Giuseppe Bruscolotti (born 1 June 1951) is a former 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 ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He is mostly remembered for his lengthy spell with

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Camp ...

, where he served as the club's captain and contributed to the team's first ever

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 Cop ...

title in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

. Throughout his career, he was referred to as ''"Pal e fierr"'' ("iron pole") by the fans, due to his physical strength.

Career

Born in Sassano,

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

, Bruscolotti began his career with

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana ra ...

in 1970. He immediately helped the club to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

promotion, winning the Serie C1 title during the 1970–71 season, and was a part of a defence which only conceded 12 goals in the league; the following season, however, the club were immediately relegated to Serie C once again, after finishing in second-last place in the league. Bruscolotti subsequently moved to

in 1972, where he spent most of his career, making over 500 appearances for the team during his sixteen seasons in Naples; he made his Serie A debut with Napoli during the 1972–73 season, in a 1–0 win over

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

on 24 September 1972. Bruscolotti became a symbol and a legend of the club, and played a key role in helping Napoli to their first ever

title in

; he was also the team's captain from 1978 until 1984, when he handed over the armband to

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

. He

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

at the age of 37 in 1988; he holds the record for most

appearances for Napoli (387), and has made the second most appearances in all league competitions for the club. He also made 96 appearances for Napoli in the

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 ...

, and 28 in European competitions. Bruscolotti also scored 11 goals for Napoli throughout his career; one of his most notable goals came in a 1–0 home victory over Anderlecht in the return leg of the

1976–77 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1976–77 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Hamburger SV in the final against defending champions Anderlecht. Qualifying match First round First leg ---- ---- Second leg ''Boavista won 5–2 on aggr ...

semi-finals, although Napoli were eliminated by the eventual champions on aggregate. His most important goal for the club came in the second leg of the 1976

Anglo-Italian League Cup The Anglo-Italian League Cup ( it, Coppa di Lega Italo-Inglese, also known as the Anglo-Italian League Cup Winners' Cup) was a short-lived football competition between teams from England and Italy – an English cup-winning team (League Cup or FA C ...

final, which saw Napoli triumph over

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. In addition to these titles, Bruscolotti also won two

titles with Napoli.

Style of play

A tenacious, imposing, and powerful full-back, Bruscolotti was known in particular for his physical strength and balance, as well as his excellent man-marking ability, leadership, and his hard-tackling style of play. Although he was notorious for his aggressive challenges, he was also praised throughout his career for his fair-play attitude.

Honours

Club

Sorrento *

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 ...

(1): 1970–71 Napoli *

(1): 1986–87 *

(2): 1975–76, 1986–87 *

(1):

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

Records

* Second-most appearances in all competitions (S.S.C. Napoli) (after

Marek Hamšík Marek Hamšík (; born 27 July 1987) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Süper Lig club Trabzonspor. He formerly captained the Slovakia national team. After beginning his club career with Slovan Bratislava in 20 ...

): 511 * Second-most league appearances for S.S.C. Napoli (only Serie A regular-seasons) (after

): 387

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruscolotti 1951 births Living people Association football fullbacks Italian footballers Footballers from Campania Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players A.S.D. Sorrento players S.S.C. Napoli players