Edoardo Reja (born 10 October 1945) is an Italian professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who was most recently the manager of Slovenian club Gorica. After a career as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

spent mostly with SPAL and

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, he began working as a manager. He won four promotions from

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

, including as champions with

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

(1997) and

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

(2000), as well as

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

(2004) and

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

(2007). Reja managed Vicenza, Napoli,

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

and

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

Playing career

Reja began his career with the SPAL youth squad, coached by

Paolo Mazza Paolo Mazza (21 July 1901 – 31 December 1981) was an Italian association football, football manager. He was co-manager of the Italy national football team, Italy national team at the 1962 FIFA World Cup, together with Giovanni Ferrari. Mazza c ...

, playing in midfield alongside lifelong friend

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL, AS Roma, Roma, AC Milan and Juventus FC, Juventus. H ...

, and other notable players such as Louis Pasetti and Adriano Zanier. Together, they helped the team win the 1963–64 Campionato Nazionale Primavera. In 1965, Reja joined Capello in

, in the SPAL first team, earning an appearance with the Italian U-23 squad. Reja played for two more teams, US Città di Palermo and

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

in a long career that lasted until 1975, playing a total of 124

matches.

Coaching career

Early career

Reja started his coaching career in 1979 serving as boss of

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

team Molinella. Next year he then coached

Monselice Monselice (; ) is a town and municipality (comune) located in northeastern Italy, in the Veneto region, in the province of Padua about southwest of the city of Padua, at the southern edge of the Euganean Hills (''Colli Euganei''). ''Monselic ...

Serie C2 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

. In 1989, he coached his first

team,

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, of which he was previously the youth squad boss. He successively gained good successes in the same league with

Cosenza Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

and

, where he won the championship. In fact, he launched the career of notable footballer

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian association football, football manager (association football), manager and former professional player. Considered one of the greatest Midfielder (association football)#Deep-lying playmaker, mi ...

at Brescia, where Pirlo was a regular member of the squad. However, Reja opted to give up the opportunity to coach Brescia in

, preferring to accept an offer from

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, another Serie B team, where he then missed promotion defeated in the promotion playoffs to

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

after a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

Serie A debut at Vicenza, Genoa, Catania and Cagliari

During the 1998–1999 season, he was appointed coach of

club

, thus making his debut in a top division team, but was unable to save the team from relegation. Next year he remained at Vicenza and led his team back to Serie A, but promptly relegated one more time in 2001. In 2001–2002, he replaced Franco Scoglio at the helm of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

(Serie B), but to be fired himself only three months later. On 2002–2003, he was appointed in the mid-season by

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

boss Luciano Gaucci to replace

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...

. In November 2003, he replaced Gian Piero Ventura at

and guided the ''rossoblu'' to second place in the

and promotion to

, but was not confirmed.

Napoli

In January 2005, Reja was appointed as the manager of

, again after Ventura's dismissal. He led Napoli to win

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

, obtaining promotion to Serie B in 2006, then a second consecutive promotion to

in 2007 – returning the

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

team to the top flight for the first time since 2001. In his first Serie A campaign with Napoli, Reja guided them to an

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

qualification spot, and was confirmed at the helm of Napoli in the 2008–09 Serie A season. He managed to lead the ''Partenopei'' to the second qualification round of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, where they were defeated by S.L. Benfica. Napoli rose up to first place in the

table in the first half of the season. After two points in nine games caused the team to fall into the bottom half, Reja was sacked on 10 March 2009, following a 0–2 home loss to

, and replaced by former Italian team boss Roberto Donadoni.

Lazio

After a short successful spell as head coach of Croatian side Hajduk Split from August 2009 to February 2010, Reja opted to quit his job in Split in order to become the new manager of SS Lazio. He was unveiled as the new Lazio head coach the following day, replacing Davide Ballardini. He turned the fortunes of a club in dismay, guiding it out of the relegation zone and into a mid-table finish in the season. The 2010–11 season for Lazio started in an astonishing way, with the team surprisingly heading Serie A with a four-point advantage to runners-up Inter after nine games, thanks to Reja's abilities in relaunching players such as

Mauro Zárate Mauro Matías Zárate (; born 13 March 1987) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward. Zárate started his career with Vélez Sarsfield in his native country, playing three years for the team and winning the Pri ...

, Cristian Ledesma and Stefano Mauri, as well as introducing new key signings such as Brazilian international Hernanes. On 17 May 2012 he resigned from the job, despite the president's pleas for him to stay on. After the sacking of Vladimir Petković, Reja returned to Lazio for a second spell on 4 January 2014, completing the season in ninth place. On 12 June 2014, he resigned from his role, with Stefano Pioli appointed as his replacement the same day.

Atalanta

Reja was appointed trainer of

on 4 March 2015 with the team three points above the relegation zone after the dismissal of Stefano Colantuono. His time at the club ended in May 2016, having saved them twice from relegation.

Albania

On 17 April 2019,

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

signed Reja to a seven-month contract after fellow Italian Christian Panucci was dismissed the previous month.

Gorica

On 2 March 2023, just a few months after the end of his contract with the Albania national team, Reja returned into management as the new head coach of

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

bottom-placed club

ND Gorica Nogometno društvo Gorica, commonly referred to as ND Gorica or simply Gorica, is a Slovenian football club based in Nova Gorica that competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of Slovenian football. They are one of the most succ ...

. On 17 April 2023, after only seven games in charge, his contract with Gorica was mutually terminated.

Personal life

Reja was born in the village of Lucinico (), now a suburb of

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

(), near the border between Italy and Slovenia. His father was a Slovenian from the village of Vipolže in Brda, Slovenia, while his mother was

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

an. He is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, and

Friulan Friulian ( ) or Friulan (natively or ; ; ; ) is a Romance language belonging to the Rhaeto-Romance family. Friulian is spoken in the Friuli region of northeastern Italy and has around 600,000 speakers, the vast majority of whom also speak It ...

. However, his levels of fluency vary: while he is able to speak the standard form of Italian, he only speaks a regional variety of Slovenian, strongly influenced by his native Brda dialect. He is close friends with

. Reja has been married to his wife Livia since 1969; he met his wife while rooming with Capello in

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

, at the time playing for SPAL.Capello: Portrait of A Winner. Gabrielle Marcotti

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

SPAL *

Campionato Nazionale Primavera The Campionato Nazionale Primavera – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti, was an Italian football youth competition. It is organised by the Lega Serie A and the participating teams that take part in Serie A and Serie B: the first edition was held in the 1 ...

: 1964–65 Alessandria Calcio 1912 *

: 1973–74

Manager

Brescia *

: 1996–97 Vicenza *Serie B: 1999–2000 Napoli *Serie C1: 2005–06

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reja, Edoardo 1945 births Living people Sportspeople from Gorizia Footballers from Friuli Venezia Giulia Italian Slovenes Italian people of Slovenian descent Italian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Serie A players Serie B players SPAL players Palermo FC players US Alessandria Calcio 1912 players Benevento Calcio players Italian football managers Serie B managers Serie A managers Croatian Football League managers AS Pro Gorizia managers Treviso FBC 1993 managers Delfino Pescara 1936 managers Hellas Verona FC managers Bologna FC 1909 managers US Lecce managers Brescia Calcio managers Torino FC managers LR Vicenza managers Genoa CFC managers Catania FC managers Cagliari Calcio managers SSC Napoli managers HNK Hajduk Split managers SS Lazio managers Atalanta BC managers Albania national football team managers ND Gorica managers Italian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Croatia Italian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate football managers in Albania Italian expatriate sportspeople in Albania Expatriate football managers in Slovenia Italian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Slovenian PrvaLiga managers 20th-century Italian sportsmen