Edmondo Fabbri (16 November 1921 – 8 July 1995) was an Italian

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 ...

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and coach; a fast player, he mainly played as a winger.

Playing career

Fabbri was born in Castel Bolognese. During his club career, he played for several teams. He made his career debut with

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

in 1938, and he moved to

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

(1939–40) the next season, later playing for

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 ...

(1940–42, 1947–50) for two seasons, and subsequently with Inter (1942–43, 1945–46), and

Faenza Faenza (, ; ; or ; ) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed earthenware pottery, known ...

(1944), returning to Inter for a season in 1945. He moved to play with Sampdoria during the 1946–47 season, before returning to Atalanta for three seasons. He also later played for

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 ...

(1950–51), 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, ...

(1951–55), also winning the 1953–54 Serie C title. He ended his career with

Mantova F.C. Mantova 1911, commonly referred to as Mantova, is an Italian professional football club based in Mantua (Italian: ''Mantova''), Lombardy. Mantova had played consecutively in the Italian Serie B from the 2005–06 season to 2009–10 as Associa ...

(1955–57). He also made one appearance for the Italian youth side in 1942.

Managerial career

After retiring from football, Fabbri began a coaching career with Mantova in 1957, 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 ...

, the team with which he had retired as a player. During his four years with the club, he took the club to

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 ...

during the 1961–62 season, winning the 1957–58

and the 1958–59

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

titles. In 1962, he was awarded the " Seminatore d'Oro" award for best coach, and he was subsequently appointed the head coach of the Italy national side. Fabbri was the head coach of the Italy national team from 1962 to 1966, with a record of 18 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses, and led the team in the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

, where they were eliminated in the first round after surprisingly losing to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

; Fabbri was let go following Italy's elimination from the 1966 World Cup. During his career, he also coached

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 ...

(1967–69, 1974–75),

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 ...

(1969–72),

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria and currently compete in the Serie C. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A ...

(1976), Reggiana (1982–83) and Pistoiese (1980–81), helping the club to a

spot. With Torino, he won a

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

in 1968, and he also won a second

title with Bologna, as well as the Anglo-Italian League Cup, in 1970.

Death

Fabbri died at

Castel San Pietro Terme Castel San Pietro Terme ( Eastern Bolognese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, with about 21,000 inhabitants. It is located along the Roman '' Via Emilia'', at the foot o ...

on 8 July 1995.

Honours

Player

Parma *

: 1953–54

Coach

Mantova *

: 1957–58 *Serie C: 1958–59 Torino *

: 1967–68 Bologna *Coppa Italia: 1969–70 * Anglo-Italian League Cup: 1970

Individual

* Seminatore d'oro (

Best coach): 1961–62

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabbri, Edmondo 1921 births 1995 deaths Italian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Italian football managers Italy national football team managers 1966 FIFA World Cup managers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Atalanta BC players Inter Milan players UC Sampdoria players Brescia Calcio players Parma Calcio 1913 players Mantova 1911 players Imolese Calcio 1919 players Torino FC managers Bologna FC 1909 managers Ternana Calcio managers AC Reggiana 1919 managers Footballers from the Province of Ravenna People from Castel Bolognese 20th-century Italian sportsmen