Eddie Firmani - Playing Career

Playing Career

Firmani played as a centre or inside forward. He joined English team Charlton Athletic in 1950 and became a regular goal scorer, including scoring five goals in a 6–1 win against Aston Villa in 1955. At the time the Charlton team included several South Africans, John Hewie, Stuart Leary and Sid O'Linn. During his first spell with Charlton he married Pat Robinson, daughter of the club's assistant manager. Later in 1955 he moved to Italian team Sampdoria for £35,000, which at the time was a record transfer fee involving a British club, beginning an eight year spell in Italy when he gained three caps for the Italian national team, qualifying for the national team because his grandfather was Italian. He also played for Internazionale and Genoa.

He returned to England in 1963, linking up again with Charlton. After two years he moved to Southend United but returned to The Valley for a third spell with Charlton two seasons later. In total, he made 177 appearances for the Addicks, scoring 89 goals. In recognition of his talents, he was named as Charlton's greatest overseas player in 2005. Firmani is the only man ever to have scored 100 League goals in both England and Italy. In 1975, he played one game for the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League.