Gianpaolo Bellini (born 27 March 1980) is an Italian former 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 played as a defender. Bellini is a

one-club man List of one-club men may refer to: * List of one-club men in association football * List of one-club men in rugby league * List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise * List of NBA players who have spent ...

; he spent his entire professional career with

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

, and currently holds the record for the most appearances in the club's history (435). His primary position was left-back, but he was also capable of playing on the right flank and as a central defender.

Club career

Born in

Sarnico Sarnico (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, about northeast of Milan and about east of Bergamo at the southern end of Lake Iseo. Sarnico borders the following municipali ...

Province of Bergamo The Province of Bergamo ( it, provincia di Bergamo; lmo, proìnsa de Bèrghem) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. It has a population of 1,112,187 (2017), an area of , and contains 243 ''comuni''. Its capital is the city of Bergamo. ...

, Bellini played his first league match on 11 April 1999 for

, at that time in

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 the 2009–10 season, Bellini played as left-back, while

Thomas Manfredini Thomas Manfredini (born 27 May 1980) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Career SPAL Udinese Atalanta Manfredini was signed by Serie B club Atalanta B.C. on 27 June 2005 for €1.2 million.Atalanta B.C. ...

Paolo Bianco Paolo Bianco (born 20 August 1977) is an Italian football coach and former Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Career U.S. Foggia Bianco started his career within the junior ranks of U.S ...

, Leonardo Talamonti were used as central-defenders. On 26 July 2010, he and Manfredini signed a new 3+1 year contract with the club. On 8 May 2016, Bellini scored in his final game, a 1–1

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 ...

draw against Udinese at the Stadio di Bergamo. He retired having made a record 435 appearances for Atalanta, 279 of which were in the Serie A.

International career

Along with

Cesare Natali Cesare Natali (born 5 April 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Club career Atalanta Natali started his career at Atalanta. He scored the opening goal in the relegation playoffs second legs in June 20 ...

, his teammate at Atalanta, Bellini was called up to the Italy under-21 side for the

2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2002 was the 13th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Switzerland between 16 and 28 May 2002. Czech Republic U-21s won the competition for the first time. Qua ...

. They partnered in 2 matches at the tournament as Italy reached the semi-finals.

Managerial career

In 2017, Bellini was named assistant head coach of Atalanta's Primavera (under-21) team. After five years as a deputy to Massimo Brambilla, in 2022, Bellini was appointed head coach of Atalanta's under-17 team.

Honours

;Atalanta *

: 2005–06,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

Atalanta B.C. Official Player Profile

Gianpaolo Bellini National Team Stats
at FIGC.it Italian footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Atalanta B.C. players Serie A players Serie B players Association football defenders Sportspeople from the Province of Bergamo 1980 births Living people Footballers from Lombardy {{Italy-footy-defender-1980s-stub