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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 , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
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