Giovanni Mei (born 15 October 1953) is an Italian former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and who now works as the technical director of Italian club

Fano Fano () is a city and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by pop ...

Playing career

Mei played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, often used as a full-back, spending his youth career with

, for which he made his debut in the first team in

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 ...

at 18 years old. He signed for

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, where he made his

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 ...

debut. However he struggles to find space, then he played first in Brindsi and then in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

. In 1976 he moved to

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 ...

, with which he obtained the promotion in Serie A at the first attempt (1976–77 season) and contested four championships, two in Serie A and two in

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 ...

. Identical curriculum he obtained with

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

, to which he was sold in the summer 1980. In 1984 he finally moved to the newly promoted

Cremonese Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

in Serie A, with which he obtained the last four appearances in the top flight. During his career he scored 1 goal and total of 109 appearances in Serie A and 197 appearances and in Serie B.

Managerial career

Mei began his coaching career at

Vis Pesaro Vis Pesaro dal 1898 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Vis Pesaro, is an Italian association football club located in Pesaro, Marche. The club currently plays in Serie C. The team is the largest in the city and among the oldest in Italy. Vis Pesa ...

in 1990 and later

Suzzara Suzzara ( Lower Mantovano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua, in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about south of the city of Mantua. Suzzara was given the honorary title of a city by ...

in 1991. Category rooms where in the seasons 1992–93 and 1993–94 he trained

Barletta Barletta (; Salentino: ''Varrétte'' or ''Barlétte'') is a city and ''comune'' in Apulia, in southeastern Italy. Barletta is the '' capoluogo'', together with Andria and Trani, of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. It has a population of a ...

. In 1995–96 he directed the Baracca Lugo. In 1996–97 he took over from Angelo Busetta on the

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 ...

bench, from which he was removed during the 1997–98 season. In 2000–01 he was on the bench of the Sambenedettese promoted in

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 ...

. The following year he was soon replaced by Paolo Beruatto. In 2003 he accepted the offer of Iranian club

Saipa SAIPA (, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'' lit. ''Iranian Limited Company for the Production of Citroën Autom ...

which played in

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

. In 2006–07 he returned to

as an observer. He later became assistant coach of Bologna and

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

joining Franco Colomba's technical staff. On 17 December 2012, he became the assistant coach of

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

alongside Franco Colomba. On 20 March 2013, following Franco Colomba's release from office, he was released from office. On 22 July 2014, he became assistant coach of the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club Pune City. After the season club cannot make playoffs and Colomba left the club with his coaching staff. After long time absence in football management he return to his former club

as a technical direction in July 2019.

References

External links

* :it:Giovanni Mei# {{DEFAULTSORT:Mei, Giovanni 1953 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italian football managers Expatriate football managers in India Bologna FC 1909 players Atalanta BC players Men's association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players Footballers from Fano Footballers from Marche Italian expatriate sportspeople in India Italian expatriate football managers UC AlbinoLeffe managers Catania FC managers Bologna FC 1909 non-playing staff Italian expatriate sportspeople in Iran Expatriate football managers in Iran 20th-century Italian sportsmen