Club Career
An Aosta native, Pellissier moved south to Turin where he came through the Torino youth academy, making his senior debut in Serie B in 1997. In 1998, he left the granata for Varese where he played under Mario Beretta in Serie C1. During his time at Varese, Pellissier was an important player in the side which narrowly lost in the play-offs for Serie B. He left the club in 2000, when he was signed by Chievo Verona, then in Serie B.
Pellissier began the 2000–01 season at Chievo, who went on to achieve an historic first ever promotion to Serie A. However, the Aostano striker did not see any game time, and in January 2001 after just six months in Verona, he was sent on loan to Ferrara-based SPAL. Pellissier spent the rest of that season at SPAL in Serie C1, and remained there for another season while his Chievo team-mates were making history near the top of Serie A. After a successful eighteen months on loan at SPAL, Pellissier returned to Chievo for the 2002–03 season, where he finally made his debut in A, and contributed a modest effort of five goals for the mid-table side. The following season, Pellissier only managed to score three times, but in 2004–05 made steady improvement with seven in Chievo's battle against relegation. 2005–06 was Pellissier's breakout season however, as he made a significant contribution to Chievo's campaign with thirteen league goals. The season was an important one, as the Calciopoli scandal ensured that Chievo finished in 4th place due to various deductions to other sides. This meant that the Flying Donkeys qualified for the UEFA Champions League, although they were defeated in the third qualifying round by Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia.
The disappointment of Chievo's straight sets elimination from Europe (they were also knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Sporting Braga) continued as they were embroiled in a tense relegation battle. For Pellissier personally, it was another impressive season, with 9 league goals, however on the final day, Chievo were relegated back to Serie B for the first time.
Now an established star in a side which did not have any bona-fide stars as well as a reputable goalscorer in Serie A, Pellissier opted to remain with Chievo despite their relegation. He was given the captain's armband, and was the leader of their charge back to Serie A. With strong consistency throughout the entire Serie B 2007-08 season, Chievo claimed the cadetto, with Pellissier scoring a career best 22 goals for the year.
He backed this up in 2008–09, with another strong contribution to the team. Chievo endured a miserable start to their season and at the midway point, looked set for a quick relegation back to B. With just three goals to his name, Pellissier was struggling, yet the arrival of Domenico Di Carlo on the bench, revitalised the whole side, including Pellissier who put several top sides to the sword. His first strong display came in a remarkable 3–0 victory over Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico, in which he scored a brace. Just two weeks later on 3 April, he went one better scoring a superb hat-trick against Juventus in Turin. Finishing the season with 13 goals, he was yet again Chievo's top scorer and integral in ensuring their survival. His stellar second half to the season did not go unnoticed as he was called up to Marcello Lippi's Italian national team.
Read more about this topic: Sergio Pellissier
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