Alessandro Lucarelli ( born 22 July 1977) is an Italian former professional

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, rugb ...

who last played for

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second m ...

as a defender.

Playing career

Alessandro Lucarelli started his professional career at

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

, whose youth sides he also represented. In 1997, he was sent out on loan to

Leffe Leffe () is a premium beer brand owned by InBev Belgium, the European operating arm of the global Anheuser–Busch InBev brewery giant. There are several beers in the range, and they are marketed as abbey beers. They are brewed in large quan ...

in order to gain first team experience, making 29 league appearances with the side in 1997–98 Serie C2. Leffe narrowly avoided relegation in a relegation play-out. He became a more prominent member of the first team upon his return to Piacenza, where he spent four seasons as a regular. Playing for the first time in

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 ...

, Lucarelli avoided relegation with Piacenza in 1998–1999 but went down the following year after finishing bottom of the league. Piacenza and Lucarelli secured an immediate return to the top division the next year with a second-place finish in

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 ...

. In 2001–02, Piacenza finished 12th and this proved to be Lucarelli's final season with the club after 100 appearances in all competitions. After leaving Piacenza in the summer of 2002, Lucarelli moved to

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

, then in Serie B, where he spent just one season, making 28 league appearances for the Rosanero, who finished just outside of the promotion places. A brief spell at

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and '' comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

in the summer of 2003 lasted just two appearances in the

2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Schalke 04, Villarreal, and Perugia. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. First round First leg ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- - ...

, which would prove to be his only two appearances in European competition. In August of the same year, he moved to another Serie B side, this time

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

, where he made 31 appearances as they were promoted to Serie A. His hometown club,

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

, noticed the defender's qualities and signed him for the

2004–05 Serie A The 2004–05 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 103rd season of top-tier Italian football, the 73rd in a round-robin tournament. It was expanded to contain 20 clubs, which played 38 matches against each other, ...

season. He made 28 appearances in his only full season at the club and also scored his first league goals of his professional career as he bagged four goals. Livorno finished ninth in Serie A. Lucarelli moved to

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are ni ...

for the 2005–06 season and would spend two seasons at the club, twice achieving mid-table finishes before repeating the feat with

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

in 2007–08, a club he had joined in the summer of 2007, having been exchanged to

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

from Reggina for Francesco Cozza, but immediately leaving for

, where he signed a three-year contract. Genoa paid €1.9 million to Siena to acquire Lucarelli.Genoa CFC Report and Accounts on 31 December 2008 The following summer, 2008, he rejoined his brother Cristiano at

, who paid €1.2 million for his services. Parma were in Serie B at the time and Lucarelli helped Parma to promotion that season, making 39 appearances in all competitions. This was Lucarelli's third promotion from Serie B to A. Between 2009 and 2015 and across six seasons, Lucarelli made 193 Serie A appearances for the club. In his sixth season at the club, he became club captain. During his time at Parma, he entered the top 100 of players with most Serie A appearances, appearing 386 times for five clubs. Lucarelli was the only player to remain at Parma following the club's demotion to Serie D. He earned three successive promotions in the rebirth of the club from Serie D in 2015–16, Lega Pro to Serie B in 2016–17 and to Serie A in 2017–18. On 4 November 2017, Lucarelli became Parma's record holder for league appearances, moving ahead of

Ivo Cocconi Ivo Cocconi (28 May 1929 – 14 February 2020) was an Italian football player, who operated as a defender. Cocconi was born in Parma. He made his debut on 2 April 1950 in a 2–1 defeat against Cesena at the age of twenty. Three years later, a ...

on the all-time list. On 27 May 2018, Lucarelli announced his retirement during Parma's promotion party at the

Stadio Ennio Tardini Stadio Ennio Tardini, commonly referred to as just Il Tardini, is a football stadium in Parma, Italy, located near the centre of Parma, between the town centre and the city walls. It is the home of Parma Calcio 1913. The stadium was built in 19 ...

, with Parma retiring his number 6 jersey.

Coaching career

In June 2017, Lucarelli began studying for his

UEFA A Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...

at Coverciano.

Personal life

Lucarelli was born in

, the younger brother of

Cristiano Lucarelli Cristiano Lucarelli (; born 4 October 1975) is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a striker from 1992 until 2012. He was most recently the manager of Serie B club Ternana. Club career Lucarelli was born in Livorno, ...

, who played for

and the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing b ...

. Both the Lucarelli brothers captained their respective clubs for the 2006–07 season. Alessandro's son, Matteo, now plays for Bulgarian Tsarsko Selo, on loan from

Career statistics

Honours

Club

* Parma **

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 Dilettanti ...

: 2015–16

References

External links

RegginaCalcio.com

gazzetta.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucarelli, Alessandro 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Livorno Association football defenders Italian footballers Piacenza Calcio 1919 players U.C. AlbinoLeffe players Palermo F.C. players U.S. Livorno 1915 players ACF Fiorentina players Reggina 1914 players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players Genoa C.F.C. players Parma Calcio 1913 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Footballers from Tuscany