Alberto Maria Fontana (born 2 December 1974) is an Italian 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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

. He spent the vast majority of his 18-year senior career as a backup. In

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, he represented

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

, for a total of 25 games.

Football career

Born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Fontana started his career at

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

but played his first seasons as a senior in

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

Serie C2 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

and

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

. In mid-1998 he joined

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as 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 b ...

club

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

and, the following campaign, he returned to the third division, successively representing Reggiana and Sandonà. In mid-2000, Fontana returned to the second level, signing with

Pistoiese Football Club Pistoiese SSD, commonly known as Pistoiese, is an Italian association football club, based in Pistoia, Tuscany. Currently, Pistoiese plays in Serie D. Originally founded on 21 April 1921, the club has also played Serie A on a num ...

where he served as David Dei's backup. He met the same fate at his new club

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

(

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

at that time), to Vincenzo Sicignano. In June 2002, Fontana joined Torino of the top division in a co-ownership deal, in exchange with Gabriele Paoletti. During his seven-year stint, the longest of his career, he played second-fiddle to

Luca Bucci Luca Bucci (; born 13 March 1969) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Bucci played for several Italian clubs throughout his career; he is mostly remembered for his choice of unusual shirt numbers and successf ...

Stefano Sorrentino Stefano Sorrentino (born 28 March 1979) is an Italian former footballer. A professional goalkeeper for his whole career, he is currently a football agent. Sorrentino played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, being mainly known fo ...

Massimo Taibi Massimo Taibi (; born 18 February 1970) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for several clubs, mostly in Italy's Serie A, Serie B, B, and Lega Pro Prima ...

Christian Abbiati Christian Abbiati (born 8 July 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Abbiati, who had been with AC Milan since 1998, started his career with Monza, and later played more than 300 official matches for Mil ...

and

Matteo Sereni Matteo Sereni (born 11 February 1975) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Born in Parma, Sereni started his career at UC Sampdoria, and was loaned out to A.C. Crevalcore in 1994. He returned to Sampdoria and only ...

. In summer 2009, 35-year-old Fontana was released by ''Toro'' and joined Novara in division three, where he again was second-choice, now to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Samir Ujkani Samir Ujkani (born 5 July 1988) is a former Kosovan professional association football, footballer who is the current sports director of the Kosovo national football team, Kosovo national team. Early life Ujkani was born in Resnik, a village near ...

. He also played a few games due to injury of the latter, including 15 in 2011–12's top level, which ended in relegation.

Italian football scandal

On 18 June 2012, Fontana was banned along with former Novara teammate

Nicola Ventola Nicola Ventola (born 24 May 1978) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Ventola played for several clubs in Italy throughout his career, and also had a loan spell with English side Crystal Palace. At internationa ...

for three years and six months, as the

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages a ...

found the match between Novara and

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

for the

2010–11 Coppa Italia The 2010–11 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 64th edition of the domestic competition. As in the previous year, 78 clubs took part in the tournament. Internazionale were the cup holders and successfully reta ...

to be fixed.

Cristian Bertani Cristian Bertani (born 14 March 1981) is an Italian footballer who plays for as a forward for an amateur club Pro Novara. He was suspended in August 2012 for three years and six months. Career Como Born in Legnano, Lombardy, Bertani started h ...

was also arrested. In November 2012, Fontana's appeal to the

Italian Olympic Committee The Italian National Olympic Committee (, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in ItalyWithin Italy, CONI recognizes 48 national ...

's TNAS was accepted. His contract was terminated late in that year, and he retired shortly after.

Personal life

Fontana is not related to another football goalkeeper, also named Alberto Fontana, who had an even longer professional career. As his footballing namesake, he was nicknamed ''Jimmy'' after singer

Jimmy Fontana Enrico Sbriccoli (13 November 1934 – 11 September 2013), known professionally as Jimmy Fontana, was an Italian actor, composer and singer-songwriter. Two of his most famous songs are " Che sarà", performed also by José Feliciano with Ricch ...

Honours

Individual

Torino FC Hall of Fame This is a list of Torino FC players who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame Granata. History The Hall of Fame Granata (''granata'' is the English for "maroon", the club's traditional colour) was created by the Museo del Grande Torino e della ...

: 2015

References

External links

*
Football.it profile

Gazzetta dello Sport profile (2007–08)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Alberto 1974 births Living people Footballers from Turin Italian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Juventus FC players ASD AVC Vogherese 1919 players Hellas Verona FC players AC Reggiana 1919 players FC Pistoiese SSD players AS Roma players Palermo FC players Torino FC players Novara FC players