Franco Colomba (born 6 February 1955) 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 ...

coach and former player, most recently in charge of

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

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 ...

Playing career

Colomba was born in

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

. A

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 started his playing career in

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 ...

, making his

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 ...

debut during the 1973–74 season. He played for Bologna until 1983, except two loan spells at

teams

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) 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 Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

and Sambenedettese, in 1975 and 1976 respectively. After having left Bologna, Colomba signed for

Avellino Avellino () is a city 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

, and became a favourite among the ''biancoverdi'' fans. He ended his career in 1990 with Modena.

Coaching career

After three years as youth coach for

and

Spal Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly referred to by the acronym SPAL (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. During the 2024–25 season the team played in Serie C, the third tier of the Italian foot ...

, Colomba took his first head coaching job in 1993, at the helm of

Olbia Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...

Serie C2 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

. After an impressive season with

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

one year later, in 1995 Colomba was called to coach

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 ...

, where he narrowly missed immediate promotion to

; he was fired one year later, because of poor results. In 1997, Colomba signed for Reggina of

, where he obtained a seventh place. At the end of the season, he left Reggina for Serie A team

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

, where he however did not end the season, being fired after nineteen matchdays. Colomba returned to Reggina in 1999, and stayed in

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

for three seasons, with a relegation in 2001 (after having lost a play-off match to

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

) and a successive promotion in 2002. In the 2002–03 season, Colomba had a somehow turbulent Serie B experience at fallen giants

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

, 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

, but abruptly ended in January, when he was sacked and replaced by

Roberto Donadoni Roberto Donadoni (; born 9 September 1963) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. A skilful and versatile winger, Donadoni was capable of playing on either flank, or in the centre. He began his career with Atalanta, and late ...

. In October 2005, a Serie B team in danger of relegation,

, called him to replace Francesco Oddo; 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 football manager and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently the head coach of Serie A club Lecce. Playing career Although born in Bellinzona, Switzerland, ...

at the helm of Serie A club

Cagliari Calcio Cagliari Calcio, commonly referred to as Cagliari (), is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia, that plays in Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. The club currently plays home matches at the 16,416-sea ...

. He was fired on 26 February 2007 following a 2–0 home defeat to

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 ...

. On 19 July 2007, he was announced as head coach of

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

club

. However, Verona had a very poor start in their Serie C1 2007–08 campaign, with no wins in the initial seven league matches, and a shock 1–2 defeat against

Legnano Legnano (; or ''Lignàn'') is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, province of Milan, about from central Milan. With 60,259, it is the thirteenth-most populous township in Lombardy. Legnano is located in the ...

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, and replacing

Vincenzo Chiarenza Vincenzo Chiarenza (born 27 September 1954 in Termini Imerese) is a former Italian football coach and former player, who played as a defender. Career Player Chiarenza started his professional playing career in 1973–74 with Sampdoria in th ...

. 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 Giuseppe Papadopulo (; born 2 February 1948) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender. He was last in charge as head coach of Torino. Early life and playing career Papadopulo was born in Casale Marittimo, Pisa ...

. 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 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, ...

, replacing

Pasquale Marino Pasquale Marino (born 13 July 1962) is an Italian football manager and former player, currently in charge of club Salernitana. Playing career A midfielder, Marino started for his home team, Marsala. Marino never played in divisions higher than ...

, 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

following Parma extended winless streak to six matches with a 5–0 loss to

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * Inter Playa del Carmen, a Mexican club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, ...

. On 22 June 2014, he signed with newly formed

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

outfit

FC Pune City Football Club Pune City was an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Pune, Maharashtra, which last participated in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football league system, under licence from All Ind ...

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 men's footballers People of Calabrian descent Bologna FC 1909 players Modena FC 2018 players US Sambenedettese players US Avellino 1912 players Serie A players Serie B players Italian football managers FC Pistoiese SSD managers US Salernitana 1919 managers LR Vicenza managers AS Reggina 1914 managers SSC Napoli managers US Avellino 1912 managers Cagliari Calcio managers US Livorno 1915 managers Hellas Verona FC managers Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC managers Parma Calcio 1913 managers Serie A managers Indian Super League managers FC Pune City managers Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Grosseto 20th-century Italian sportsmen