Giuliano Grazioli

Giuliano Grazioli
Personal information
Full name Giuliano Stefano Luigi Grazioli[1]
Date of birth (1975-03-23) 23 March 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth Marylebone, England[1]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995 Wembley
1995–1999 Peterborough United 40 (16)
1995Yeovil Town (loan) 11 (15)
1996Woking (loan) 5 (6)
1997–1998Stevenage Borough (loan) 12 (7)
1999–2002 Swindon Town 78 (18)
2002–2003 Bristol Rovers 34 (11)
2003–2008 Barnet 131 (68)
2007AFC Wimbledon (loan) 2 (0)
2008 Braintree Town ? (?)
2008–2009 Dover Athletic 20 (2)
Managerial career
2011 Barnet (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Giuliano Stefano Luigi Grazioli (born 23 March 1975, in Marylebone) is an English former footballer who played as a striker from 1995 until 2009, notably for Barnet.

As a footballer he also played for Wembley, Yeovil Town, Peterborough United, Woking, Stevenage Borough, Swindon Town, Bristol Rovers, AFC Wimbledon, Braintree Town and Dover Athletic.

Playing career

Raised in London of Italian origin, he attended Finchley Catholic High School in London.[citation needed] He scored in Stevenage Borough's fourth round FA Cup game against Newcastle United in the 1997–98 season to leave the game at 1–1 and force a replay. He has also had spells at Enfield, Bristol Rovers, Swindon Town and Peterborough United. He played for North London side Barnet and, during his time at the club, has had a loan spell with AFC Wimbledon, before closing out his career with spells at Braintree Town and Dover Athletic.

Grazioli's time at Peterborough is best remembered for the five goals he scored in the club's record win, a 9–1 victory[2] away at Barnet on 5 September 1998.

Grazioli joined Barnet as part of a deal that took Junior Agogo to Bristol Rovers. Rovers paid £110,000 for Agogo with Grazioli going the other way. He helped Barnet gain promotion from the Football Conference to the Football League in the 2004–05 season. He was the top scorer in the conference with 29 goals – seven more than nearest rival Michael Twiss of Morecambe. A hand injury kept Grazioli out of much of the following season – Barnet's first season back in League Two.

Between the 2006–07 and 2007–08, Grazioli underwent keyhole surgery for a knee injury, following which he moved to AFC Wimbledon on 7 September 2007[3][4] on a five-week loan spell.

In January 2008 Grazioli was transfer-listed, mainly due to not being able to break into the first-team due to persistent injuries and lack of fitness. On 31 January, deadline day, he rejected a loan move to Grays Athletic. On 26 April 2008, Grazioli played his last ever home game for Barnet, as a substitute against Stockport County, in which he received a standing ovation from the fans in appreciation of his prolific goal scoring which took the Bees into the Football League.

Grazioli joined Conference South side Braintree Town in August 2008. But after only a month, he signed for Isthmian League side Dover Athletic on 11 September 2008 and made his debut for them as a substitute in a 2–1 win over Tonbridge Angels in the FA Cup. Grazioli made over 20 appearances for Dover Athletic before announcing his retirement in March 2009 due to a sustained head injury. His final appearance came in a 0–0 draw with Staines Town.

Coaching and management career

It was reported in June 2009 that he had been appointed as a scout at Bristol Rovers.[5] In April 2010 he rejoined Barnet in a new role as community development officer.[6] After the appointment of Martin Allen as manager of Barnet in March 2011, Grazioli was made Allen's assistant.[7] In April 2011 after the shock resignation of Allen to go to Notts County Grazioli was appointed caretaker manager for the rest of the season with Lawrie Sanchez acting as Director of Football. His first game in charge was a 2–0 defeat at Bury. The Bees went into the final day of the season two points behind Lincoln City and following a 1–0 win at home to Port Vale coupled with a 3–0 defeat to Aldershot for Lincoln, it was the Imps who suffered relegation to the Conference National, completing a miraculous revival for Barnet, who had spent practically the entire season in the bottom two.

In May 2011 he was appointed as the club's new assistant manager to Lawrie Sanchez. He left the club at the end of the 2011–12 season. In September 2012, Martin Allen announced that Grazioli has been scouting for Gillingham.[8]

Managerial statistics

As of 7 May 2011
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Barnet 11 April 2011 30 June 2011 5 2 1 2 040.00
Total 5 2 1 2 040.00

Honours

References

  1. ^ a b Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
  2. ^ "Barnet 1-9 Peterborough United at Soccerbase". Soccerbase.com. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  3. ^ "'Jolly on the list while Guiliano comes on loan', AFC Wimbledon Official Site". Afcwimbledon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  4. ^ "'Grazioli Out on Loan', Barnet FC Official Site". Barnetfc.premiumtv.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 April 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  5. ^ "Grazioli Joins Rovers As A Scout". Bristolrovers.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  6. ^ Graz back as a Bee Archived 12 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Barnet | News | Latest News | Latest News | GRAZ IS ASSISTANT MANAGER". Archived from the original on 27 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  8. ^ "Gills boss happy to avoid slip up at old club". KentNews.co.uj. 9 September 2012. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2012.