John Maisano was born in Melbourne to Italian parents Giuseppe and Giuseppina. His brother Marco was born in 1981. He moved overseas in 1998 to pursue a career in professional football and eventually resided in Greenock, Scotland with his Scottish wife Leanne, whom he married in 2005 during his time at Morton. In 2011, Maisano returned to Australia with his wife to start their own business after working within the fitness industry for several years. Their daughter Alexis was born in 2014.
Football career
Maisano began his professional football career at Italian Serie A team Atalanta. However, his introduction to football came at the world-renowned Australian Institute of Sport and it was after a year there that he moved overseas. During his time at Atalanta, Maisano represented his country at international level. He was part of the Australia under-17 squad in the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Ecuador and the Australia under-20 squad that took part in the under-20 World Championships in Nigeria. Harry Kewell was a teammate in the under-17 competition; while Brett Emerton was a teammate in the under-20 tournament. Maisano returned to Europe in 2002 when he left Marconi Stallions after being nominated as one of the best players that season and turning down a lucrative contract with Perth Glory and signed for Greenock Morton. This was only a few months after his younger brother Marco had also joined the club. He was an integral part of the Scottish Third Division championship winning side in season 2002/03. He left his biggest performance for the most important match, where the title was won on the final day of the season versus Peterhead. After Morton he had brief spells at Ayr United and Stranraer. Maisano retired from professional football in 2006, after suffering health issues aged only 27 years old. During the course of his career, Maisano missed opportunities to sign with clubs such as Fiorentina, Anderlecht, Celtic, Kilmarnock and Dundee.
Post-football
After retiring from football, Maisano decided to stay away from the game and spent the subsequent years working as a personal trainer in Scotland alongside his wife. In 2009, the couple were contestants on series 2 of the revival series Gladiators in the UK, becoming the first ever husband and wife team to participate on the show. In 2011, Maisano and his wife decided to return to Australia where they identified the Mornington Peninsula as the ideal location to set up their home, family and to launch their business venture Alien Fitness. In the years since, Alien Fitness has grown extensively and is renowned for its positive influence on the local community and for being "one of the most talked about and innovative fitness clubs on the Peninsula". In 2012, Alien Fitness won the Business NAB Excellence Award. In 2016, Maisano's love and passion for football returned and he is now a coach for the Bulleen Lions under-20 side in Victoria. Maisano has been granted his AFC B Licence and will embark on a professional coaching career.
