Stefano Eranio will be remembered as one of the more successful Italians to play in England after his move to newly-promoted Derby County in 1997. Eranio was one of a number of peninsula stars plying their trade in Britain in the late 1990s, with Francesco Baiano at Derby joining Gianluca Festa, Marco Branca and Fabrizio Ravanelli at Middlesbrough, Gianluca Vialli and Gianfranco Zola at Chelsea, Nicola Berti at Tottenham and, north of the border, Paolo Di Canio at Celtic. While many of them were high profile successes or failures, Eranio was perhaps less well known to the rest of the country, but arguably more successful than some of his peers.
His performances in England saw him named as one of Derby’s all-time best imports and runner-up to Ted McMinn for the right-midfield position in the Rams’ Greatest Ever Team. He was inducted as a Derby legend along with McMinn in May 2006, having helped to keep the Midlands outfit in the Premiership for the four years that he played there before retiring shortly after Jim Smith was sacked in November 2001. In the view of Derby fans, his arrival coincided with the Rams beginning to play the quickest and most incisive football they had seen in some time.
Eranio started his career with his hometown team Genoa in 1984, spending eight seasons at the club. His first five campaigns with the Grifoni were in Serie B before their promotion in 1989. He moved to Milan in 1992, forming a midfield partnership with Alberigo Evani and Roberto Donadoni. Lo Skipper won the Scudetto three times whilst representing the Rossoneri, as well as playing in two Champions League Finals, both 1-0 defeats against Marseille in 1993 and Ajax in 1995.
Eranio won 20 caps for Italy, including playing in most of the qualifying games for the 1992 European Championship and 1994 World Cup, but did not play in any of the tournaments themselves. His last game for the Azzurri was a World Cup qualifier against Moldova in Trieste in March 1997.
He scored seven goals in 95 appearances for Derby, his opener for the club against Barnsley on August 30, 1997, also being the first to be scored at their new Pride Park Stadium. When he finally did decide to leave in 2001, he insisted: “I will go back to Italy in the summer, but I want to leave the club in the same position as I found it – in the Premier League.” Which is exactly what he did, but he then returned two months later. “I have played at some of the world's biggest clubs, but I never felt more at home than with Derby,” he said. “I love the fans and I can’t think of anything better than finishing my career here.”
Eranio had been scouting for talent in Italy for Derby manager Jim Smith, and played a crucial role in convincing Fabrizio Ravanelli to join the club. “Stef has been acting as a scout for me over in Italy and now it appears he has scouted himself,” stated the Bald Eagle as Eranio also returned. But things didn’t work out as planned, and the midfield ace stayed for just three months with one pre-season friendly appearance against Barcelona before taking on the player-manager role at Serie C2 outfit Pro Sesto in February 2002. Eranio is now a youth team Coach for Milan.
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