Gianfranco Petris was born on August 27, 1936, in Budoia (Friuli).
He started to play football with Treviso making 40 appearances between Serie B and C with 11 goals. In 1956 he joined Triestina debuting in Serie A on September 30 against Padova. Triestina were then relegated but he stayed on in Serie B playing a total of 63 games with 23 goals. In his last year the forward was particularly good with 18 goals and a promotion, attracting the attention of Fiorentina.
He left for Florence in 1958 and stayed for six years, winning a Coppa Italia in 1960-61 and a Cup Winners Cup that same year. The Viola were also finalists in the 1958 Coppa Italia, which they lost to Lazio, and the 1961-62 Cup Winners Cup. In total he played 166 league games with 43 goals.
In 1964 he joined Lazio in Serie A but it was a disappointing year for him with just 11 appearances and 1 goal. In the autumn of 1965, he joined Trani in Serie B and stayed until the end of his career in 1968 by which time the Dragoni had just been relegated to Serie D.
Petris was the first player from Serie B to play for the Nazionale and the first to score too. He made his debut against Austria on March 23 1958 in Vienna for the Central European International Cup in a game Italy lost 3-2. He was also the last player from Triestina to play for the Nazionale.
He died on July 1 2018 in Trepalle near Sondrio.
Lazio Playing Career
Season | Appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
1964-65 | 13 (1) | 11 (1) | 2 |
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