Alvin Ceccoli

NSL Career: Wollongong Wolves, Parramatta Power 210 (19) / 1995/96 - 2003/04

Socceroos Career: 6 (1) A Internationals

A powerful left-sided player with a wicked left foot, Alvin Ceccoli was one of the premier attacking full-backs in Australia during the late 1990s and early 2000s who helped bring long-awaited success to Wollongong. Ceccoli remains the only player of Sammarinese (San Marino) heritage to represent the Socceroos.

Ceccoli started his junior career at APIA before joining Sydney Olympic, where he progressed to the first team before spending a year on the sidelines due to a back injury. After recovering from injury, Ceccoli had an unsuccessful trial at NSL club Wollongong Wolves, being turned down by coach Berti Mariani, before signing for the club later in the season when former NSL striker Nick Theodorakopoulos took the reigns.

Making his NSL debut at the age of 21, Ceccoli became a Wollongong regular during the second half of the 1995/96 season as the club recorded it's worst defensive record, conceding 63 goals and won just five games out of 33. Theodorakopoulos looked to bring the club out of a low point in it's history and began to rebuild the side, with Ceccoli becoming a key component to the new coach's attacking philosophy. Following a slightly improved 1996/97 season where Ceccoli was a regular in the side, Wollongong qualified for the finals series in the 1997/98 season for the first time since the 1992/93 season. 

Ceccoli scored seven goals during the season, including one in the second leg of the elimination final against Adelaide City and one in the minor semi-final against Marconi. Ceccoli's impressive form led to his Socceroos debut during Australia's 1998 Oceania Nations Cup campaign and halfway through the 1998/99 NSL season the defender earned a short-term loan to Alpha Ethniki side AEK Athens, making four league appearances and scoring a goal as the club finished runners-up in the league.

The Socceroos defender returned to Wollongong for the 1999/00 season when the club became one of the elite sides in the competition, scoring a league record 72 goals during the regular season and finished second behind the equally free-scoring Perth Glory. 

Wollongong progressed to the grand final against Perth where after going down three-nil at half time, Wollongong clawed their way back with some tidy finishing. The match ended in a penalty shoot-out where Ceccoli converted Wollongong's third penalty as the club pulled-off one of Australian sport's greatest comebacks.

The championship qualified Wollongong for the 2001 Oceania Club Championship where Ceccoli was unable to get on the scoresheet as the club scored 43 goals in seven matches, but contributed with multiple assists. Wollongong defeated Vanuatu's Tafea one-nil in the final to be crowned Champions of Oceania before breaking the NSL's goal scoring record again (80 goals) in the 2000/01 season.

Wollongong progressed to their second consecutive grand final, defeating minor premiers South Melbourne two-one to claim back-to-back championships. As Oceania champions, Wollongong were set to take on Boca Juniors, Deportivo de La Coruña and Zamalek in the 2001 FIFA Club World Championship, however the tournament was cancelled due to financial and logistical setbacks.

Ceccoli remained with the club for another season before moving to Parramatta Power where he spent the final two seasons of the NSL, scoring in the first leg of the club's 2003/04 NSL Major Semi-Final against Perth before playing in the grand final where Perth scored the golden goal to claim the NSL's last championship.

Following the conclusion of the NSL, Ceccoli had stints in the Illawarra Premier League and NSW Premier League before joining new A-League franchise club Sydney FC. Ceccoli became one of the early stars of the A-League, becoming the first (and only) Australian footballer to win the Oceania Club Championship twice and won the inaugural A-League Championship. 

Ceccoli's form for Sydney earned him his first Socceroos call-up since 1998 and midway through the 2006/07 A-League season, the veteran defender earned a transfer to Japanese side Avispa Fukuoka. Following the 1997 J2 League season, Ceccoli joined Central Coast Mariners late in the 2007/08 season, winning the premiership before playing in the club's losing grand final to rivals Newcastle.

Ceccoli retired from the A-League at the age of 33 and returned to state league football where he spent the next 12 years in the Illawarra Premier League - winning three championships before hanging up his boots at the age of 45. Ceccoli was selected as left-back in Wollongong Wolves' Greatest XI as well as Sydney FC's Team of the Decade (2005-2015).