Stefano Eranio is an Italian former football player, who played as a midfielder. Throughout his career, Eranio played mainly as a right winger; he is mostly remembered for having played for Italian clubs A.C. Milan, and Genoa, as well as English side Derby County, and he also represented Italy 20 times between 1990 and 1997 at international level. His main attributes were his technique, pace, stamina, and his ability to make attacking runs. Although he was primarily an offensive or wide midfielder, he was also competent defensively, and he was occasionally deployed as a full-back. He was voted one of Derby County's 11 greatest ever footballers.
Club career
Genoa and Milan
Eranio started his professional football career with Genoa in August 1984. His first five seasons at Genoa were in Serie B, until in 1989, the club were promoted to Serie A. In total, Eranio played for the club for eight seasons, before moving to AC Milan in August 1992. At Milan he won three league titles, three Italian Super Cups and he also played in two Champions League finals. The first was in 1992–93, when Milan lost 1–0 to Olympique de Marseille, and the second was in 1994–95 when his club lost 1–0 to Ajax Amsterdam. Although he was part of the team's successful Champions League campaign during the 1993–94 season, but he did not play in the final due to injury. He also added the European Super Cup to his trophy collection in 1994.
In May 1997 he moved on a free transfer to the English club Derby County, where he became a fan favourite; he made his Derby, and FA Premier League debut, on 9 August 1997 against Blackburn Rovers. His first goal for the Derbyshire club came on 30 August 1997 when he scored in a league game against Barnsley. In this season, Derby County moved from their former home at the Baseball Ground to their new home, Pride Park Stadium, and Eranio's goal, to take the score to 1–0 against Barnsley was the first that was scored at Derby's new home ground. Eranio had thought of retiring after the 2000–01 season, but manager Jim Smith persuaded him to stay on. When Smith was fired in October 2001, Eranio chose to leave Derby County. He retired in 2003 after spending a season with lowly fourth division Serie C2 side Pro Sesto, where he was featured in a player/assistant manager position. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential players to play for Derby County and, on 1 May 2006, Eranio and Ted McMinn were inducted as Derby Legends.
Eranio has been part of the A.C. Milan youthcoaching staff since 2005, and is currently head of the Giovanissimi Nazionali youth team.
Media
On 22 October 2015, Eranio was fired by Swiss television station RSI following racist remarks. Criticising an error made by Roma defender Antonio Rüdiger during the 4–4 draw in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen, Eranio had stated: "Black players in the defensive line often make these mistakes because they’re not concentrated. They are powerful physically, but when it is time to think … they often make this type of error."
