Francesco Baiano (; born 24 February 1968) is an Italian

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 ...

coach and former player who was last in charge at

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

. He played as a striker for several Italian clubs throughout his playing career, and he also played for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, between 1997 and 1999.

Club career

Baiano was born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. During his career, he played for several clubs. He first made his name with

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

under Zdeněk Zeman, earning promotion to Serie A after winning the 1990–91 Serie B title, also winning the top-scorer award, with 22 goals, and forming a notable attacking trio alongside

Giuseppe Signori Giuseppe "Beppe" Signori (; born 17 February 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for several clubs in Italy throughout his career, and also had spells in Greece and Hungary with Iraklis Thessal ...

and Roberto Rambaudi. He also played for

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

, where he was a part of the so-called ''Ba-Ba'' strikers duo together with

Gabriel Batistuta Gabriel Omar Batistuta (; born 1 February 1969) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer. During his playing career, Batistuta was nicknamed Batigol () as well as El Ángel Gabriel (; Spanish for ''Archangel Gabriel, ...

(he scored 29 goals in 118 games for Fiorentina), winning the 1995–96 Coppa Italia and the 1996 Supercoppa Italiana. During the

1992–93 Serie A In 1992–93, the Serie A title was retained by Milan, who finished four points ahead of Internazionale. Third placed Parma enjoyed European glory in the European Cup Winners Cup, while unfancied Cagliari crept into the UEFA Cup qualification pl ...

season, he was the joint top assist provider in the league, with 12 assists, alongside

Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea. He spent the first decade of his playing career playing i ...

. Baiano later joined

in 1997, along with compatriot

Stefano Eranio Stefano Eranio (; born 29 December 1966) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Throughout his career, Eranio played mainly as a right winger; he is mostly remembered for having played for Italian clubs A.C. Mila ...

; together, they were among the first group of Italian footballers to play in the

. He hit 16 goals in 64 games in a resurgent Derby team and was named as one of their best ever imports by the fans. Baiano went on to play for Sangiovannese 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 ...

, a team he joined in 2002 to leave only in 2008 after a string of successful seasons with the small Tuscan side.

International career

Baiano won two international caps for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, both in late 1991, under

Arrigo Sacchi Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach. He has twice managed AC Milan (1987–1991, 1996–1997), with great success. He won the Serie A title in his 1987–88 debut season and then dominated European ...

, although he failed to score a goal at international level. He made his debut on 13 November 1991 in Genoa, in a 1–1 draw against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Style of play

A well-known, diminutive

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

famous for his shooting technique and eye for goal, Baiano was also a quick, energetic, and dynamic player, with good technical ability and close control in tight spaces. Due to his pace, mobility, and agility, he was also often used as an

outside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

; during his later career, he often played in a more creative role, as a supporting striker, or as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

, due to his creativity, as well as his ability to play off of teammates and provide them with assists.

Coaching career

In 2008, Baiano was appointed player/manager of

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 Sansovino with little success, leaving the club at the end of the season. In 2010, he re-joined his former boss Giuseppe Sannino, becoming his main assistant at

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 ...

club

. In 2011, he followed Sannino at

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 ...

club

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

, and then at

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

in 2012. He was removed as Palermo assistant together with head coach Sannino on 16 September 2012.

Honours

Fiorentina *

: 1993–94 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

: 1995–96 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Foggia *Serie B: 1990–91 Individual *Serie B top scorer: 1990–91 (22 goals) *

top assist provider: 1992–93 *Derby County F.C. Player of the Year: 1998

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baiano, Francesco 1968 births Footballers from Naples Italian footballers Italy international footballers Italian expatriate footballers Living people U.S. Avellino 1912 players Derby County F.C. players Empoli F.C. players ACF Fiorentina players Calcio Foggia 1920 players S.S.C. Napoli players Parma Calcio 1913 players U.S. Pistoiese 1921 players Ternana Calcio players Premier League players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Expatriate footballers in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Association football forwards