Antonio Gonnella

DOB: 29th April 1989

Position: Midfielder

Season of first appearance: 2009/10

Season of last appearance: 2009/10

Full Appearances: 3

Substitute: 4

Goals: 0

Also played for:

Millwall, Fisher Athletic, Cambridge City, Hastings United, Maidstone United, Dulwich Hamlet, Folkestone, Kingstonian, Canvey Island, Concord Rangers, Bognor Regis Town, Faversham Town, Sittingbourne and Kent Football United.

Player Profile:

Diminutive midfielder who started his career at Millwall as a youngster. Antonio joined Fisher and progressed through the club's scholarship ranks and made his Conference South debut aged 17 in the 2006/07 season. He left when the entire squad was released in May 2007.

Antonio went to Italy and was invited to train with Serie B side Avellino. He returned to England where he joined Cambridge City.

Antonio then signed for Hastings United of the Isthmian Premier in November 2007. His only goal of 2007/08 was when he struck the winner in a 2-1 win against Margate on 22.2.08. Antonio then remained at Hastings for the 2008/09 campaign.

In July 2009, he completed pre-season with Carshalton Athletic but joined Maidstone United. However, he made a swift return to Hastings early in the season.

Antonio joined Dulwich Hamlet (who also had his younger brother Gerry) but his time at the Hamlet was cut short due to travel issues as Antonio was studying at Canterbury Christ Church University.

Antonio joined Margate and made his debut in midfield in a 3-3 draw at Bognor Regis on 12.12.09. The Thanet Times said he "looked pretty handy when Margate got the ball on the floor". He also started Margate's next match - a 3-2 defeat at Sittingbourne in the Isthmian League Cup on 16.12.09 - but Antonio only featured twice as a substitute in the four games that followed.

On 26.1.10, he was back in the starting line-up for a 1-0 win over Chatham in a Kent Senior Cup tie at Hartsdown Park and after that Antonio made two sub appearances in Margate's next five games. The last of them came in a 3-1 home defeat against Billericay on 16.2.10. In March 2010, Maidstone United's manager Peter Nott put in a seven-day request to sign him for his second spell at the club.

Antonio played for Maidstone for the remainder of the 2009/10 campaign and finished it having scored six times in 19 Premier Division appearances (six as sub). Antonio was being watched by Southend United but nothing resulted from this.

At the start of the 2010/11 campaign, Antonio was troubled by injuries and, in December 2010, he left the Stones.

Antonio signed for Folkestone Invicta who also had his university friend Frankie Chappell. He played a handful of games for Invicta before signing for Kingstonian in January 2011. Antonio featured 12 times for the K's before the end of 2010/11 but all bar one of his appearances were as a substitute.

Just after the start of the 2011/12 season, he joined Canvey Island and Antonio made 11 Premier Division appearances there (seven as sub) without scoring before briefly linking up with Conference South outfit Thurrock on a dual-registration basis. At the end of December 2011, he switched from Canvey Island to local rivals Concord Rangers.

Antonio's next move took him back to Folkestone in January 2012 but again he quickly moved on, this time to Bognor Regis in March 2012 where he stayed until the end of the season.

In June 2012, he joined Faversham Town of Division One South and scored once from six substitute appearances - the goal being an overhead kick in the first game of the season against Eastbourne Town.

In October, Antonio joined Sittingbourne, also in Division One South. After a handful of games, he suffered an ACL injury which sidelined him for over 12 months.

Antonio later played under the joint management of his brothers Ennio and Gerry at Kent Football United in the SCEFL Division One.

He then went into coaching and was part of the coaching team at AFC Whyteleafe when they won SCEFL Division One in 2023/24. In May 2024, he was appointed manager of SCEFL side Croydon but joined Forest Hill Park in November.

Antonio was a talented athlete as a youngster and competed in the English Schools Athletic Association national cross-country championship in 2003. He went on to represent London in multiple races throughout the UK.