Nicholas Anthony Rizzo (born 9 June 1979) is an Australian 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 ...

. Rizzo began his career in England with

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, however, he made his professional debut for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

where he featured in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. He then moved to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and played with

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 ...

AC Ancona Associazione Calcio Ancona, commonly referred to as Ancona, was an Italian football club based in Ancona, Marche. It was founded in 2004 as the phoenix club of defunct 1905 club Unione Sportiva Anconitana, which changed its name to Ancona Calc ...

and AC Prato before returning to England with

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

and

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. He has since played in his native land for Perth Glory,

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...

and APIA Leichhardt Tigers. He has been capped once for Australia.

Club career

After being educated at playing school football at Waverley College in Sydney, Rizzo arrived in England in 1996 joining English giants

. Although not capped in the first team, the then 18-year-old was an unused substitute on six occasions in the Premier League season 1997/98. He was then lured to

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...

for two seasons and featured in 36 league games before moving to Italian

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 ...

side

in 2000. At Palace he scored three times; once in the league against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

and twice in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

tie against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

(once in the first leg and once in the second leg). Following three injury plagued seasons with a knee injury in Italy he then joined English League 1 side

(formerly

Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. ...

) on a free transfer in November 2004, where he became a firm favourite with the fans. He is a lively and tricky player, known for his crossing and readiness to shoot on sight as well as his hard work and discipline. The summer of 2006 was not the best of times for Rizzo, who featured in the Dons' first pre-season game against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

but suffered with injury later in the season before going on loan to league two side

and then league one side Chesterfield in 2007. It was announced on 8 May 2007 that Rizzo's contract with M K Dons had been terminated by mutual consent. He then signed a two-year contract with Perth Glory on 19 May 2007, and made his debut on 26 August 2007, coming on in the 69th minute for

Naum Sekulovski Naum Sekulovski (born 14 May 1982 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays for Preston Lions Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Makedonia Soccer Club) is a soccer club from Presto ...

in a game against the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

. Rizzo was not offered a new contract at Perth Glory, and went on to sign a short-term deal for the

to play in their AFC Champions League campaign. It was announced on 20 May 2009, that Nick Rizzo's contract with

would not be re-signed. Rizzo went on to play for APIA Leichhardt Tigers until 2011.

International career

Nicky has represented Australia at the U17, U20, U23 level and is a full

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

international when he played for the

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated wit ...

against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in 1998. He also played in the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

for the Australian U23 team which failed to go past the group stages.

Coaching career

Since retiring Rizzo has set up his own soccer school named "Nick Rizzo International Football School".

A-League career statistics

(''Correct as of 2 February 2009'')

References

External links

Central Coast Mariners profile

*
Nick Rizzo International Football School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzo, Nick 1979 births Living people Soccer players from Sydney Australian people of Italian descent Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Olympic soccer players for Australia Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics A-League Men players Serie B players AC Ancona players AC Prato players APIA Leichhardt FC players Central Coast Mariners FC players Chesterfield F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Perth Glory FC players Sydney Olympic FC players Ternana Calcio players Men's association football midfielders Australian men's soccer players