Leonardo Menichini (born 11 December 1953) 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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player. He is in charge of club

Pontedera Pontedera (; ) is an Italian comune with a population of 30070, located in the province of Pisa, Tuscany, Central Italy, central Italy. The town is located 20 km (12 miles) from Pisa and 50 km (31 miles) from Florence. It houses the headquarte ...

Playing career

A defender, Menichini played for several top-flight teams, including

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

and

Catanzaro Catanzaro (; or ; ), also known as the "City of the two Seas" (), is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its province and the second most populated comune of the region, behind Reggio Calabr ...

, the latter under coach

Carlo Mazzone Carlo "Carletto" Mazzone (19 March 1937 – 19 August 2023) was an Italian professional association football player and manager, who played as a centre-back. Career Born in Rome, Mazzone was nicknamed ''Sor Carletto'' because of his Roman ori ...

Coaching career

Following his retirement from playing football, Menichini became a coach, serving alongside

from 1993 to 2003 with top-flight teams such as

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

and

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 2003, he accepted an offer from newly promoted

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 ...

team

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

to become the ''biancorossis boss; however, his first experience as head coach proved to be unsuccessful, since he was sacked after four weeks in charge of the team. In February 2005, Menichini returned into football, replacing

Salvo D'Adderio A salvo is the simultaneous discharge of artillery or firearms including the firing of guns either to hit a target or to perform a salute. As a tactic in warfare, the intent is to cripple an enemy in many blows at once and prevent them from fig ...

at the helm of Sassari Torres, who were in danger of relegation in the

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 ...

, and then leading his side to maintain their own place in the third-highest Italian division. Menichini then moved to Albania as head coach of

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. The men's football club is part of the multi-discipli ...

in 2005–06; he was, however, sacked in November 2005 due to disagreements with the board, leaving the club in second place. He then returned to work alongside Mazzone from February to June 2006, during the latter's unsuccessful spell as

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 ...

head coach. In April 2008, Menichini was appointed as the new head coach of

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 ...

promotion hopefuls

Lumezzane Lumezzane (, locally ) is a town and (municipality) in the province of Brescia, in the Italian region of Lombardy. With a population of 22,255 (), it is one of the largest towns in its province. It is situated in the Gobbia Valley, which is a s ...

, replacing

Mario Petrone Mario Petrone (born 20 March 1973) is an Italian football manager and former footballer. Early life Petrone retired from playing football due to injury. Career Petrone managed Italian side Nuorese, helping the club achieve promotion. Manageme ...

, who was sacked following a string of four consecutive defeats. Under his tenure, Lumezzane qualified to the promotion playoffs and ultimately won them, thus ensuring a place in the

Lega Pro Prima Divisione 2008–09 Lega may refer to: Geography * Lega (river) in Poland * Lega, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province * Lega, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, town in north Poland * Lega, an earlier name for Street, Somerset, a village in England People * Lega ( ...

. He was subsequently confirmed at the helm of the club for the upcoming season. In June 2010, he was appointed head coach of Calabrian side

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

for the club's

2010–11 Serie B The 2010–11 Serie B (known as the Serie bwin for sponsorship reasons) is the seventy-ninth season since its establishment in 1929, and the first one under the rule of the new Lega Serie B. A total of 22 teams contest the league, 15 of which retu ...

season. He was dismissed on 27 November 2010 after a 2–1 home loss to

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 ...

, leaving Crotone in 11th place after 17 games. He was reinstated as Crotone head coach on 20 February 2011, following a string of negative results that led to the dismissal of

Eugenio Corini Eugenio Corini (born 30 July 1970) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. A talented, dynamic, and hard-working playmaker, known for his precise long passing, flair and his ability to orchestrate his team's attacking moves ...

. On 23 January 2012, he was finally sacked. From 18 December 2012 to 10 February 2013, he then served as head coach of

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 ...

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 ...

. In March 2014, he then served as the new manager of

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 ...

club

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

until the end of the season. On 18 August 2014, he was named new head coach of

Lega Pro The Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico (Italian for Professional Football Italian League), commonly known as Lega Pro (Pro League), is the governing body that runs the third tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie C. I ...

club

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 ...

. On 30 September 2017, he was fired as the head coach of

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

club Reggiana. On 9 May 2019, he was appointed manager of

, completing the season by winning the relegation playoffs against

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. He successively became the Primavera Under-19 youth coach of

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 ...

, in charge until 2021. On 10 November 2021, he returned to management as the new head coach of Serie C club

Monterosi Monterosi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Viterbo in the Italian region Lazio, located about 30 km (18,64 mi) north of the Grande Raccordo Anulare of Rome, about 40 km (24,85 mi) south of Viterbo. Geography M ...

, replacing David D'Antoni. He left the club by the end of the 2022–23 season, after escaping relegation on both occasions. On 23 January 2024, Menichini returned to management as the new head coach of Serie C club

Turris ''Turris'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turridae, the turrids. Description The generally large shells are variegated with spots. The fusiform shell is turriculated with a long, sharp spire. The aperture is o ...

. After departing from Turris by the end of the season, on 7 October 2024 Menichini returned to his native Tuscany, taking over at fellow Serie C club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Menichini, Leonardo 1953 births Living people Footballers from the Province of Pisa Men's association football midfielders Italian men's footballers Hellas Verona FC players Novara FC players AS Roma players US Catanzaro 1929 players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players US Triestina Calcio 1918 players Serie A players Serie B players Italian football managers SSC Ancona ASD managers KF Tirana managers FC Crotone managers US Grosseto 1912 managers Pisa SC managers US Salernitana 1919 managers AC Reggiana 1919 managers US Città di Pontedera managers Serie A managers Serie B managers Serie C managers Kategoria Superiore managers Italian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Albania Italian expatriate sportspeople in Albania FC Lumezzane managers 20th-century Italian sportsmen