Andrea Silenzi

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. He amassed Serie A totals of 132 games and 32 goals over six seasons, with Napoli and Torino.

Silenzi appeared once for the Italy national team, in 1994.

Club career Early years Silenzi was born in Rome. Nicknamed Pennellone (Big brush) due to his height,

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.

Napoli 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 team 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 from 20 appearances.

Silenzi had his best top-flight year in 1993–94, as he finished the season with 17 goals (tied for third in the scorers list) and also reached the semi-finals of the domestic cup. He spearheaded the attacking trio of Enzo Francescoli and a young Benito Carbone, and his impressive form garnered him a call-up to the Italy national team in early 1994; the following year saw the arrival of Ruggiero Rizzitelli, and he took over the leading goal-scoring spot from Silenzi, which translated into 15 more goals (19 to four).

In total, Silenzi made only 20 official appearances (seven starts) for Forest, scoring twice: one in the FA Cup against Oxford United and one in the League Cup against Bradford City. It is alleged that his contract was torn up by manager Dave Bassett (who took over in March 1997), for allegedly refusing to return from his loan spell at Venezia. In the English press, he is considered as one of the worst ever signings in the country.

Late career Silenzi continued his career with various clubs back in Italy, going on to play for Reggiana and Ravenna Calcio and also returning to Torino for a sole season, his two goals being too little to save Emiliano Mondonico's side from top-flight relegation.

Following his retirement, Silenzi worked for Torino as one of the club's directors.

International career Silenzi's only cap for Italy came on 16 February 1994, as he played against France as part of the warm-up process for the FIFA World Cup being held that summer. In the match held in Naples (0–1 loss), he came on as a second-half substitute.

Style of play Silenzi was a tall and "old-fashioned" centre forward, who was primarily known for his physical strength, heading, and acrobatic ability in the air, but equally for his inconsistency at the top level, as well as his lack of notable technical ability.

Personal life Silenzi is a Protestant, belonging to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

His son, Christian, is also a footballer.

Honours

Club Reggiana Serie C1: 1988–89

Napoli Supercoppa Italiana: 1990

Torino Coppa Italia: 1992–93

Individual Serie B: Top scorer, Chevron Award (best goal-per-game ratio) 1989–90