Gianluca Colonnello (born 8 February 1973), is an Italian former professional

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 ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He is also a coach who has worked with major teams in Italy and Greece.

Player career

Colonnello began his career with Francavilla in

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 ...

, a division where he also played for Castel di Sangro, where he stood out. He was signed by Pescara in Serie B in 1995, and later played for Perugia, the club with which he gained access to

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 ...

. In 1999 Colonnello was signed by Lecce, a team for which he made 76 appearances in four seasons in Serie A. Still he returned to a new spell in Pescara, and later played for clubs in the lower divisions, ending his career at the same club where he started, Francavilla.

Managerial career

Colonnello had his first experience as a coach at the end of the 2005–06 season, while defending Sambenedettese in Serie C1, where together with Gianluca Zanetti he finished the season after the coach Maurizio Simonato resigned. He later coached Siena's youth sectors, and Borgo a Buggiano in the

Seconda Categoria The Seconda Categoria is the 8th level (since 2014–15) in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Seconda Categoria level progresses to their closest regional league in the Prima Categoria level. Depending on ...

. For the 2013–14 season, he was the head coach of the

Super League Greece 2 The Super League Greece 2 () is the second division of professional Association football, football in Greece, serving as a feeder league to the top level Super League Greece, Super League 1. Made up of 20 teams in two groups, it is usually played ...

team Zakynthos, where he returned for the 2015–16 season. He provisionally took over

Pisa SC Pisa Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Pisa, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Pisa, Tuscany. The club will compete in Serie A in the 2025–26 season. The club was fou ...

in July 2016, with the departure of

Gennaro Gattuso Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italians, Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is currently the Manager (association football), head coach of the Italy na ...

to AC Milan Primavera, and was later sacked for his return. Became Massimo Carrera assistant in his spells at the AEK and

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

. It is worth noting that in AEK game for the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

against Zoria, the colonel took over as coach (due to Carrera illness). His last job as a coach in the

Juventus FC 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 ...

project in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, the Juventus Academy, and in 2024, Colonnello has worked as a coordinator at the

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

References

External links

Gianluca Colonnello
at playmakerstats.com
Gianluca Colonnello
at tuttocalciatori.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Colonnello, Gianluca 1973 births Living people Men's association football fullbacks Italian men's footballers ASD Francavilla players ACD Castel di Sangro Cep 1953 players Delfino Pescara 1936 players AC Perugia Calcio players US Lecce players US Sambenedettese players Santegidiese Calcio SSD players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Footballers from the Province of Chieti Italian football managers Italian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Greece Italian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Italian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Siena FC SSD non-playing staff A.P.S. Zakynthos managers Pisa SC managers Pisa SC non-playing staff AEK Athens F.C. non-playing staff SSC Bari non-playing staff US Sassuolo non-playing staff Serie C managers