl Liam Piergianni (born 3 May 1992) is an English 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 le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

. A product of

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

's youth academy, Piergianni signed professional terms with the club in May 2010, having already spent time on a work experience

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

at Spalding United. He debuted for Peterborough's first team in December 2010, making his only senior appearance for the club before his departure at the end of the 2010–11 season. Piergianni joined

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

club

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

on a permanent contract in August 2011. After a season at Stockport, Piergianni left the club in August 2012, after they were no longer in a position financially to extend his contract. Having spent the 2012–13 season at

Corby Town Corby Town Football Club is a football club based in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Steel Park. History The club was established in 1948, taking over from Stewarts & Lloyds as the main team ...

, he signed for divisional rivals

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

in May 2013. He made 136 appearances during his three years at Boston, where he was named the club's Player of the Year in consecutive seasons, as well as being named in the

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

Team of the Year twice. Following a brief spell in Australia, where he played for

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

, Piergianni returned to England and signed for National League North club Salford City in May 2017. He helped the club earn back-to-back promotions into the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

, scoring in the 2019 National League play-off final. A loan move to League Two club

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

followed in January 2020, which was made permanent that August. Piergianni was made club

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 ...

during his two years at Oldham. He signed for Stevenage in May 2022, where he was appointed as the club's captain. Stevenage earned promotion into League One during his first season there, with Piergianni being named in the EFL League Two Team of the Season.

Early life

Born in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, Piergianni attended Stanground College in Peterborough.

Career

Peterborough United

Piergianni was playing in the Peterborough and District Youth League when he was scouted by

. He joined the club's youth system in 2007 and was named as their under-18 Player of the Year during his time in the academy. Whilst still playing for the club's under-18 team, Piergianni joined Spalding United on a work experience

, where he made six first-team appearances in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Division One South. The defender signed his first professional contract with Peterborough in May 2010, a one-year development agreement. Piergianni made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut as a 95th-minute substitute in a 2–1 victory against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on 10 December 2010. He joined

club

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

on a work experience loan on 31 December 2010. He made his debut for the club the next day, playing the full match in a 0–0 draw with

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. Piergianni made 21 appearances during the 2010–11 season at Altrincham, leaving upon the conclusion of his loan at the end of the season. He was released by Peterborough in June 2011.

Stockport County

Piergianni signed for Conference Premier club

on a free transfer on 10 August 2011. He scored his first goals in senior football in a 3–3 draw with Hayes & Yeading on 5 November 2011, scoring twice to give Stockport a 3–1 lead in the match. He made 44 appearances in all competitions during the 2011–12 season, his first full season of regular first-team football, scoring four goals, as Stockport finished the season in 16th position in the Conference Premier league standings. Stockport offered Piergianni a new contract in May 2012, but the two parties were unable to agree terms. Despite this, he played in three matches in the opening month of the 2012–13 season. He left Stockport at the end of August 2012, with

Director of Football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

Jim Gannon James Paul Gannon (born 7 September 1968) is a professional football manager and former player who most recently was manager of Hyde United. He started and finished his career as a player in Ireland, but made most of his professional appearan ...

stating the club were no longer in a position financially to offer the defender a new contract.

Corby Town

After leaving Stockport, Piergianni joined

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

club

on a non-contract basis on 10 October 2012. He debuted for Corby in the club's 5–2 home defeat to Altrincham on 13 October 2012, scoring a consolation goal for Corby in the second half of the match. He was made

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

within a month of his arrival and made 30 appearances during the 2012–13 season, scoring seven goals.

Boston United

Piergianni joined fellow Conference North club

on 17 May 2013, becoming the club's third acquisition ahead of the new season. He made his Boston debut in a 4–1 victory against former employers Stockport County at

Edgeley Park Edgeley Park is a football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for rugby league club Stockport RFC in 1891, by 1903, the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County Football Club moved in. Edgeley Park is an all-seater stadium hold ...

on 17 August 2013. The defender played 47 times and scored five goals in all competitions during the 2013–14 season. He was voted Boston's Players' Player of the Year at club's end-of-season awards ceremony in a season that saw the club finish in sixth place in the Conference North league table. He was also named in the Conference North Team of the Year that season. Piergianni signed a new two-year contract in May 2014. Boston made the Conference North play-offs during the 2014–15 season, where they lost to

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

at the semi-final stage, with Piergianni making 46 appearances in all competitions that season. He was named as the club's Player of the Year in May 2015. He scored nine goals from central defence during the 2015–16 season as Boston once again qualified for the play-offs after finishing in fifth place. They were defeated in the semi-final by

North Ferriby United North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane. F ...

, losing by a 3–2 aggregate scoreline. At the end of the season, Piergianni was named in the National League North Team of the Year. During his three years at Boston, he made 136 appearances and scored 19 goals.

South Melbourne

Having opted to leave Boston at the end of the season, in order to travel to Australia, Piergianni signed for

of the

National Premier Leagues The National Premier Leagues (NPL) is a national association football competition in Australia which acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League. The NPL consists of the highest level state league in each state-based ...

, Australia's second division, on 12 January 2017. He made his debut for South Melbourne in the 2017 Community Shield, which they lost 2–1 to

Bentleigh Greens Bentleigh Greens Soccer Club is an Australian semi professional soccer club based in Cheltenham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1986, by the Greek Cypriot community and currently competes in the National Premier Leagues ...

. He made 13 appearances for the club, 10 of which were in the league, before leaving in the mid-season transfer window in May 2017.

Salford City

Piergianni returned to England and signed a two-year contract with

club Salford City on 19 May 2017. He made his debut in the club's first game of the 2017–18 season, a 2–0 home defeat to

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. He made 39 appearances and scored three goals as Salford earned promotion to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

after finishing the season as National League North champions. He was voted as the club's Player of the Year in April 2018 and was also named in the National League North Team of the Year that season. Piergianni signed a contract extension on 17 December 2018, with the new agreement running until 2021. He played 53 times during the 2018–19 season as Salford earned back-to-back promotions into the Football League after winning the 2019 National League play-off final, a 3–0 victory against

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on 11 May 2019. He scored Salford's second goal in the match; a header from a

corner kick A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is taken ...

in the second-half. The goal was his 11th of the season from central defence. He was named in the National League Team of the Year for the 2018–19 season. Despite playing regularly during the opening two months of the 2019–20 season in

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

, Piergianni was limited to two substitute appearances in two months following back-to-back defeats in September 2019.

Oldham Athletic

Wanting to play first-team football, Piergianni joined fellow League Two club

on 6 January 2020, on a loan agreement until the end of the 2019–20 season. Oldham manager

Dino Maamria Noureddine "Dino" Maamria (born 18 February 1974) is a Tunisian football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the manager of League One club Burton Albion. Maamria started his playing career with AS Marsa of Tunisia. He left ...

highlighted the centre-back's leadership skills and character when the signing was announced. He made 11 appearances during the loan spell before the League Two regular season was curtailed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in March 2020. Piergianni signed for Oldham on a permanent basis on 2 August 2020, agreeing a two-year contract. He scored five times in 45 appearances during the 2020–21 season as Oldham finished in 18th place in League Two. In April 2021, he won the PFA Community Champion award for the 2020–21 season for his work with the Oldham Athletic Community Trust (OACT) throughout the year. Piergianni was named club captain during the 2021–22 season. He played 48 times during the season, scoring four goals, as Oldham were relegated to the National League. He won the PFA Community Champion award for the second consecutive season in recognition of his continued work with the OACT. With his Oldham contract set to expire, Piergianni was released by the club at the end of the season.

Stevenage

Piergianni signed for League Two club

on a free transfer on 23 May 2022. He made his Stevenage debut in a 2–1 away victory against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

on 30 July 2022 and scored his first goal in a 1–0 win against Rochdale on 16 August 2022. He made 55 appearances in all competitions during his first season at Stevenage, scoring eight times from central defence, as the club earned promotion into

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

after finishing in second place in League Two. At the 2023 EFL Awards ceremony on 23 April 2023, Piergianni was named in the EFL League Two Team of the Season. He was also voted as Stevenage's

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

at the club's end-of-season awards ceremony on 29 April 2023. The defender was included in the club's retained list for the 2023–24 season, signing a "new and improved" contract on 5 June 2023.

Style of play

Deployed as a

, Piergianni has been described as a "commanding defender". His ability to win aerial duels has been described as one his main strengths, as well as blocking attacking shots and clearing the ball out of defence. An aerial threat from set-pieces, Piergianni has scored the majority of his goals from attacking

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offence ...

and

s. Having been appointed as club captain at Corby Town, Oldham and Stevenage, his leadership skills have also been highlighted as a strength.

Career statistics

Honours

Salford City *

: 2017–18 *

play-offs:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Stevenage *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual * EFL League Two Team of the Season:

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2022–23 League Two *

Team of the Year: 2018–19 *

Team of the Year: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18 * Boston United Player of the Year: 2013–14, 2014–15 * Salford City Player of the Year: 2018–19 * Stevenage Player of the Year:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Piergianni, Carl 1992 births Living people Footballers from Peterborough English people of Italian descent English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Peterborough United F.C. players Spalding United F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Corby Town F.C. players Salford City F.C. players South Melbourne FC players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players National Premier Leagues players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia English expatriate sportspeople in Australia