Gennaro Ruotolo (, ; born 20 March 1967) is an Italian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and manager who played as 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 ...

Career

Playing career

Ruotolo started his career with

Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...

in 1984, but is best known for having been a key player for

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 ...

for over a decade; he joined the ''Grifone'' in 1988 to left it only in 2002 to join

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 ...

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 ...

. During his spell at Genoa he lifted the 1996 Anglo-Italian Cup. He played for Livorno until 2006, except for a four-months time at

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

n side

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

(February–June 2003), being part of both rosters which gained promotion to

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 ...

and then

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 ...

, and playing two top division seasons with the ''amaranto''. He left Livorno in 2006 to join newly promoted

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 ...

club

in a comeback to his first professional team. He left Sorrento in December 2007 by mutual consent and then joined amateur

Promozione The Promozione (, "promotion") is the sixth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Promozione level progresses to their closest regional league in the Eccellenza level. Depending on each league's ...

side Massa Lubrense for the remainder of the season. In his playing career, Ruotolo received three call-ups for the Italy national team, all in 1991, with a single appearance, a 2–0 home win against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on 12 June.

Managerial career

In July 2008, he returned to Livorno, this time as assistant to the newly appointed coach

Leonardo Acori Leonardo Acori (born 16 January 1955) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Playing career Acori played since 1974 to 1983 in the football team of G.S. Banco di Roma. Coaching career Acori's first coachi ...

. On 23 May 2009 Ruotolo was appointed on an interim basis to replace

at the helm of Livorno for the final Serie B league game and the following promotion play-offs in an attempt to bring his side back to the top flight. He debuted with a late 3–2 away win to Ascoli that left his side in third place at the end of the regular season. In the promotion play-offs, Livorno was coupled with Tuscan rivals

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 ...

in the semifinals: after a shock 0–2 loss in the first leg, Ruotolo's side managed to make an impressive comeback by defeating their opponent in a 4–1 home win that ensured Livorno a place in the playoff finals against

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. In the finals, Ruotolo then managed to guide Livorno to defeat Brescia 5–2 on aggregate, thus marking an immediate Serie A return for the ''amaranto'' club. He subsequently accepted an offer from Livonro to become the club's head coach on a permanent basis; however the move was later dismissed by the Italian Football Federation due to Ruotolo lacking the required UEFA Pro coaching badges, and

Vittorio Russo Vittorio Russo (born 16 February 1939) is an Italian football manager and former player. He last served head coach of Serie A outfit A.S. Livorno Calcio until October 2009. Career Russo was born in Trieste. A defender, he played for Sambenede ...

was instead appointed as acting head coach, with Ruotolo being however often referred as the "real" Livorno boss. He was removed from his assistant coach position on 20 October 2009, after a 1–2 home loss to

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 ...

. In January 2010 he was re-hired by Livorno chairman

Aldo Spinelli Aldo Spinelli (January 4, 1940, Palmi, Italy) is an Italian entrepreneur and sports executive. Aldo Spinelli was born in 1940 in Palmi, Calabria, Italy. Biography His father Roberto died on February 19, 1958, at the age of 42, in the shipwre ...

, this time as new youth coach of the ''Primavera'' under-19 squad. On 5 April 2010 he was reappointed back at the helm of Livorno, taking over from dismissed head coach

Serse Cosmi Serse Cosmi (born 5 May 1958) is an Italian football coach, most recently in charge of Rijeka. Career Early career Cosmi was born in 1958 in Ponte San Giovanni, a Perugia ''frazione''. His father, a cycling fan, called him Serse after Fausto ...

, in a desperate attempt to save the team from relegation. He was this time allowed to act as head coach despite still not having the required coaching badges, thanks to a 60-day derogation from the Italian Football Federation. The attempt was not successful, and Livorno went down to Serie B after only one season in the Italian top flight. In June 2010 Ruotolo was announced as new head coach of

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

, who will play

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione 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 ...

in the 2010–11 season. On 14 December 2011

unveiled Ruotolo as their new manager until the end of the season, after the sacking of previous manager Maurizio Sarri following the 4–0 away defeat to

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Ital ...

. By doing so he returned to the club where he had both begun and ended his playing career and thus reignited his close association with Sorrento and

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

, the region of his birth. Since 25 October 2012 to the end of the season he has been the coach of

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

, a position he kept until March 2013. He successively served a full season as head coach of Serie D amateurs Sangiovannese in 2015–16.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruotolo, Gennaro 1967 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italian football managers Italy men's international footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Serie A players Serie B players Genoa CFC players SS Arezzo players US Livorno 1915 players Sorrento Calcio 1945 players Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah) players Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Sorrento Calcio 1945 managers US Livorno 1915 managers Men's association football midfielders Footballers from the Province of Caserta 20th-century Italian sportsmen