Corrado Merli (; born 17 October 1959) 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 le ...

Club career

After his 1977 debut with Mantova, in the autumn of 1978 he joined

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

. The team was relegated 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 Pro ...

in the 1978–1979 season, but Merli secured a spot amongst the reserves until Rimini was promoted again to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...

in 1979–1980. He then joined the first team for the next two Serie B seasons, until he transferred 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 Iseo. ...

to play two more seasons of

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), 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 ...

. His careers continued in Serie C1, playing three years with

Carrarese Carrarese Calcio 1908, commonly referred to as Carrarese, is an Italian football club based in Carrara, Tuscany. It currently plays in Serie C, having last been in Serie B in 1948. History The club was founded in 1908. In the season 2010–1 ...

and then with

Fidelis Andria Fidelis Andria 2018 or simply Fidelis Andria is an Italian football club based in Andria, Apulia. The club was founded in 1971 and re-founded in 2005, 2013 and 2018. The team competes in . Fidelis Andria play their home matches at Stadio Deg ...

, winning the

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

Championship in 1988–1989. He then played another year in Serie C2 with Giulianova until finishing his career in

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 ...

with Santegidiese in 1993. During his Serie B career with Rimini, he achieved a total of 65 appearances and 2 goals, with a grand total of 364 appearances and 8 goals throughout his professional football career.

After Retirement

Despite retiring from professional football, Merli has taken part in multiple iterations of "''Emanuele una partita per la vita''", annual charity football event in favour of the Associazione Romagnola

Cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...

, in which various showbiz personalities play a friendly match against former/current athletes from several different sports. The charity match takes place every year at the

Stadio Romeo Neri Stadio Romeo Neri is a multi-use stadium in Rimini, Italy. The stadium has a capacity of 9,768 and is largely used for football (soccer), football as the home of A.C. Rimini 1912. The stadium itself was named after Italian gymnast Romeo Neri, the ...

, Italy.

References

External links

Corrado Merli
on CorriereCalciatori.it
Corrado Merli
on LegaB.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Merli, Corrado 1959 births Italian footballers Association football defenders Sportspeople from the Province of Mantua Rimini F.C. 1912 players Mantova 1911 players Brescia Calcio players Carrarese Calcio players S.S. Fidelis Andria 1928 players Giulianova Calcio players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Living people Footballers from Lombardy