The Victorian Football League-Australian Football League (VFL/AFL) Italian Team of the Century was announced in June 2007. It recognises the role of Italian Australian players in the sport.[1]

Players and/or at least one of the player's parents or grandparents had to have been born in Italy. They also had to have played at least one game at VFL/AFL level.[2]

Anthony Koutoufides, who was also in the Greek Team of the Century qualified via his mother,[3] whilst Ian Stewart's father was Italian, but he had always used his mother's maiden name.[4] John Kennedy's maternal grandparents were Italian.[3]

The team

The final selected team was announced at the Palladium Room at the Crown Casino in Melbourne on 31 May 2007.[5]

Italian Team of the Century
B: Frank Curcio Stephen Silvagni Len Incigneri
HB: Alec Epis Anthony Koutoufides John Kennedy Jr
C: Robert DiPierdomenico Ian Stewart Peter Matera
HF: Peter Riccardi Alan Martello Mark Mercuri
F: Phillip Matera Saverio Rocca Brendan Fevola
Foll: Steve Alessio Mark Ricciuto (Captain) Peter Pianto
Int: Sergio Silvagni Tony Liberatore Scott Camporeale
Joe Misiti
Coach: Ron Barassi, Jr

A team President was also named: Frank Costa.

Selectors

Choosing the team from the shortlist were:[6]

Shortlist

The panel's final selection was made from a shortlist of 50 (from an original list of 148). They were (listed alphabetically):[7]

  1. Steve Alessio
  2. Mark Arceri
  3. Ron Barassi, Sr. (deceased)
  4. Adrian Battiston
  5. John Benetti
  6. Mario Bortolotto
  7. Scott Camporeale
  8. Domenic Cassisi
  9. Vin Catoggio
  10. Frank Curcio (deceased)
  11. Nick Dal Santo
  12. Ron De Iulio
  13. Paul Dimattina
  14. Robert DiPierdomenico
  15. Alec Epis
  16. Brendan Fevola
  17. Silvio Foschini
  18. Cyril Gambetta (deceased)
  19. Daniel Giansiracusa
  20. Len Incigneri (deceased)
  21. Alan Johnson
  22. John Kennedy Jr
  23. Anthony Koutoufides
  24. Andrew Leoncelli
  25. Tony Liberatore
  26. Paul Licuria
  27. Stan Magro
  28. Gary Malarkey
  29. Al Mantello
  30. Gerald Marchesi (deceased)
  31. Alan Martello
  32. Peter Matera
  33. Phillip Matera
  34. Mark Mercuri
  35. Joe Misiti
  36. Tony Ongarello
  37. Peter Pianto
  38. Tony Polinelli
  39. Simon Prestigiacomo
  40. Adam Ramanauskas
  41. Peter Riccardi
  42. Mark Ricciuto
  43. Guy Rigoni
  44. Anthony Rocca
  45. Saverio Rocca
  46. Peter Russo
  47. Laurie Serafini
  48. Sergio Silvagni
  49. Stephen Silvagni
  50. Ian Stewart

See also

References

  1. ^ Italian Team of the Century Archived 2007-05-23 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Selection Criteria". Italian Team of the Century. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
  3. ^ a b "Carlton players feature in Italian Team Of The Century". afl.com.au. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Italian Team of the Century: Ian Stewart (Cervi)". www.footyalmanac.com.au. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Italian Team of the Century named". AFL.com. BigPond. 1 June 2007. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011.
  6. ^ "The Selectors". Italian Team of the Century. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
  7. ^ "The Final 50". Italian Team of the Century. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012.
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