Matteo Gritti (born 11 June 1980) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

retired

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He is not to be confused with

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

player Matteo Gritti (born 1986).

Career

Born in Seriate, about 4 km southeast of

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

, Gritti started his career at

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 Bassano Virtus before returned to

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

for

Atalanta Bergamo Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly referred to as Atalanta, is a professional football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. The club plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B in 2010–11. Atalanta was founded in 1907 by Lice ...

. After two seasons at their youth teams, Gritti moved back to Serie D for

Oggiono Oggiono ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Lecco. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 8,194 and an area of . ...

, which also located in Lombardy. He played for the club as regular starter before signed for

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 ...

club Alzano, his third Lombardy club. He then signed by the

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. ...

based AlbinoLeffe, which in 2002–03 in the same group with Alzano, but Alzano relegated and AlbinoLeffe promoted. At AlbinoLeffe, he worked as backup for another Province of Bergamo native,

Paolo Acerbis Paolo Domenico Acerbis (born 5 May 1981) is an Italian footballer, who plays as a goalkeeper for Eccellenza club S.S.D. Mapello. He also played for professional club Livorno in Serie A, as well as AlbinoLeffe, Triestina, Catania and Vicenza ...

. In 2004–05 season, he played for his 6th Lombardy club Palazzolo at

. In mid-2005, he abroad to Switzerland for AC Lugano, which from

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

, an Italian speaking region. His performance made Swiss giant

BSC Young Boys BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...

signed him, worked as

Marco Wölfli Marco Wölfli (born 22 August 1982) is a Swiss former professional football goalkeeper who played for Young Boys in the Swiss Super League. Club career Wölfli made his league debut for Young Boys during their 1999–2000 Nationalliga B campa ...

's backup. After Young Boys re-signed their youth product Paolo Collaviti as new backup goalkeeper, Gritti went on loan to

Chiasso Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of C ...

of Ticino. After a loan spells at Challenge League, he signed for

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

newcomer

AC Bellinzona AC Bellinzona is a Swiss football club based in Bellinzona. It was founded in 1904, and won the Swiss Super League in 1948. After being folded in 2013 declaring bankruptcy, the team played the Ticino Group of 2.Liga, the sixth tier of the Swi ...

in July 2008. He became the no.1 goalkeeper ahead Lorenzo Bucchi at the start of season, but Bucchi regain his place until the arrival of former

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

goalkeeper Carlo Zotti. Gritti was released on 30 June 2011. In February 2012, Gritti signed a contract with Petrolul Ploieşti, in

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

, until the end of the season. He played only three games for Petrolul, and his contract wasn't renewed.

External links

Profile at Swiss Super League

AC Bellinzona profile

From great European football to precarious life The story of Matteo Gritti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gritti, Matteo 1980 births Living people People from Seriate Italian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Italian expatriate men's footballers Atalanta BC players UC AlbinoLeffe players BSC Young Boys players FC Lugano players FC Chiasso players AC Bellinzona players Bassano Virtus 55 ST players SSD Virtus CiseranoBergamo 1909 players FC Petrolul Ploiești players Swiss Super League players Liga I players Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Italian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Italian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Footballers from the Province of Bergamo