Rosario Pergolizzi (born 7 October 1968) 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 player. He is the head coach of

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 ...

club LFA Reggio Calabria.

Playing career

Pergolizzi, a defender, made his professional debut with

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

n team Olbia Calcio; he then moved to

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 ...

, where he made a single appearance in the Serie A 1987-88. Pergolizzi then played for several minor

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 B clubs, including Ascoli,

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 ...

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 ...

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

and

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

. He retired in 2001–2002, after a single appearance with Olbia, then in

Coaching career

Pergolizzi started his coaching career in 2002 as

Giuseppe Pillon Giuseppe "Bepi" Pillon (born 8 February 1956) is an Italian football manager and former player. Playing career Born in Preganziol, Province of Treviso, Pillon moved his first footsteps into football with hometown team Pro Mogliano, before to joi ...

's assistant coach at Ascoli of

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 ...

. The same year, the club immediately 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 ...

. In 2003–2004, he followed Pillon at

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 ...

. From 2004 to 2005, he coached

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

Olbia Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...

, the same team in which he started and ended his playing career. In 2005, he was appointed to coach

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 ...

's youth squad. In his first season, he reached the semifinals of both the

Campionato Nazionale Primavera The Campionato Nazionale Primavera – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti, was an Italian football youth competition. It is organised by the Lega Serie A and the participating teams that take part in Serie A and Serie B: the first edition was held in the 1 ...

and the

Coppa Italia Primavera The Coppa Italia Primavera (Italian for Spring Italian Cup) is an Italian football competition played by youth teams from Campionato Primavera. All players are under 20 of age. The first edition was held in the 1972–73 season. Due to sponsorshi ...

. In 2006–2007, he reached again the Coppa Italia Primavera semifinals, where his team was defeated by

Juventus 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 ...

. On 23 April 2007, following the firing of head coach

Francesco Guidolin Francesco Guidolin (; born 3 October 1955) is an Italian association football, football manager and former player, most recently the manager of Premier League team Swansea City A.F.C., Swansea City. He has coached various Italian club sides in Se ...

, Pergolizzi was appointed alongside first-team assistant manager

Renzo Gobbo Renzo Gobbo (born 13 January 1961 in Castelfranco Veneto) is the Italian association football former manager of Sambonifacese and former player. Career Playing Gobbo, a midfielder, made his playing debut with Montebelluna before to move to Como ...

to coach Palermo for the five remaining

league matches. He served for only three matches before being sacked and replaced by his predecessor, Guidolin. After a year without a job, in the summer of 2008, Pergolizzi took back his previous role as Palermo youth team coach. In his first season back with the Palermo youngsters, he guided the ''under-19'' team to win the

for a historical first time after defeating tipped favourites

in the quarter-finals,

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

in the semi-final, and

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

in the league final. He left Palermo in June 2010 to get back into first-team coaching. In June 2011 he was unveiled as new head coach of

Portogruaro Portogruaro (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. The city is the centre of a district, made up of 11 ''comuni'', which form the Venezia Orientale with the San Donà di Piave district. History ...

, who will take part to the 2011–12

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 ...

after being relegated from Serie B. On 18 July 2011 he was forced, in agreement with the company, to leave his post due to serious family problems. On 26 October 2011, he was named head coach of

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

. He resigned a few weeks later, on 5 December, due to poor results. On 20 March 2013, he was named new manager of Ascoli, but he was relieved of his duties again on 13 April 2013. He was successively reappointed at the helm of Ascoli in July 2013 after the club's relegation to

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 ...

, but resigned on 27 October 2013 after a 2–5 home loss to

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 ...

. On 27 November 2014, he was named new head coach of

Eccellenza Sicily Eccellenza Sicily () is the regional Italian Eccellenza football division for clubs in Sicily. It is competed among 32 teams in two groups (A and B). The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D. The clubs that finish second also have the c ...

amateurs

Marsala Marsala (, ; ) is an Italian comune located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth largest in Sicily.The town is famous for the docking of Giuseppe Garibal ...

. guiding them to promotion to

by the end of the season. However, on the following

2015–16 Serie D The 2015–16 Serie D was the sixty-eighth edition of the top level Italian non-professional football championship. It represents the fourth tier in the Italian football league system. The phoenix club of Parma Calcio was added to this league. ...

season, he suffered immediate relegation on the final matchday of the season. On 30 July 2018, he was named new Under-17 coach of

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

for the 2018–19 season. On 3 August 2019, he was unveiled as the new head coach of the refounded

, that played

in 2019–20. Palermo was promoted to

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 ...

at the end of the season as Pergolizzi left the club. Between 2021 and 2022, Pergolizzi returned to Ascoli, this time as a youth coach in charge of the Under-19 team. On 11 October 2023, Pergolizzi was appointed new head coach of Serie D club

Campobasso Campobasso (, ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Molise and of the province of Campobasso. It is located in the high basin of the Biferno river, surrounded by Sannio and Matese mountains. Campobas ...

. On 28 April 2024, Pergolizzi won the league title with Campobasso with a game in hand. On 17 May 2024, Campobasso announced to have mutually parted ways with Pergolizzi with immediate effect. On 13 June 2024, he was hired as the new head coach of Serie D club LFA Reggio Calabria.

Honours

Player

; Bologna *

: 1995–96 *

: 1994–95 (Group A) ; Brescia *

: 1996–97 ; Olbia *

: 2001–02 (Group B)

Managerial

; Palermo *

: 2008–09 *

: 2019–20 (Group I) ; Campobasso *

: 2023–24 (Group F) ; Marsala *

: 2014–15 (Group A) * Coppa Italia Dilettanti Sicilia: 2014–15

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pergolizzi, Rosario Living people 1968 births Italian men's footballers Italian football managers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players SSC Napoli players AS Reggina 1914 players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players Bologna FC 1909 players Brescia Calcio players Calcio Padova players Ravenna FC players Footballers from Palermo Olbia Calcio 1905 players Palermo FC managers Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC managers Men's association football defenders 20th-century Italian sportsmen