Francesco Tavano

Francesco "Ciccio" Tavano (born 2 March 1979) is an Italian football coach and former professional striker.

Francesco Tavano

Tavano with Livorno in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth	(1979-03-02) 2 March 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth	Caserta, Italy
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
0000–1997	Nola
1997–1999	Fiorentina
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2000	Pisa	11	(0)
2000–2001	Rondinella	46	(21)
2001–2006	Empoli	142	(43)
2006–2007	Valencia	3	(0)
2007	→ Roma (loan)	14	(2)
2007–2011	Livorno	128	(48)
2011–2015	Empoli	118	(63)
2015–2016	Avellino	22	(3)
2016–2017	Prato	26	(6)
2017–2020	Carrarese	79	(39)
2020–2021	Prato	27	(11)
2021–2022	Ponsacco	20	(10)
2022	Tuttocuoio	?	(3)
Managerial career
2022–2023	Tuttocuoio
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Tavano started his professional career with Pisa before being sold to a minor Florence team, Rondinella, then in Serie C2. He then joined Empoli, where he slowly established himself as one of the stars of the small Tuscan team. During the January 2006 transfer window, several Italian football pundits claimed that Real Madrid were interested in signing Tavano,^[1] but he eventually signed for Valencia in mid-2006, for €9 million.^[2] He received a call-up from the Italy national team in April 2006,^[3] when manager Marcello Lippi held trials for the 23-man squad that would go on to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but he never made his international debut.^[4]

His time in Spain, however, proved unsuccessful, as he fell out with the coaching staff after making statements in the press, which led to him being a sub-player for most of his short stay in Spain. Tavano then returned to Italy for a loan spell with Roma, where he mostly served as a reserve player for the main Giallorossi strikers. However, he was able to win the 2006–07 Coppa Italia with the club.

In 2007, he was permanently signed by Livorno,^[5] for a reported €5.5 million on a four-year contract.^[6] He received the number 10 jersey, previously retired in honour of Igor Protti and unretired that year under explicit request from the former amaranto star. Despite being the club's top scorer in his comeback season in Tuscany, his side did not manage to escape from relegation. Tavano agreed to stay at Livorno also in their 2008–09 Serie B campaign to try to lead his team back into the top flight.

He scored a hat-trick against Avellino on the season's opening day, making it the first round 1 hat-trick since 1994. He would then score at Piacenza before standing back to back with a teammate in celebration. He missed a penalty against Empoli, his former club, with the score tied at 1–1 before Antonio Buscè scored Empoli's winner. Tavano would, however, get a goal in the 5–2 win over Frosinone on the way to 25 for the season, giving him the capocannoniere title and ensuring promotion through the playoffs after missing out on automatic promotion to Bari and Parma. However, he had a hard season in Serie A, as Livorno were the only newly promoted team to go down. He scored the winner at Roma, but only scored four more goals.

He retired in 2022 after starting the season with Eccellenza Tuscany amateurs Tuttocuoio at the age of 43.

Coaching career

On 15 November 2022, Tavano took on his first head coaching role, in charge of Eccellenza Tuscany club Tuttocuoio, for which he was playing before, therefore forcing him to quit his playing career as a consequence.^[7] He was sacked on 14 November 2023.^[8]

Honours

Roma

• Coppa Italia: 2006–07

References

1. Empoli's Tavano excited by Real Madrid interest^{[permanent dead link‍]}, tribalfootball.com, 5 January 2006
2. Empoli FC SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2007 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA^{[permanent dead link‍]}
3. "Convocazione Nazionale" (PDF) (in Italian). FIGC. 30 April 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
4. "Test azzurro, Lippi richiama Inzaghi". corriere.it (in Italian). IlCorriere della Sera. 30 April 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
5. "Quattro nuovi acquisti del Livorno Calcio". AS Livorno Calcio (in Italian). 30 June 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
6. "Tavano e Rossini al Livorno Via Abbiati, Torino su Sereni". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 27 June 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
7. "Francesco Tavano si ritira: a 43 anni l'ex attaccante diventa il nuovo tecnico del Tuttocuoio" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
8. "Eccellenza, il Tuttocuoio esonera Ciccio Tavano, al suo posto Nicola Sena" (in Italian). PisaToday. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.

External links

Francesco Tavano at Soccerway