Raffaele Biancolino (born 14 August 1977) 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 le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. He is currently the Under-19 chief youth coach of

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

Playing career

Born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Biancolino played for lower league clubs well into his 20s. He only appeared for a

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 ...

side in the 2000–01 season, playing only three months for

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

. After returning to

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 ...

, Biancolino joined

in January 2003 and helped the side return to the second level. However, after being sparingly used in the start of the 2003–04 season, he moved to fellow second-divisioner Venezia in January 2004. Biancolino remained in the second and third levels in the following seasons, representing former side Avellino,

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

(being his side's topscorer in his only season at the club),

Juve Stabia Società Sportiva Juve Stabia is an Italian football club based in Castellammare di Stabia, Campania. Juve Stabia currently plays in Serie C, the third tier of Italian football system. History The football in Castellammare di Stabia From St ...

and

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

. In July 2012, 34-year-old Biancolino joined

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 ...

side

Salerno Calcio Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

. After a sole season with the side (also being topscorer), he moved to Avellino, after refusing to play for Salernitana.

Coaching career

In March 2018, Biancolino joined

's youth coaching staff as an assistant. In September 2019, he was named new head coach of

Promozione The Promozione (, "promotion") is the sixth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Promozione level progresses to their closest regional league in the Eccellenza level. Depending on each league's lo ...

amateurs Carotenuto. He then served as head coach of Eccellenza amateurs Città di Avellino from April to May 2021. In August 2021, Biancolino returned to Avellino as the assistant coach of Tonino Iandolo in charge of the ''Primavera'' Under-19 team. In July 2022 he was promoted in charge of the Under-19 team. On 17 October 2022, Biancolino was named caretaker coach of Avellino, following the dismissal of head coach Roberto Taurino. He was in charge of the team for a single league game, a 0–2 loss to

Viterbese The Viterbese or it, Asino Viterbese, italic=no is a breed of donkey from Lazio in central Italy. It is particularly associated with the town and province of Viterbo from which it takes its name, and with the Monti della Tolfa and the town ...

, before being replaced by new permanent boss Massimo Rastelli.

References

External links

* * 1977 births Living people Footballers from Naples Men's association football forwards Italian men's footballers Italian football managers Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players AC Ancona players Taranto FC 1927 players US Avellino 1912 players Venezia FC players ACR Messina players SS Juve Stabia players Cosenza Calcio players US Salernitana 1919 players {{Italy-footy-forward-1970s-stub