Giuliano Maiorana

Giuliano Maiorana (born 18 April 1969), commonly known as Jules Maiorana, is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger.[1] Born in England to Italian parents, Maiorana was spotted and signed by Manchester United while he was playing for Histon in the semi-professional Eastern Counties Football League.

Giuliano Maiorana
Personal information
Date of birth (1969-04-18) 18 April 1969
Place of birth Cambridge, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Position(s) Left winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1988 Histon
1988–1994 Manchester United 7 (0)
1995 Ljungskile SK 5 (0)
Newmarket Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Early career

Maiorana was born in Cambridge, England, to Italian parents.[2][3] In 1987, he had been playing Sunday League football before signing for Eastern Counties League club Histon, after they spotted him during a local five-a-side that was taking place at their home ground.[3]

Manchester United

After around 30 games for Histon's first team,[4] and having previously been turned down by Cambridge United, Brentford and Norwich City,[5] he was invited for a trial for Manchester United in November 1988. He played the first half of a testimonial match for Ian Handysides of Birmingham City, producing a performance described by Alex Ferguson as "one of the best displays I have ever seen from a trialist",[3] and signed a four-year contract with United for a fee of £30,000, amid interest from other clubs including Chelsea, Watford, and Tottenham Hotspur.[6] The fee saved Histon, who were £23,000 in debt and at risk of bankruptcy.[4]

Maiorana made his debut on 14 January 1989 as a substitute against Millwall in the First Division,[7] and came to prominence with an exciting display on his first start, in a live televised 1–1 draw with Arsenal (who finished the season as league champions) at Old Trafford that April.[8] Maiorana only started one more game, and made his last two substitute appearances in October 1989.[9] Near the end of 1989, he was sent to reserves,[10] where he suffered a serious knee injury in a match against the Aston Villa reserves after being tackled by Dwight Yorke.[11][12][13] After his injury, he remained with the reserves, but was unable to leave the club due to the Bosman ruling not being created yet.[14] He was finally able to leave on a free transfer at the end of the 1993–94 season.[4][15]

Late career

After leaving United, Maiorana had a brief spell with Ljungskile SK, where he made five appearances, of which four were as a substitute, in the Swedish second-tier Division 1.[16] He then returned home to work in his family's upholstery business,[4] and played for Newmarket Town in the Eastern Counties League Premier Division.[17]

In 2008 and 2009, Maiorana played for Manchester United's Masters Football team in the North West Masters Cup.[18][19]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[9][16]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester United 1988–89 First Division 6000000060
1989–90 First Division 1000100020
Total 7000100080
Ljungskile SK 1995 Division 1 5000—0050
Career Total 120001000130

References
  1. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1990). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1990–91 (21st ed.). Queen Anne Press. p. 353. ISBN 0-356-17911-7.
  2. Tanza, Kevin (18 August 2016). "Entrevista: Giuliano Maiorana, exjugador del Manchester United" [Interview: Former Manchester United player, Giuliano Maiorana]. La Seledad del Nueve (in Spanish).
  3. Ferguson, Alex (11 December 1988). "Gems From The Deep". New Straits Times. p. 22. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  4. "Maiorana – It was 20 years ago today Giuliano kept bank at bay". Cambridge News. 28 November 2008. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012.
  5. Garvey, Michael (11 December 2013). "The Story of Giuliano Maiorana". Pitchside.
  6. Pilger, Sam (15 September 2016). "From Nowhere to Dreamland and Back Again". Bleacher Report.
  7. Godley, Will (8 December 2014). "Interview – Giuliano Maiorana says Sir Alex Ferguson sabotaged his Career". Sportzwiki.
  8. Street, Tim (27 November 2018). "From Manchester United starlet to Cambridge upholsterer - the tale of Giuliano Maiorana". Cambridge News.
  9. "Giuliano "Jules" Maiorana". MUFC Info.
  10. Cola, Simone (9 January 2016). "Il volo spezzato di Giuliano Maiorana" [The Broken Flight of Giuliano Maiorana]. L'Uomo Nel Pallone (in Italian).
  11. Herbert, Ian (14 April 2014). "Maiorana's brush with Fergie and fame sums up football's fickle nature". Irish Independent.
  12. Kelly, Ciaran (12 September 2018). "Meet the trialist who stunned Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson". Manchester Evening News.
  13. Brooker, Kane (4 August 2015). "Giuliano Maiorana: I went to play football, not join the army". Read Man Utd.
  14. Baldi, Ryan (13 October 2016). "Interview, Giuliano Maiorana". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  15. Williams, Richard (24 January 1993). "The heirs to a magnificent dream". The Independent. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  16. "Giuiliano Maiorana" (in Swedish). Ljungskile SK. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  17. Brooker, Kane (5 June 2015). "Giuliano Maiorana: Seven Games, Dwight Yorke and Italianate Styles". Read Man Utd.
  18. "Masters Cup Manchester 2008". Masters Football. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008.
  19. "Masters Cup Manchester 2009". Masters Football. Archived from the original on 16 March 2010.
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