Fabio Celestini (born 31 October 1975) is a Swiss football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former player. A defensive midfielder, he started and finished his 15-year professional career with

Lausanne Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

, and also played for ten years in France and Spain, representing four clubs. He appeared with the Swiss national team at

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

. After retiring as a player, he moved into management. He is currently in charge as manager of

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 seaso ...

club

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

Club career

Born in

, Celestini started playing professionally with hometown's

FC Lausanne-Sport FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of footb ...

, then had a four-season spell in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, spending two years each with Troyes AC and

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club p ...

. Whilst with the latter he played the

2004 UEFA Cup final The 2004 UEFA Cup Final was an association football match that took place on 19 May 2004 at Ullevi in Gothenburg, Sweden, contested between Spanish side Valencia and French side Olympique de Marseille. Valencia won the match 2–0, with goals from ...

, coming on as a substitute in the second half of the 0–2 loss to

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the S ...

. Celestini moved to Spain in 2004, playing one season with

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a Spanish football club in Valencia, in the namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante play in Segunda División, holding home games at Ci ...

. After the team's immediate relegation he stayed in the country, joining fellow

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

club

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

where he never was an undisputed starter, but managed to feature heavily in consecutive seasons. In 2007–08, as the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

outskirts side reached the quarter-finals in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

, he scored against R.S.C. Anderlecht in a 2–1 group stage home win. On 16 February 2010, after having been regularly used in the past two seasons, albeit not as a usual first-choice, the 34-year-old Celestini announced he would not renew his contract with Getafe, choosing to return to Lausanne on a one-year deal. However, due to a break in negotiations over his future role at the club after his playing career, he decided to retire before the end of the campaign, playing his last game on 15 December against U.S. Città di Palermo in the Europa League group stage. On 24 March 2015, after a spell as assistant manager at Spanish club

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. They won the UEFA Intert ...

and head coach with Italian amateurs

Terracina Calcio 1925 Terracina Calcio 1925 is an Italian football club based in Terracina, Lazio. it plays in Italy's Serie D. History Foundation The club was founded in 1925. Serie D In the season 2012–13 the team was promoted from Eccellenza Lazio/B to Se ...

, Celestini replaced Marco Simone at Lausanne-Sport in the latter capacity, as the side was in a poor run of results in the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

. Two months later, he was confirmed in this role for the next three years. In 2015–16, Celestini led his team back to the

after a two-year absence. On 3 October 2018, he was appointed at

FC Lugano FC Lugano is a Swiss football club based in Lugano. The club was refounded as AC Lugano in 2004 as a result of relegation and the financial situation of FC Lugano, which was founded in 1908. In 2008, the club reverted to its original name, FC Lu ...

in the same division. Just over a year later, he was ousted from his job due to bad results, and replaced by Maurizio Jacobacci. Celestini signed as manager of

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (german: Luzern). It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Super League, the top tier of the Swiss football league ...

on 2 January 2020. His contract with the club was terminated on 22 November 2021, after spending the majority of the season in the bottom of the league, having only accrued ten points in 14 games. On 21 November 2022, he took on as new head coach of

International career

A Switzerland international since 1998, Celestini collected 35

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and was a participant at the

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

(appearing in two incomplete matches, as the nation exited in the group stage).

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Celestini, Fabio 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Lausanne Swiss people of Italian descent Swiss men's footballers Association football midfielders Swiss Super League players FC Lausanne-Sport players Ligue 1 players ES Troyes AC players Olympique de Marseille players La Liga players Levante UD footballers Getafe CF footballers Switzerland international footballers UEFA Euro 2004 players Swiss expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Swiss expatriate sportspeople in France Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Spain Swiss football managers FC Lausanne-Sport managers FC Lugano managers FC Luzern managers FC Sion managers Swiss expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Italy Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Italy