Franco Colomba (born 6 February 1955 in
Grosseto) is an Italian
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 football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
coach and former player, most recently in charge of
Serie B club
Livorno
Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...
.
Career
Playing
Colomba, a
midfielder, started his playing career in
Bologna, making his
Serie A debut during the
1973–74 season. He played for Bologna until 1983, except two loan spells at
Serie B teams
Modena
Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) 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 I ...
and
Sambenedettese, in 1975 and 1976 respectively. After having left Bologna, Colomba signed for
Avellino
Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...
, a minor Serie A team where he played until 1988, when Avellino relegated to
Serie B, and became a favourite among the ''biancoverdi'' fans. He ended his career in 1990 with Modena.
Coaching
After three years as youth coach for
Modena
Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) 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 I ...
and
Spal, Colomba took his first head coaching job in 1993, at the helm of
Olbia of
Serie C2
Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...
. After an impressive season with
Novara one year later, in 1995 Colomba was called to coach
Salernitana, where he narrowly missed immediate promotion to
Serie A; he was fired one year later, because of poor results. In 1997, Colomba signed for
Reggina of
Serie B, where he obtained a seventh place. At the end of the season, he left Reggina for
Serie A team
Vicenza, where he however did not end the season, being fired after nineteen matchdays.
Colomba returned to Reggina in 1999, and stayed in
Calabria
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for three seasons, with a relegation in 2001 (after having lost a play-off match to
Verona) and a successive promotion in 2002. In the 2002–03 season, Colomba had a somehow turbulent Serie B experience at fallen giants
Napoli, with a sacking and a successive recall, and a disappointing fifteenth place as a result. The next year saw Colomba making his third comeback at Reggina, but he is fired after the eleventh matchday and replaced by
Giancarlo Camolese. The 2004–05 season started with Colomba at the helm of newly promoted Serie A side
Livorno
Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...
, but abruptly ended in January, when he was sacked and replaced by
Roberto Donadoni. In October 2005, a Serie B team in danger of relegation,
Avellino
Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...
, called him to replace
Francesco Oddo
Francesco Oddo (born 24 August 1946) is an Italian football manager and former player.
Career
Born in Trapani, Sicily, but resident of Città Sant'Angelo, Abruzzo, Oddo started his coaching career in 1988 with Giulianova of the Serie C2 league. ...
; however, Avellino finally lost its place to Serie B after two play-off matches lost to
AlbinoLeffe.
Colomba returned to coach in December 2006, when he was appointed to replace
Marco Giampaolo
Marco Giampaolo (; born 2 August 1967) is an Italian coach (sport), manager, and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder (association football), midfielder. He was most recently the head coach of Serie A cl ...
at the helm of
Serie A club
Cagliari Calcio. He was fired on 26 February 2007 following a 2–0 home defeat to
Lazio.
On 19 July 2007 he was announced as head coach of
Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...
club
Verona. However, Verona had a very poor start in their
Serie C1 2007–08
Series may refer to:
People with the name
* Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series
* George Series (1920–1995), English physicist
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Series, the ordered Set (music), ...
campaign, with no wins in the initial seven league matches, and a shock 1–2 defeat against
Legnano
Legnano (; or ''Lignàn'') is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the north-westernmost part of the Metropolitan City of Milan, Province of Milan, about from central Milan. With 60,259, it is the thirteenth-most populous township in Lombardy. Le ...
led the club management to sack Colomba on 8 October 2007.
In December 2008 he was appointed as new head coach of
Ascoli, becoming the third manager of the ''bianconeri'' in the
Serie B 2008–09
Series may refer to:
People with the name
* Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series
* George Series (1920–1995), English physicist
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Series, the ordered sets used i ...
, and replacing
Vincenzo Chiarenza.
He guided Ascoli into a mid-table finish at the end of the season, but his contract was not extended and therefore left the club.
On 20 October 2009 Colomba was appointed new head coach of Bologna, taking over from
Giuseppe Papadopulo. Notably, despite being born in Grosseto, Colomba grew up in Bologna and is a fan of the local club since childhood, and Bologna was also the club that gave him the chance to make his professional football debut. After taking the reins of the ''rossoblu'' club, he defined his appointment as head coach of Bologna as a dream coming true. He guided Bologna to keep their place in the Serie A in 2009–10, however his position was put under question after
Sergio Porcedda took over the club. Originally confirmed at the helm of the club, he was ultimately dismissed on 29 August 2010, exactly one day before the first game of the season, allegedly due to disagreements with the board.
On 5 April 2011, Colomba was announced as the new head coach of
Parma, replacing
Pasquale Marino
Pasquale Marino (born 13 July 1962) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. He most recently served as the manager of Crotone.
Career
Playing career
In his playing career, started for his home team, Marsala, Marino never played in ...
, and saved the club from relegation, being subsequently confirmed at the helm of the club also for the new season. On 9 January 2012, he was fired and replaced by
Roberto Donadoni following Parma extended winless streak to six matches with a 5–0 loss to
Inter.
On 22 June 2014, he signed with newly formed
Indian Super League outfit
FC Pune City as manager.
committed-a-lot-of-mistakes-fc-pune-city-franco-colomba
''Sportskeeda.com''. Retrieved 18 July 2021
On 6 August 2018 he collected the Salvatore La Gamba Sports Prize in Vibo Valentia (VV) for the section "Young Promised Coach"
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colomba, Franco
1955 births
Living people
Italian footballers
People of Calabrian descent
Bologna F.C. 1909 players
Modena F.C. players
A.S. Sambenedettese players
U.S. Avellino 1912 players
Serie A players
Serie B players
Italian football managers
U.S. Pistoiese 1921 managers
U.S. Salernitana 1919 managers
L.R. Vicenza managers
Reggina 1914 managers
S.S.C. Napoli managers
U.S. Avellino 1912 managers
Cagliari Calcio managers
U.S. Livorno 1915 managers
Hellas Verona F.C. managers
Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. managers
Parma Calcio 1913 managers
Serie A managers
Indian Super League head coaches
Association football midfielders
People from Grosseto
Sportspeople from the Province of Grosseto
Footballers from Tuscany