John Maisano

John Maisano (born 6 January 1979) is a current football coach in the NPL, business owner and an ex-Australian former professional footballer who played as midfielder. Maisano played for Atalanta in the Serie A, Westerlo in the Jupiler League, Helmond Sport, Marconi Stallions in the National Soccer League, Greenock Morton in the Scottish 3rd, 2nd and 1st division, Ayr United in the Scottish 2nd Division and Stranraer in the Scottish 1st Division. He also represented Australia in the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the 1999 FIFA U-20 World Youth Championship and toured with the Australian u/23 Olympic team to South Africa before retiring from professional football in 2006.Maisano Football Highlights

John Maisano
Personal information
Full name John Marcel Maisano
Date of birth (1979-01-06) 6 January 1979
Place of birth Melbourne, Australia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Bulleen Lions (Senior coach)
Youth career
1996–1997 Australian Institute of Sport
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1998 Atalanta 2 (0)
1998–1999 Westerlo 25 (4)
2000 Helmond Sport 12 (3)
2000–2002 Marconi Stallions 48 (15)
2002–2005 Greenock Morton 110 (25)
2005–2006 Ayr United 10 (1)
2006 Stranraer 6 (0)
National team‡
1994–1995 Australia U17 20 (16)
1997–1999 Australia U20 21 (12)
Teams managed
2016– Bulleen Lions (U20 coach)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:00, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10:00, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Maisano returned to Australia with his wife in 2011 where they began their entrepreneurial careers with the launch of Alien Fitness, a chain of fitness gyms based on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.

Personal life

John Maisano was born in Melbourne to Italian parents Giuseppe and Giuseppina. His brother Marco was born in 1981.

He moved overseas in 1998 to pursue a career in professional football and eventually resided in Greenock, Scotland with his Scottish wife Leanne, whom he married in 2005 during his time at Morton. In 2011, Maisano returned to Australia with his wife to start their own business after working within the fitness industry for several years. Their daughter Alexis was born in 2014.

Football career

Maisano began his professional football career at Italian Serie A team Atalanta. However, his introduction to football came at the world-renowned Australian Institute of Sport and it was after a year there (1996–1997) that he moved overseas.

During his time at Atalanta, Maisano represented his country at international level. He was part of the Australia under-17 squad in the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Ecuador and the Australia under-20 squad that took part in the under-20 World Championships in Nigeria. Harry Kewell was a teammate in the under-17 competition; while Brett Emerton was a teammate in the under-20 tournament.

Maisano returned to Europe in 2002 when he left Marconi Stallions after being nominated as one of the best players that season and turning down a lucrative contract with Perth Glory and signed for Greenock Morton. This was only a few months after his younger brother Marco had also joined the club. He was an integral part of the Scottish Third Division championship winning side in season 2002/03. He left his biggest performance for the most important match, where the title was won on the final day of the season versus Peterhead.Title Winning Game Highlights[1]

After Morton he had brief spells at Ayr United and Stranraer.[2]

Maisano retired from professional football in 2006, after suffering health issues aged only 27 years old. During the course of his career, Maisano missed opportunities to sign with clubs such as Fiorentina, Anderlecht, Celtic, Kilmarnock and Dundee.[3]

Post-football

After retiring from football, Maisano decided to stay away from the game and spent the subsequent years working as a personal trainer in Scotland alongside his wife.

In 2009, the couple were contestants on series 2 of the revival series Gladiators in the UK,[4] becoming the first ever husband and wife team to participate on the show.

In 2011, Maisano and his wife decided to return to Australia where they identified the Mornington Peninsula as the ideal location to set up their home, family and to launch their business venture Alien Fitness. In the years since, Alien Fitness has grown extensively and is renowned for its positive influence on the local community and for being "one of the most talked about and innovative fitness clubs on the Peninsula".[5]

In 2012, Alien Fitness won the Business NAB Excellence Award.

In 2016, Maisano's love and passion for football returned and he is now a coach for the Bulleen Lions under-20 side in Victoria.[6] Maisano has been granted his AFC B Licence and will embark on a professional coaching career.

References
  1. "Morton are champions". BBC Sport. 10 May 2003. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  2. "Stranraer snap up Aussie Maisano". BBC Sport. 3 February 2006. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  3. "The Maisanos brothers, from Marconi to Morton". The Roar. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  4. "John Maisano". IMDb. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  5. "Alien Fitness: Nothing Like It In This World". RPP FM. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  6. "FC Bulleen Lions U20 NPL squad". FC Bulleen Lions. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
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