Alfonso Negro

Alfonso Negro (Italian pronunciation: [alˈfɔnso ˈneːɡro]; 5 July 1915 – 7 November 1984) was an American-born Italian football (soccer) player, who played as a forward; he is believed to be the first American-born player in Serie A and the first American-born player to have played for Italy.

Alfonso Negro
Personal information
Date of birth (1915-06-27)27 June 1915
Place of birth Brooklyn, New York, United States
Date of death 7 November 1984(1984-11-07) (aged 69)
Place of death Florence, Italy
Playing position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1930–1933 Angri ? (?)
1933–1934 Catanzaro 23 (6)
1934–1938 Fiorentina 52 (5)
1934–1938 Napoli 25 (3)
1942–1952 Ercolanese ? (?)
National team
1936 Italy 1 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Negro started his career with Angri in Serie C at the age of 15. He moved onward to Catanzarese in Serie B. While at Catanzarese, he made his international debut with Italy B team against Hungary in Vercelli.

In 1934, he transferred to Fiorentina in Serie A. At that era, three other American-born players -- Armando Frigo, Alfio Argentieri and Umberto Piccolo—played in Italy at that time, but only Armando Frigo played in the Serie A. Alfonso Negro played 51 games for Fiorentina, and scored five goals, before being transferred to Napoli in 1938, where he played 25 games and scored three goals.

International career

Negro was selected to play for Italy at the 1936 Olympic Games. He scored a goal against Norway and went on to win a gold medal in the tournament.

Education

Negro also entered university where he played for his school team. He graduated in medicine and surgery at Florence University and during the war served as a medical officer in Greece. Following the war he became a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology and became a lecturer. He died in Florence, Italy on November 7, 1984.

Honours

International
Italy

References
  • "Americans in Italy at National Soccer Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved October 12, 2008.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  • "Alfonso Negro at databaseOlympics.com". Archived from the original on March 8, 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  • "US Players in Italy". RSSSF. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
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