Stefano Eranio

Clubs

Stefano Eranio started his professional football career with Genoa in August 1984. His first five seasons at Genoa were in Serie B (Italian second division) before in 1989 the club were promoted to Serie A (Italian first division). In total, Eranio played for the club for eight seasons before he moved to AC Milan in August 1992.

At AC Milan he won three Scudetti (Italian league titles) (1993, 1994 and 1996), three Italian Super Cups (1992, 1993 and 1994) and one Champions League title. During those years AC Milan reached three consecutive Champions League finals: the first, in 1992–93, was lost 1–0 to Olympique de Marseille, the second (1993–94) was won 4–0 against Barcelona, and the third was lost 1–0 to Ajax Amsterdam. He added to his trophy collection with the 1994 European Super Cup, won by AC Milan in a two-legged tie against Arsenal in February 1995.

In May 1997 he moved for free to the English club Derby County where he became a fans’ favourite, and he made his Derby and Premier League (English top division) 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 scored at Derby’s new home ground.

He retired from professional football in 2003.

National team

Eranio debuted for the Italian football team on 22 December 1990 in a game against Cyprus. The game was a qualification match for the 1992 European Championships, and Italy won the game 4–0. His first international goal came against the Netherlands on 9 September 1992. Italy won the game 3–2.
On 29 March 1997, Eranio played his last game for Italy, against Moldova in a 3–0 home win. In total, he received 20 caps, and scored three goals, with six of the appearances in qualifiers for FIFA World Cups, and another five in qualification for UEFA European Championships.

Coaching career at AC Milan

Stefano Eranio continued working for AC Milan after the end of his professional playing career. He was the head coach of the AC Milan Giovanissimi Nazionali (U15) team from 2004 to 2009.

UEFA Pro Licence

Eranio holds the UEFA Pro licence, the highest coaching qualification in European football, required to manage teams at the top levels of national leagues and in UEFA competitions such as the Champions League and the Europa League.

View his Manager profile.

Derby County Legend

Stefano Eranio is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential players to play for Derby County. On 1 May 2006, Eranio and Ted McMinn were inducted as Derby Legends. In 2025, he was officially inducted into the club’s Walk of Fame, installed outside Pride Park Stadium to honour the most iconic figures in its history.

Find out more about the Derby County Walk of Fame.

Career as a player

	Club	Matches	Goals	Dates
Italy	Genoa	212	13	08/1984 – 05/1992
Italy	Milan	98	6	08/1992 – 05/1997
England	Derby County	95	7	05/1997 – 10/2001

Honours

Italian titles

Scudetti (Italian League titles): 3
AC Milan: 1992-1993, 1993-1994, 1995-1996
Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup): 3
AC Milan: 1992, 1993, 1994