Cristiano Novembre (born 15 June 1987) is an Italian footballer who plays 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 ...

for

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 ...

club

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

Club career

Youth career

Born in

, Apulia, Novembre started his career for

at the age of seven. He remained at the club, with the youth system until 2003, when he transferred into the youth squad of

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 Coppa ...

side

U.S. Lecce Unione Sportiva Lecce, commonly referred to as Lecce (), is an Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia. The club play in Serie A in the 2022–23 season, the top level of the Italian football pyramid, having been promoted from Serie B ...

. In July 2003, Novembre was signed by another team from Apulia, in the form of

, where he played three seasons in the youths system. He remained with the club until 2006, when he transferred to

side

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...

. He never made a senior appearance for Lecce.

Debut

Novembre officially began his senior career with non-(fully)-professional club,

side

, where he was the starting goalkeeper for the entire

2006–07 Serie D The 2006–07 Serie D was the fifty-ninth edition of the top level Italian non-professional football championship. It represented the fifth tier in the Italian football league system. The regular season started September 17, 2006 and continued t ...

season, making 32 appearances. Following several impressive displays, Novembre was scouted by European powerhouse

Juventus F.C. )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnelli ...

, which won its historical Serie B champion title back to Serie A after

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

due to the

2006 Italian football scandal ''Calciopoli'' () was a sports scandal in Italy's top professional association football league Serie A and to a lesser extent Serie B. Involving various clubs and numerous executives, both from the same clubs and from the main Italian football b ...

Juventus

In July 2007,

officially offered a contract to Novembre. Juventus youth goalkeeper,

Antonio Mirante Antonio Mirante (born 8 July 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club AC Milan. Club career Juventus and loans After starting his professional career with Juventus, Mirante was loaned to Crotone in 2004, a ...

was sent out on loan during that transfer window and hence, Novembre and

Jess Vanstrattan Jess Kedwell Vanstrattan (born 19 July 1982) is a retired Australian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Vanstrattan was born in Gosford and started his senior career with Central Coast. He played the majority of his career in ...

were signed to provide extra cover for first choice

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian professional footballer who captains and plays as a goalkeeper for the club Parma. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is one of the few recorded pl ...

and experienced backup

Emanuele Belardi Emanuele Belardi (born 9 October 1977) is a retired Italian footballer who was a goalkeeper. Club career Reggina Belardi started his career as a youth member at Reggina Calcio, before he was promoted to the club's first team in 1995. After t ...

. Despite taking part in several friendly matches, as well as summer tournaments, Novembre spent the entire 2007–2008 season behind Buffon, Belardi, and Vanstrattan in the pecking order, partially due to his young age and lack of experience. In June 2008, Novembre was released.

Lega Pro

In July 2008, Novembre joined Figline as free agent, serving as a reserve to experienced goalie

Stefano Pardini Stefano Pardini (born 24 December 1975) is an Italian football coach and former goalkeeper. Playing career Born in Montignoso, Tuscany, Pardini started his career at Emilia–Romagna side Reggiana. In the 1995–96 Serie B season, he played as ...

in his first season with the club. Novembre did make four league appearances in the first season for the

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione 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 ...

Champions. In his second season with the club, Novembre continued to serve as a back-up to Pardini and made an additional seven appearances in the league.

Return to Serie D

On 10 December 2010, Novembre was signed by Serie D, Girone B side Caratese, following two disappointing seasons as a reserve for Figline. In June 2011 he was released. In September, Novembre returned to his hometown club,

. He left the club in November 2011 and returned to the hometown club in December 2012.

Personal life

Novembre holds a diploma in accountancy and has a sister Giada.

References

External links

Profile at AIC.Football.it

Profile at La Gazzetta dello Sport

Serie D career at LaSerieD.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novembre, Cristiano Italian men's footballers US Lecce players Juventus FC players Men's association football goalkeepers Sportspeople from Brindisi 1987 births Living people Footballers from Apulia