Franco Gallina (1 January 1945 – 5 July 2021) was an Italian footballer who played as a forward, most notably in the Serie A and the North American Soccer League.

Career

Gallina played in the Serie D in 1962 with Casertana F.C. where he assisted in securing promotion after winning the Serie D title. The following season he was signed by Genoa C.F.C. of the Serie A, but failed to make an appearance. In 1964, he played in the Serie C with Virtus Entella, and later with

Cesena F.C. Cesena Football Club is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based Cesena, Emilia-Romagna. Currently it plays in Italy's Serie C. It has claimed to be the phoenix club of A.C. Cesena since 2018, the year that the club folded. History Fou ...

He returned to his former club Genoa where he played in the Serie B. After two seasons with Genoa he played in the Serie A with

Lanerossi Vicenza L.R. Vicenza, commonly referred to as Vicenza, is an Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. Founded in 1902 as Associazione del Calcio in Vicenza, they became Lanerossi Vicenza in 1953, then Vicenza Calcio from 1990 to 2018, a year whi ...

, and made his debut on 17 November 1968 against A.C. Milan. In 1969, he returned to Serie C to play with Internapoli Football Club. He played abroad in 1971 with Montreal Olympique in the North American Soccer League. In his debut season with Montreal he was named to the NASL Second Team. The next season he played in the

Mexican Primera División The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in al ...

with Atlante F.C. In 1973, he played in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

with Montreal Cantalia where he served as a player-coach. In 1974, he played with league rivals

Toronto Italia The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the foldin ...

once more in a capacity of a player-coach. The following season he played with

Montreal Castors Montreal Castors was a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1975. The team played in the National Soccer League, winning the championship in 1978 and 1979 before withdrawing from the league in 1979. The Castors played their home games at the Claude ...

. He died on 5 July 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallina, Franco 1945 births 2021 deaths Italian footballers Men's association football forwards Casertana F.C. players Genoa C.F.C. players Virtus Entella players Cesena F.C. players L.R. Vicenza players Montreal Olympique players Atlante F.C. footballers Toronto Italia players Montreal Castors players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Liga MX players Canadian National Soccer League players Canadian National Soccer League coaches Italian football managers Footballers from Naples Italian expatriate footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada Italian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Mexico