As a child, the Fiorentina full-back went every Sunday to follow Serino, the team from his small village in Irpinia, which disappeared in 2019. And now, as a Serie A footballer, he has refounded it and registered it in the second category
Fabiano Parisi is an excellent footballer. A left-back with good legs, he made his Serie A debut as a 20-year-old with Empoli and currently plays for Fiorentina. With the purple shirt he also had the satisfaction of playing in the Conference League, after participating in the Under 21 European Championships with the Italy shirt. Born in 2000, Parisi is the best recent product of Irpinia football, and has somehow decided to return to starting point. Not on the pitch, but with a different role.
where it all began
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Fabiano is originally from Serino, 6,600 inhabitants at the foot of the Irpinia mountains and a few kilometers from Avellino. A typical southern Italian village, surrounded by greenery, where everyone knows each other, renowned for its chestnuts. Parisi grew up in this reality, supporting FC Serino, the town’s team, which has always had its say between Promotion and Third Category. Every weekend he went to the stadium to cheer with his father Carmine, known as “Charles”, a household appliances dealer. There his passion for football was born, there he chose to make it his profession. And there, as a high-level professional, he decided to return.
the importance of roots
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The Serino team, always registered in the provincial championships as FC Serino 1928, plays its last match in the disastrous 2018-19 season: a last place in Group C of the Promotion with 25 defeats in 30 matches and only one point in the standings due to the 4 penalties. That is the year of the launch in football that counts for Fabiano, who stands out in D with the Avellino shirt, earning the nickname “Pendolino di Serino”. While he climbed the Italian hierarchy, football in Serino was at a standstill, the country no longer had its meeting point. So at a certain point Fabiano took to the field.
parisi president
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In the summer of 2025 Parisi invested to give the team back to his country, also in honor of the memory of his father who passed away in 2021 (he plays with the number 65, dedicated to the year of his parent’s birth). And so he revived FC Serino 1928, purchasing the title and enrolling in Group A of the Second Category of Campania. The team is run by the Parisi family. He is the president, the most famous of the three brothers. The eldest of the three, Antonio, plays the role of vice president, while Valerio, the youngest, is part of the team as a supporter and advisor. The idea soon found the approval and help of the municipality, which had recently renovated the “Salvatore Mariconda” municipal field, with a new synthetic turf, adequate changing rooms and covered stands that allow you to watch the matches even on rainy days. Which, especially between October and March, the period in which a large part of the Second Category championship takes place, are not a rarity here.
the team
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Parisi’s involvement was obviously a switch that rekindled the passion for football in the town, leading many amateur footballers in the area to answer the call. The squad is made up of all young people from Serino or neighboring towns, who have chosen to dedicate their weekend and some days during the week to a rebirth project for a small town. With Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning spent watching Serino, as happened to Fabiano Parisi in his childhood and adolescence, with the hope, who knows, that some young person might follow in his footsteps. He believes in it, and has taken care of everything down to the smallest detail: new logo, new club colors, confirming, as is natural, only the name. And it is clear that the intent is not limited to re-establishing the team, but contains the objective of restoring its prestige.
good intentions
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The debut of Parisi’s new Serino was a success: a 2-1 comeback victory against Cicciano. The first day, Sunday 12 October, also happened to be the weekend of the national break, a coincidence that allowed president Parisi to be present at the stadium among his people. Even if in Serino he is and remains simply Fabiano, before being a professional footballer. A boy who grew up in the village, fond of his friends and above all his family, as demonstrated by this not at all obvious gesture.
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