Italian Team of the Century

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]

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.