Andrea Silenzi
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 10 February 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | Rome, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Pescatori Ostia | |||
| Lodigiani | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1987 | Lodigiani | 49 | (18) |
| 1987–1988 | Arezzo | 19 | (0) |
| 1988–1990 | Reggiana | 67 | (32) |
| 1990–1992 | Napoli | 39 | (6) |
| 1992–1995 | Torino | 82 | (24) |
| 1995–1997 | Nottingham Forest | 12 | (0) |
| 1996–1997 | → Venezia (loan) | 26 | (4) |
| 1997–1998 | Reggiana | 8 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Ravenna | 23 | (3) |
| 1999–2000 | Torino | 11 | (2) |
| 2000–2001 | Ravenna | 7 | (0) |
| Total | 343 | (89) | |
| National team | |||
| 1994 | Italy | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Andrea Silenzi (born 10 February 1966) is an Italian retired footballer who played as a centre forward.
He was the first Italian to play in the Premier League, when he signed with Nottingham Forest in 1995. Over the course of six seasons Silenzi amassed Serie A totals of 132 games and 32 goals, with Napoli and Torino.
Silenzi was born in Rome. Nicknamed Pennellone (Big brush) due to his height, he began his playing career with local A.S. Lodigiani. During his third season there he started scoring, and finished as second top scorer in Serie C2 with 18 goals. In the next season he moved to Serie B with A.C. Arezzo, but the campaign was a disaster both individually and collectively; the club finished last and was relegated to Serie C1, with the player appearing in 19 games and failing to find the net once.
Silenzi was transferred to another third level side, A.C. Reggiana 1919, for 1988–89, where his fortunes changed dramatically. The team won promotion that year, finishing in first place, with him contributing nine goals in 31 appearances. The next season he fared even better, finishing as the league's top scorer in division two; he scored an astonishing 23 goals out of the squad's 33, doing it in 38 matches for the best goal-per-match ratio in the competition.
Silenzi's prolific scoring garnered the attention of Scudetto and Coppa Italia winners S.S.C. Napoli, which was looking to strengthen its attacking options in a team which already featured Diego Maradona. He was ultimately acquired for 6 billion lira, and 1990–91 started brightly with the capture of the Supercoppa Italiana – a 5–1 thrashing of Juventus FC, with him contributing with two of the five goals. However, the rest of that season proved unlucky for the player, who only managed two Serie A goals (Maradona only netted six, all on penalties); the club finished eighth but went on to rank fourth the following year, mainly thanks to the firepower of Careca and Gianfranco Zola who had taken over for the banned Maradona – he only scored four times in 20 games.
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