Fabio Liverani (; born 29 April 1976) is 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 ...

manager and former

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 ...

. He is the head coach of club

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 ...

. He made 288

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 ...

appearances across 12 seasons, representing

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 ...

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 ...

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

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 was the first

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player for the Italy national team, playing three matches from 2001 to 2006. In 2013, Liverani began his managerial career with a brief spell at top-flight club

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 ...

. He also managed English club

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

and

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 ...

club

before taking

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 ...

to two consecutive promotions to the top flight.

Club career

Liverani was born in Rome, Italy to a Somali mother and an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

father. He made his professional footballing debut with Viterbese of

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 ...

2 in 1996–97. He transferred to

in the 2000–01 season. From 2001 to 2006, Liverani played for

in Italy's

. He was part of their team that won the

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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, defeating

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

4–2 on aggregate. The 2006 season saw Liverani move to

. He played a total of two seasons with the team, including the ''Viola team's

2007–08 Serie A The 2007–08 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 106th season of top-tier Italian football, the 76th in a round-robin tournament. It started on 25 August 2007 and ended on 18 May 2008. Internazionale Milano succe ...

campaign, which ended with Fiorentina securing fourth place and a spot in the third qualifying round of the

2008–09 UEFA Champions League The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League was the 54th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament and the 17th edition under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, on 27 May 2009. ...

. Fiorentina and Liverani parted company the following season. In May 2008, Liverani signed a three-year contract with

, being also appointed team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Liverani was forced to miss the first three months of the 2009–10 season due to a serious injury that he had sustained on May, and broke back into the first team only on November, then being replaced as permanent team captain by Fabrizio Miccoli. In his first game as a regular, against Chievo, the first game of new head coach

Delio Rossi Delio Rossi (born 26 January 1960) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder. Playing career Rossi was born in Rimini. His playing career was not a bright one, as he reached his personal top from 1981 to 198 ...

in charge of the team, Liverani went on to be sent off during the game. On 30 August 2011, he moved to

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

, signing a two-year contract. Liverani never played for the Swiss, and rescinded his contract by mutual consent later on November.

International career

On 25 April 2001, Liverani became the first black Italian footballer to play internationally with the Italy national team, making his debut with the ''Azzurri'' in a friendly match against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in Perugia, under the management of

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

; the match ended in a 1–0 victory for the Italians. On 16 August 2006, he was again summoned to start for the Italy national team in a friendly in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

by the team's new coach, Roberto Donadoni; the match ended in a 2–0 loss. In total he made three appearances for Italy.

Style of play

In spite of his lack of pace, agility, stamina or defensive skills, Liverani was a highly creative, reliable and quick-thinking player, who was known in particular for his technique, vision, range of distribution and precise passing with his left foot, which enabled him to create chances for teammates, and made him an excellent assist provider. Due to his skills and ability to set the tempo of his team's play in midfield, he usually operated in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

or in front of the back-line, where he functioned as a deep-lying

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

in midfield. In addition to his playmaking abilities as a footballer, he also stood out for his mentality and leadership, both on and off the pitch.

Managerial career

Genoa

Following his retirement, Liverani was offered a position as youth coach at

, in charge of the ''Allievi Regionali B'' squad, which he accepted on 15 November 2011. On 7 June 2013, Genoa president

Enrico Preziosi Enrico Preziosi is an Italian entrepreneur. He runs a number of businesses and is most famous for having been the chairman () of football club Genoa C.F.C., Genoa. Toys Preziosi is the chairman () of the board of directors of Giochi Preziosi (co ...

announced the appointment of Liverani as new first team manager in place of Davide Ballardini. He was sacked on 29 September after one win in his seven Serie A games in charge, and replaced by Gian Piero Gasperini.

Leyton Orient

On 8 December 2014, Liverani was appointed as manager of English League One team,

on a -year contract replacing Mauro Milanese who returned to his role as Sporting Director after eight matches in charge. Following their relegation to League Two, Liverani left the club by mutual consent in May 2015.

Ternana

On 6 March 2017, Liverani was appointed as manager of

team,

replacing Carmine Gautieri who was sacked after gaining only three points in seven matches. Ternana was last with only 23 points in 29 matches, but he gained 26 points in 13 games to avoid direct relegation as well as play-outs. At the end of the season, with the club under new ownership, Liverani's contract was not renewed.

Lecce

On 17 September 2017, Liverani was appointed manager of

, with whom he achieved two direct promotions from Serie C to Serie A, thus bringing the Salento club back to the Italian top-tier league after seven years. Lecce made it to the last day of the 2019–20 season, before being relegated with a 4–3 home loss to Parma. On 19 August 2020, Liverani was sacked.

Parma

On 28 August 2020, Liverani was appointed manager of

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, ...

on a two-year contract, after the dismissal of Roberto D'Aversa. On 7 January 2021, after four straight losses, Liverani was sacked.

Cagliari

On 8 June 2022, Liverani was unveiled as the new head coach of

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 ...

, following the club's relegation to Serie B. On 20 December 2022, Liverani was dismissed from his coaching duties following a 1–2 loss at

and a disappointing first half of the season with Cagliari in fourteenth place in the league table.

Salernitana

On 11 February 2024, Liverani was appointed new head coach of the bottom-placed Serie A club

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...

until the end of the season.

Second stint at Ternana

On 1 April 2025, Liverani was named new head coach of Serie C promotion hopefuls Ternana in place of

Ignazio Abate Ignazio Abate (; born 12 November 1986) is an Italian professional football coach and a former full-back. Although naturally a winger, he could also play as a wide midfielder, wing-back, and on rare occasions, as a centre-back. As a player, A ...

, returning in charge of the ''Rossoverdi'' eight years after his first stint at the club.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Lazio *

: 2003–04

References

External links

Sky Sports , Football , Serie A , Palermo , Fabio Liverani
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liverani, Fabio 1976 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian people of Somali descent Italy men's international footballers Footballers from Rome Serie A players Serie C players Swiss Challenge League players AC Perugia Calcio players Cagliari Calcio players SS Lazio players ACF Fiorentina players Palermo FC players FC Lugano players Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland ASG Nocerina players Leyton Orient F.C. managers English Football League managers Italian football managers Expatriate football managers in England Italian expatriate football managers Men's association football midfielders Serie A managers Serie B managers Serie C managers US Lecce managers Parma Calcio 1913 managers Ternana Calcio managers Cagliari Calcio managers US Salernitana 1919 managers