Brescia
Gaetano Berardi played for which team before May 2006?
Gaetano Berardi Gaetano Michel Berardi ( born 21 August 1988 ) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender . He can also operate at left-back and centre-back . He has been capped at international level by Switzerland . Berardi scored his first ever senior goal against Newport County in the FA Cup . His 2nd was against Salford City in the League cup . Club career . Brescia . Born in Sorengo , Berardi started his career at Swiss club Luganos youth team . In the summer of 2005 , he was signed by Serie B side Brescia . Berardi made his professional debut on 30 June 2007 , in a winning away game against Pescara ( 1–3 ) . In his first season , Berardi made ten appearances in all competitions under the management of Serse Cosmi . In the 2008–09 season , Berardi was used in 26 Serie B games . Before finally becoming a first team regular in Giuseppe Iachini team during the 2009–10 season , Brescia earned promotion to Serie A after beating Torino in the Serie B play-offs . Berardi made his Serie A debut on 12 September 2010 in a 3–2 victory against Palermo . He made 26 starts in total for Brescia in Serie A , although Brescia were relegated at the end of the season after finishing in 19th position . Sampdoria . Upon the opening of the January transfer window , Berardi signed for fellow Serie B side Sampdoria . Berardi made his debut in a 2–1 victory against Padova on 14 January . At the end of the 2011–12 season , Berardi gained his second promotion to Serie A after winning the Serie B play-offs by beating Varese 4–2 on aggregate in the two-legged play-off final . The following club season in Serie A , despite stiff competition from Italian international Lorenzo De Silvestri , Berardi made 21 appearances in Serie A during the 2012–13 season . However , after the club appointed Siniša Mihajlović as head coach in November 2013 , Berardi lost his place in the starting lineup and only made five Serie A appearances during the subsequent 2013–14 season . Leeds United . On 19 July 2014 , Leeds United announced that they had signed Berardi to a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee . Club president Massimo Cellino confirmed that Berardi had taken a wage cut to join Leeds . Berardi made his Leeds debut on 12 August 2014 , starting the League Cup match against Accrington Stanley , but was sent off for a mid-air sliding tackle and received a three-match ban as a result . With regular right back Sam Byram suspended , Berardi was set to start against Bradford City on 27 August , but was ruled out after picking up a concussion the day before the game . His full league debut was in a 1–1 draw away at Birmingham City on 13 September 2014 . On 20 September , Berardi received his second red card in just his fourth game , after being sent off in a 3–0 win over local rivals Huddersfield Town . With regular left back Charlie Taylor pushed forward into an attacking left wing position , during 2015 Berardi became a regular fixture in the left-back position for Leeds . Berardi finished the season in strong form at left back , starting 10 of the last 11 games and becoming a fans favourite for his performances . On 21 September 2015 , after becoming a highly popular player with the fans for his consistent displays at both right back or left back positions , Berardi signed a two-year contract extension with the club lasting until 2018 . On 21 November , Berardi received another straight red card for Leeds in the 73rd-minute of a 1–0 home defeat to Rotherham United ; after being left with a bloodied nose following an elbow to the face from Leon Best , Berardi pushed Best to the ground before being restrained by his teammates , with both players receiving a straight red card as a result . The ban was later reduced after appeal due to the severity of the elbow Berardi received from Best , provoking the reaction . After returning from suspension , Berardi suffered a torn ankle ligament on 14 December against Charlton Athletic which ruled him out for two months . After returning from injury , in April 2016 , in the return fixture against Rotherham , Berardi – in similar circumstances to the reverse fixture – suffered a bloodied face/head injury after being elbowed by Rotherham striker Matt Derbyshire , which resulted in Derbyshires being given a straight red , albeit in a 2–1 defeat for Leeds . Berardi was nominated for the Leeds United Player of the Year award , alongside Charlie Taylor , Liam Bridcutt , Mirco Antenucci and Lewis Cook , though it was awarded to Taylor , whilst he also finished second in the voting for the Yorkshire Evening Post Player of the Year award , runner-up to eventual winner Taylor . Berardi missed the entirety of Leeds 2016–17 pre-season friendlies due to injury , although he did return to the substitutes bench for the final pre-season friendly against Italian side Atalanta . On 7 August , in the opening fixture of the season against Queens Park Rangers in a 3–0 defeat , Berardi was substituted early in the first half after picking up a hamstring injury . As a result of the hamstring injury , Berardi was ruled out for around six weeks . On 26 October 2016 , he made his return when he started in Leeds penalty shootout victory against Norwich City in the League Cup , after a dramatic 2–2 draw in normal time . However upon his return from injury , Berardi was kept out the side due to the impressive form of new right back Luke Ayling . After an Achilles injury to regular left back Charlie Taylor , on 29 December 2016 against Aston Villa , Berardi came into the side as a left back for a run of games . Berardis form at left back managed to keep out the returning Taylor for the remainder of the season . On 6 August 2017 , Berardi suffered a dislocated shoulder in the 3–2 victory against Bolton Wanderers in the first game of the season , and had to be replaced by debutant Vurnon Anita in the first half . On 8 August , he signed a new three-year contract at the club , keeping him at Leeds until the end of the 2019–20 season . On 30 December 2017 , Berardi was named as captain and made his 100th appearance for Leeds in the 1–0 defeat against Birmingham City . On 7 January 2018 , Berardi again captaining Leeds scored his first goal for the club and his first ever professional career goal with a low , swerving shot from 25 yards in a 2–1 defeat against Newport County in the FA Cup . On 7 April 2018 , Berardi who was captaining the side , was sent off for a two footed lunge on Sunderlands Callum McManaman , with the sending off being his third red card of the 2017–18 season , Berardi was given a five match ban , missing the final five games of the season . After missing 10 games combined through suspension for the 2017–18 season , Berardi apologised for his poor discipline in an interview with LUTV , stating that its not good enough for a senior professional player , adding that he will stop making mistakes when I die . Ahead of the 2018–19 season under new head coach Marcelo Bielsa , Berardi was training in a new position as a centre back , and used during pre-season in his new position . He started the season as first choice centre back alongside Liam Cooper , keeping Pontus Jansson on the bench , however Berardi was ruled out for a number of weeks after picking up a knee injury against Middlesbrough on 31 August . After returning from injury after six weeks out injured , Berardi in only his second game back , picked up a separate serious injury on 24 October 2018 in a 2–0 win against Ipswich Town after suffering a hyperextention injury to the hamstring , which would rule him out for several months . Rob Price , Leeds Head of Medicine , revealed the seriousness of the injury by revealing Berardi tore his hamstring completely off the bone . During the 2018–19 season , Berardi played 13 matches across the regular season after an injury hit campaign , with Leeds finishing the regular season in third place despite spending the majority of the season in the automatic promotion places , and therefore qualifying for the promotion play-offs . Berardi started the Championship semi-final first leg as Leeds went 1–0 up away to Derby County , but was sent off in the 78th-minute of the second leg for a foul on Bradley Johnson as Leeds lost 4–2 ( 4–3 on aggregate ) . The red card was the seventh of Berardis Leeds career , equalling Alan Smith as the most red-carded player in the clubs history . Berardi scored only the second goal of his career on 13 August in the EFL Cup tie against Salford City to help earn a 3–0 victory . He received his eighth red card for the club against Millwall on 5 October , at the time making him the most red-carded player in Leeds United history . However , the controversial red card was overturned on appeal on 8 October . After the English professional football season was paused in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the season was resumed during June , where Berardi earned promotion with Leeds to the Premier League as EFL Championship champions for the 2019–20 season . However , Berardi injured his anterior cruciate ligament in the penultimate game of the season as Leeds defeated Derby County 3–1 on 17 July 2020 ; the injury was set to rule Berardi out for nine months . Having signed a short extension to remain with Leeds during Project Restart , Berardis contract ran out at the end of the 2019–20 season . However , he was allowed to remain at the clubs Thorp Arch training ground while completing his rehabilitation from the ACL injury , and on 16 October 2020 signed a new one-year contract for Leeds first season back in the Premier League . He made his Premier league debut on 19 May 2021 , coming on for Diego Llorente in a 2–0 win for Leeds away to Southampton . On 21 May 2021 , it was announced that Leeds would release Berardi at the end of the season . On 23 May 2021 , after a 3–1 home win against West Bromwich Albion , Berardi alongside teammate Pablo Hernandez bade farewell to the Leeds United fans , after they made their final appearances for the club . International career . After playing for the Switzerland national under-20 team , Berardi debuted for the Switzerland U21s against Greece on 19 November 2008 . Berardi played his first match for Switzerland at senior level against Liechtenstein on 10 August 2011 . Honours . Brescia - Serie B Play-offs : 2009–10 Sampdoria - Serie B play-offs : 2011–12 Leeds United - EFL Championship : 2019–20