Luigi Apolloni (; born 2 May 1967) 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, who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. At club level, Apolloni is mainly remembered for his time with Italian side

Parma Calcio 1913 Parma Calcio 1913 () is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, which competes in the Serie A, the top tier of Italian football league system, Italian league sy ...

, where he won several titles during his 13 seasons with the club. At international level, he was a member of the Italy national team that reached the final of the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

Club career

Born in

Frascati Frascati () is a city and in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, ...

, Apolloni started his career with Lodigiani in 1983–84 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 ...

, without ever get off the field in the first team to advance to Pistoiese within two years, where he debuted in professional football. After another year in

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 ...

to Reggiana, he joined

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, ...

in 1987, became a key member of the squad and a mainstay in the team's defensive lineup alongside Lorenzo Minotti; the two players formed a notable central defensive partnership at the club, helping to guide the team from 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 ...

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 eventually, to the top levels of European football. Their time at the club included triumphs in the 1991–92

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

, a

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

and

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, a runners-up medal in their 1993–94

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

campaign, and two

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

s in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, as well as the

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

and another Coppa Italia in 1999, a runners-up medal in the

, and third and second-place finishes in Serie A in

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

respectively. In 1996, a serious injury forced him out, and Apolloni did not manage to win back a place in the starting lineup, ultimately leaving Parma in 1999 to join

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

, and later ending his career in 2001 with a total of 255 appearances and 7 goals in the Italian top flight.

International career

Following his successes with Parma, Apolloni gained a spot in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

squad under head coach Arrigo Sacchi, making his international debut on 27 May 1994, in a 2–0 home win against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, coincidentally in Parma. Overall, he made 15 appearances for Italy between 1994 and 1996, and was a member of the ''azzurri'' squad that took part at the

, where they reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, in which he appeared, only to lose to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

on penalties. He was also a part of their less successful

Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

campaign, appearing in Italy's opening two group matches, a 2–1 win over a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and a 2–1 defeat to eventual runners-up the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, in which he was sent off; the Italians were eliminated in the first round of the tournament following a 0–0 draw against eventual champions

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Managerial career

In 2006, Apolloni accepted to follow former Parma teammate Daniele Zoratto, serving as his aide at

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 ...

. He was later sacked together with head coach Zoratto in February 2007, only to return at Modena in April 2008. In January 2009, Apolloni was appointed as caretaker manager of the ''canarini'' after Zoratto left the club by mutual consent. He was then permanently appointed to the role after he managed to guide Modena to escape relegation at the final day of the season. In his first full season in charge of the club, Apolloni guided Modena to a mid-table place in the league despite severe financial issues within the club. In July 2010 he left Modena to join ambitious Serie B club

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 ...

. He was however removed by the end of September due to poor results, and replaced by

Francesco Moriero Francesco "Checco" Moriero (; born 31 March 1969) is an Italian association football, football former player and current Manager (association football), manager, who played as a midfielder, usually as a Midfielder#Winger, winger on the right flan ...

. On 2 April 2012, he was appointed as new head coach of

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

in the Italian Serie B league until the end of the season, thus becoming the fourth manager of the season for the small relegation-threatened Umbrian club (after Fabio Pecchia, Luigi Simoni and Marco Alessandrini). On 31 May 2018, Apolloni was appointed as the manager of

. It lasted until 10 January 2019, where he was fired.UFFICIALE - Modena Fc, esonerato Luigi Apolloni: il nuovo allenatore è Alberto Bollini!
, parlandodisport.it, 10 January 2019

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Parma *

: 1991–92, 1998–99 *

: 1994–95, 1998–99 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1992–93 *

Italy *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

runner-up:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Apolloni, Luigi 1967 births Living people Footballers from Frascati Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders AS Lodigiani players AC Reggiana 1919 players 1994 FIFA World Cup players Hellas Verona FC players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Parma Calcio 1913 players FC Pistoiese SSD players Modena FC 2018 managers US Grosseto 1912 managers UEFA Euro 1996 players Italy men's international footballers Italian football managers Italian expatriate football managers ND Gorica managers Parma Calcio 1913 managers Expatriate football managers in Slovenia Italian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia UEFA Europa League–winning players Slovenian PrvaLiga managers 20th-century Italian sportsmen