Rocco "Roberto" Boscaglia (born 24 May 1968 in

Gela Gela (Sicilian and ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the regional autonomy, Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province o ...

) 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

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

A former amateur

, Boscaglia took his first head coaching role in 2004 at the helm of

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Official ...

club

Akragas Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonisation, Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading citie ...

, obtaining a seventh and a second place in two seasons in charge. In 2006, Boscaglia took over from another Sicilian Eccellenza club,

Alcamo Alcamo (; ) is the fourth-largest town and communes of Italy, commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distance of about 50 kilometr ...

, leading them to promotion to

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

. This was then followed by two seasons at Nissa, which he led to Serie D promotion as well (in a personal second consecutive Eccellenza title), followed by a surprising third place in the top amateur flight. Boscaglia's impressive results at Nissa led to interest from ambitious Serie D club

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

, owned by navigation entrepreneur Vittorio Morace, who offered him the vacant coaching role at his club to bring the ''Granata'' back into professionalism. In his first season in charge, Boscaglia guided Trapani into second place behind

Milazzo Milazzo (; ; ) is a municipality () in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, southern Italy. It is the largest municipality in the Metropolitan City after Messina and Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto. The town has a population of around 31,500 inh ...

; however, the club was successively admitted into

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 ...

later that season to fill a vacancy in the league. In his first taste of professional football, Boscaglia led Trapani to another second place, defeating

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. ...

in the promotion play-off final to ensure his club a second consecutive promotion. In the 2011–12 season, Trapani - now in the Italian third tier,

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 ...

- surprisingly emerged as contenders for a third consecutive promotion, missing out on the last weekday to

Spezia Calcio Spezia Calcio is an Italian professional Association football, football club based in La Spezia, Liguria, currently competing in the Serie B. Spezia Calcio was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurni (or Hurny in some documents), who ...

and then losing to Virtus Lanciano in the playoff finals. However, promotion was only delayed by one season as Boscaglia surprisingly led Trapani to a championship title the following year against the likes of

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

, who were unanimously tipped as title favourites and ensured a historical first

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 ...

campaign ever to the Sicilian minnows. As head coach of a newly promoted Serie B club, he was therefore successfully admitted to the yearly

UEFA Pro Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

course to be held in Coverciano. Boscaglia was dismissed as head coach of Trapani on 10 March 2015, after six years in charge, due to poor results; his role was taken over by

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 ...

. For the 2015–16 season, Boscaglia was named head coach of

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 ...

. He left Brescia in June 2016 to accept an offer from

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 ...

, another Serie B club. On 3 June 2017, after completing an entire season in charge of Novara, he agreed to return to Brescia as their head coach for the

2017–18 Serie B The 2017–18 Serie B (known as the Serie B ConTe.it for sponsorship reasons) was the 86th season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 15 returning from the 2016–17 Serie B season, 4 promoted from 2016� ...

season. He was replaced by

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 ...

on 12 October 2017, only a few weeks after the club's takeover by

Massimo Cellino Massimo Cellino (; born 28 July 1956) is an Italian entrepreneur and football club owner. Through his family trust Eleonora Sport Ltd, he was the owner of Italian club Brescia Calcio, and is the former owner of Italian club Cagliari, and English ...

. On 16 January 2018, he returned to Brescia following Marino's firing. He was however sacked once again on 29 April, leaving Brescia in thirteenth place in the Serie B table. On 10 July 2018, he was appointed manager of

Virtus Entella Virtus Entella, commonly referred to as Entella, is an Italian professional Association football, football club based in Chiavari, Liguria. Founded in 1914, the club currently competes in the . Entella will play in Serie B 2025/26 after winning ...

. On his first season in charge, he guided Virtus Entella to immediate promotion to Serie B as Serie C/A champions. On 18 August 2020, Boscaglia was appointed manager of

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 ...

. He was sacked on 27 February 2021 following a 0–1 loss to Viterbese that left the ''Rosanero'' in mid-table zone, well below the top league spots. In June 2022, after almost a year and a half of inactivity, Boscaglia was unveiled as the new head coach of Serie C club

Foggia Foggia (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...

. On 27 September 2022, he left Foggia by mutual consent following a dismal start of the season, with only four points gained in the first five league games. On 25 March 2024, Boscaglia returned to management as the new head coach of Serie C club

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 ...

until the end of the season, with an automatic contract extension in case of no relegation. After guiding Ancona to escape relegation, he was confirmed for one more season, but eventually found himself unemployed following the club's exclusion from Serie C due to financial issues. On 25 October 2024, Boscaglia was hired as the new head coach of fellow Serie C club Latina. He was dismissed on 5 April 2025 after a negative string of results.

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boscaglia, Roberto 1968 births Living people People from Gela Italian men's footballers Italian football managers Brescia Calcio managers Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Sicily Virtus Entella managers Serie B managers Palermo FC managers Serie C managers Novara FC managers Calcio Foggia 1920 managers SSC Ancona ASD managers Sportspeople from the Province of Caltanissetta FC Trapani 1905 managers Latina Calcio 1932 managers 20th-century Italian sportsmen