Gildo Rizzato (born 2 February 1948) is an Italian 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 ...

who played as a

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 ...

Career

Rizzato played at the youth level with A.C. Montagnana. In 1964, he played with F.C. Legnago Salus, and the following season with

S.P.A.L. Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, since ...

He returned to Legnago in 1966, and had another stint with SPAL in the

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 ...

in 1967. In 1968, he played in the

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 ...

with SPAL, and in 1969 he played in the

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 ...

with Empoli F.C. He played in the

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

U.S. Triestina Calcio 1918 Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its ...

, and assisted in securing promotion by winning the league title. In the summer of 1973 he played abroad 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

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 folding ...

. In late 1973, he played with

A.S.D. Sangiovannese 1927 Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Sangiovannese 1927 (formerly ''Associazione Calcio Sangiovannese 1927'') is an Italian association football club based in San Giovanni Valdarno, Tuscany. They currently play in Serie D. History From Sang ...

, and later played with A.S.D. Nuovo Monselice Calcio.

Managerial career

Rizzato became the president for

Abano Calcio Abano Calcio is an Italian football club based in Abano Terme, Veneto. Currently it plays in Italy's Serie D. History Foundation The club was founded in 1950. Serie D The team has played in Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi- ...

in 1991, and in 2019 he was named the honorary president for the club.

Personal life

In 1987, he founded ''GR Bike'' a company that markets

cycle sport Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzato, Gildo Living people 1948 births Men's association football forwards FC Legnago Salus players SPAL players Empoli FC players US Triestina Calcio 1918 players Toronto Italia players ASD Sangiovannese 1927 players ASD Nuovo Monselice Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Canadian National Soccer League players Footballers from Padua Italian men's footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Italian expatriate sportspeople in Canada People from Montagnana