Gianluca Vialli
Encyclopedia
Gianluca Vialli is an Italian
football
manager
and former player. Since retiring, he has gone into management and punditry and is a commentator for Sky Sport Italia
.
Vialli started his career at Cremonese in 1980 in his native Italy where he made 105 league appearances scoring 23 goals. His performances impressed Sampdoria who signed him in 1984. During which time he scored 85 league goals, won 3 Italian cups, the Serie A and the European Cup Winners Cup. Vialli transferred to Juventus for a World record £12.5 million in 1992. During this time he won the Italian Cup, the Serie A, Italian Supercup, UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup
. In 1996 Vialli joined Chelsea and became Chelsea player manager the following season. In England he won the FA Cup, League Cup
, UEFA Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Super Cup
. He is one of nine footballers to have won the three main European club competitions and is the only player in European footballing history to have winner's and runner's up medals in all three main European club competitions. During his twenty years long career as a professional footballer he has scored 259 goals at club level, 16 goals with the national team, 11 goals with the under 21 national team for a total of 286 goals in more than 500 appearances.
. After scoring ten goals for the club in the 1983–84 season, he was transferred to Sampdoria
.
, earning the nickname The Goal Twins. With Vialli at his best, Sampdoria had the most successful era in its history. They won their first ever Serie A
championship in the 1990–91
season, in which Vialli was league top scorer with 19 goals, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
(1990) – where he scored both goals in the 2–0 win over Anderlecht
in the final – and three Italian Cups (in 1985, 1988 and 1989). They also reached the European Cup
final in 1992
, losing to Spain's Barcelona
.
While at Sampdoria, Vialli made his debut for Italy
in a friendly match against Poland
in 1985.
He scored his first ever national goal in a Euro 88 qualification match against Malta
in 1986. He was included in the squad for the 1986 World Cup. He also played at Euro 88
(scoring the winner in Italy's 1–0 win over Spain) and was part of the squad which finished 3rd at Italia '90. Vialli was largely expected to have a huge impact on the tournament and started Italy's first two games. He set up a goal in Italy's opening game with Austria and in the following game he hit the post from a penalty against the USA. His poor form and injury saw him dropped in favour of Roberto Baggio
and Toto Schillaci, but he did make a surprise return in the semi-final in place of Baggio. He was substituted in favour of Baggio during the match. In a recent interview with Irish radio station Newstalk Vialli claimed he had also been suffering with a chest infection in the early part of the tournament.
in his first season with Juventus. Coincidentally, he had his last international cap in 1992 also against Malta in a 1994 World Cup qualification match where he also scored, but was left out of the squad for the World Cup finals following a dispute with coach Arrigo Sacchi
, after which Vialli declared he would be supporting Brazil
. He won another Scudetto and Italian Cup with Juve in 1995, scoring 16 goals during the season, but Juve were denied a treble after defeat in the UEFA Cup final to Parma, despite Vialli scoring a spectacular second leg goal. He ended his time in Turin by captaining the side to a Champions League
final win over Ajax Amsterdam
in 1996
.
) as part of manager Ruud Gullit
's cosmopolitan rebuilding of the side, and won the FA Cup
in his first season, including two goals in a spectacular 4–2 comeback over Liverpool
in the fourth round. However, a feud with Gullit saw him regularly left out of the starting line-up; in the final itself
he was limited to a five-minute cameo appearance as a late substitute.
During the 1997–98
season, Vialli scored four goals in a league win over Barnsley
and a hat-trick
against Norwegian
side Tromsø
in the Cup Winners' Cup, but still couldn't cement his place in the side under Gullit.
and the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup, and went on to win both competitions under Vialli, as well as finishing 4th in the Premier League. In beating VfB Stuttgart
at the Cup Winners' Cup final on 13 May 1998, 33 years and 308 days old Vialli became the youngest coach to ever win a UEFA competition. The record stood for thirteen years until 18 May 2011 when FC Porto's André Villas-Boas won the Europa League at the age of 33 years and 213 days.
The following season Chelsea won the European Super Cup
by beating Real Madrid
1–0, and finished 3rd in the Premier League, just four points behind champions Manchester United
in what was Chelsea's highest league finish since 1970. Vialli made his final competitive appearance for the club against Derby County
at the end of that season (a game in which he scored), finishing his Chelsea career with 83 appearances and 40 goals.
The following season saw Chelsea reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League
on their debut in the competition, the highlight of which was a 3–1 quarterfinal first leg victory over FC Barcelona
, although they were eventually knocked out on aggregate following a 5-1 return leg loss at Camp Nou
that needed extra time. Despite a disappointing 5th place finish in the Premier League, the campaign ended on a high note when Vialli guided Chelsea to a win over Aston Villa
in the 2000 FA Cup final
.
The 2000–01
season started brightly, with Chelsea beating Manchester United to win the FA Charity Shield, Vialli's fifth official trophy with the club in less than three years, making him the club's most successful manager at the time. But Vialli was sacked five games into the season after an indifferent start and having fallen out with several players, including Gianfranco Zola
, Didier Deschamps
and Dan Petrescu
.
club Watford
in 2001–02. Despite making wholesale and expensive changes to the playing and coaching staff, the Hertfordshire
side finished an unimpressive 14th and Vialli was sacked after one year. Following this, he was drawn into a lengthy dispute with the club over the payment of the remainder of his contract.http://football.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4601448-103,00.html
. Written over a period of two and a half years from November 2003 until early 2006, the book discusses the differences between English and Italian football. Vialli is donating the proceeds of the book to the "Fondazione Vialli e Mauro per la ricerca e lo sport", which is a charitable foundation he founded together with former player Massimo Mauro
in order to raise funds for research into cancer and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Today Vialli works as a TV
football commentator for Sky Italia
. In 2007 he was linked with a move to the managers position at Queens Park Rangers
, following the club takeover by Flavio Briatore
and Bernie Ecclestone
and the dismissal of John Gregory as manager, but ultimately declined any interest in the job.
|1980–81||rowspan="4"|Cremonese
||Serie C1
||2||0||||||||||||||2||0
|-
|1981–82
||rowspan="3"|Serie B
||31||5||||||||||||||||5
|-
|1982–83
||35||8||||||||||||||||8
|-
|1983–84
||37||10||||2||||||||||||12
|-
|1984–85
||rowspan="8"|Sampdoria
||rowspan="8"|Serie A
||28||3||||6||||||||||||9
|-
|1985–86
||28||6||||2||||||||||||8
|-
|1986–87
||28||12||||4||||||||||||16
|-
|1987–88
||30||10||||3||||||||||||13
|-
|1988–89||30||14||||12||1||1||||5||||32
|-
|1989–90
||22||10||||2||||||||7||||19
|-
|1990–91
||26||19||||3||||||||1||||23
|-
|1991–92
||31||11||||3||||||||7||||21
|-
|1992–93||rowspan="4"|Juventus
||rowspan="4"|Serie A
||32||6||7||2||||||10||5||49||13
|-
|1993–94
||10||4||||||||||2||0||12||4
|-
|1994–95||30||17||7||3||||||9||2||46||22
|-
|1995–96
||30||11||||||1||1||7||2||38||14
|-
|1996–97
||rowspan="3"|Chelsea
||rowspan="3"|Premier League||28||9||1||2||||||||||29||11
|-
|1997–98
||21||11||1||2||1||0||8||6||31||19
|-
|1998–99
||9||1||3||2||5||6||1||1||18||10
410||146||||42||2||2||||29||||219
58||21||5||6||6||6||9||7||78||40
468||167||||48||8||8||||36||||259
|-
|1985||1||0
|-
|1986||10||0
|-
|1987||10||5
|-
|1988||11||5
|-
|1989||10||1
|-
|1990||3||0
|-
|1991||8||3
|-
|1992||6||2
|-
!Total||59||16
|}
Sampdoria
Juventus F.C.
Chelsea F.C.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
manager
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
and former player. Since retiring, he has gone into management and punditry and is a commentator for Sky Sport Italia
Sky Italia
Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian digital satellite television platform owned by News Corporation launched on 1 August 2003, when the former platforms TELE+ and Stream TV merged together...
.
Vialli started his career at Cremonese in 1980 in his native Italy where he made 105 league appearances scoring 23 goals. His performances impressed Sampdoria who signed him in 1984. During which time he scored 85 league goals, won 3 Italian cups, the Serie A and the European Cup Winners Cup. Vialli transferred to Juventus for a World record £12.5 million in 1992. During this time he won the Italian Cup, the Serie A, Italian Supercup, UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup
1990 UEFA Cup Final
The 1990 UEFA Cup Final was a football tie played on 2 May 1990 and 16 May 1990 between Juventus F.C. and ACF Fiorentina of Italy. Juventus won 3–1 on aggregate...
. In 1996 Vialli joined Chelsea and became Chelsea player manager the following season. In England he won the FA Cup, League Cup
1998 Football League Cup Final
The 1998 Coca-Cola Cup Final was a football match played between Chelsea and Middlesbrough on 29 March 1998 at Wembley Stadium. Chelsea, under new manager Gianluca Vialli, won with two extra time goals and would go on to win the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup later that season...
, UEFA Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Super Cup
1998 UEFA Super Cup
The 1998 UEFA Super Cup was a match that was played on 28 August 1998 at Stade Louis II, Monaco, contested between Cup Winners' Cup holders Chelsea and Champions League winners Real Madrid. Chelsea won the match 1–0. Guus Hiddink manager of Real Madrid went on to manage Chelsea to win the...
. He is one of nine footballers to have won the three main European club competitions and is the only player in European footballing history to have winner's and runner's up medals in all three main European club competitions. During his twenty years long career as a professional footballer he has scored 259 goals at club level, 16 goals with the national team, 11 goals with the under 21 national team for a total of 286 goals in more than 500 appearances.
Club career
Vialli's career started in 1980 when, signing for local club CremoneseU.S. Cremonese
Unione Sportiva Cremonese is an Italian football club, based in Cremona. The club was founded in 1903. Cremonese played the 2005/2006 season in Serie B, having won Serie C1/A the previous season. However, in the 2005/2006 Serie B campaign, Cremonese came out twenty-first, being therefore relegated...
. After scoring ten goals for the club in the 1983–84 season, he was transferred to Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...
.
Sampdoria
At Sampdoria he formed a prolific strike partnership with team mate and childhood friend Roberto ManciniRoberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini is an Italian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Premier League club Manchester City.As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped them win the Serie A league title, four Coppa...
, earning the nickname The Goal Twins. With Vialli at his best, Sampdoria had the most successful era in its history. They won their first ever Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
championship in the 1990–91
Serie A 1990-91
-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:19 goals* Gianluca Vialli 16 goals* Lothar Matthäus 15 goals* Carlos Aguilera * Tomáš Skuhravý 14 goals* Roberto Baggio...
season, in which Vialli was league top scorer with 19 goals, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
(1990) – where he scored both goals in the 2–0 win over Anderlecht
R.S.C. Anderlecht
Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht or RSCA , is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht in the Brussels Capital Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian Pro League and is the most successful Belgian football team in European competitions as well as in the...
in the final – and three Italian Cups (in 1985, 1988 and 1989). They also reached the European Cup
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
final in 1992
European Cup 1991-92
The 1991–92 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for the first time by Barcelona after extra time in the final against Sampdoria, giving Spain its first championship trophy since 1966. The winning goal was scored by Ronald Koeman with a free-kick. This was the last tournament...
, losing to Spain's Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
.
While at Sampdoria, Vialli made his debut for Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...
in a friendly match against Poland
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland...
in 1985.
He scored his first ever national goal in a Euro 88 qualification match against Malta
Malta national football team
The Malta national football team is the national football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. Malta played its first international game in February 1957, and began competing for qualification to major tournaments in 1962. The side's first competitive victory came in...
in 1986. He was included in the squad for the 1986 World Cup. He also played at Euro 88
1988 UEFA European Football Championship
The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany. West Germany won the right to host the tournament with five votes ahead of a joint bid from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, who gained 1 vote, and a bid from England. It was the eighth European Football...
(scoring the winner in Italy's 1–0 win over Spain) and was part of the squad which finished 3rd at Italia '90. Vialli was largely expected to have a huge impact on the tournament and started Italy's first two games. He set up a goal in Italy's opening game with Austria and in the following game he hit the post from a penalty against the USA. His poor form and injury saw him dropped in favour of Roberto Baggio
Roberto Baggio
Roberto Baggio is a retired Italian footballer. Widely regarded as one of the finest footballers of his generation, Baggio won both the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1993. He is the only Italian player ever to score in three World Cups. He is also one of the top 5 all-time...
and Toto Schillaci, but he did make a surprise return in the semi-final in place of Baggio. He was substituted in favour of Baggio during the match. In a recent interview with Irish radio station Newstalk Vialli claimed he had also been suffering with a chest infection in the early part of the tournament.
Juventus
He moved to Juventus shortly after the European Cup final loss for a world record fee of £12.5million. Vialli won the UEFA CupUEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
in his first season with Juventus. Coincidentally, he had his last international cap in 1992 also against Malta in a 1994 World Cup qualification match where he also scored, but was left out of the squad for the World Cup finals following a dispute with coach Arrigo Sacchi
Arrigo Sacchi
Arrigo Sacchi is an Italian football coach. He is best known for his success coaching Italian teams, particularly with Milan where he won back to back European Cups as coach in the late eighties where he was head coach of the Italy national football team . He was twice manager of A.C...
, after which Vialli declared he would be supporting Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
. He won another Scudetto and Italian Cup with Juve in 1995, scoring 16 goals during the season, but Juve were denied a treble after defeat in the UEFA Cup final to Parma, despite Vialli scoring a spectacular second leg goal. He ended his time in Turin by captaining the side to a Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
final win over Ajax Amsterdam
Ajax Amsterdam
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax , also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax , is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands...
in 1996
UEFA Champions League 1995-96
The 1995–96 UEFA Champions League was the 41st season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the fourth since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League. The tournament was won by Juventus, who beat defending champions Ajax on penalties in the final for their first championship...
.
Chelsea
Vialli joined Chelsea in the summer of 1996 for $1million a year (after rejecting an offer from RangersRangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
) as part of manager Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit
OON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the...
's cosmopolitan rebuilding of the side, and won the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
in his first season, including two goals in a spectacular 4–2 comeback over Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
in the fourth round. However, a feud with Gullit saw him regularly left out of the starting line-up; in the final itself
FA Cup Final 1997
The 1997 FA Cup Final took place on 17 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium and was won by Chelsea with a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough.Chelsea were attempting to win their first FA Cup final for 27 years, while Middlesbrough were contesting their first ever final...
he was limited to a five-minute cameo appearance as a late substitute.
During the 1997–98
1997-98 in English football
The 1997-1998 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.-Premier League:Arsenal overhauled Manchester United's lead during the final weeks of the season to win the Premiership title...
season, Vialli scored four goals in a league win over Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
and a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
against Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
side Tromsø
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
in the Cup Winners' Cup, but still couldn't cement his place in the side under Gullit.
Chelsea
Gullit was sacked in February 1998 and 33-year-old Vialli was appointed player-manager. Chelsea were already in the semi-finals of the Coca Cola CupFootball League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
and the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup, and went on to win both competitions under Vialli, as well as finishing 4th in the Premier League. In beating VfB Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...
at the Cup Winners' Cup final on 13 May 1998, 33 years and 308 days old Vialli became the youngest coach to ever win a UEFA competition. The record stood for thirteen years until 18 May 2011 when FC Porto's André Villas-Boas won the Europa League at the age of 33 years and 213 days.
The following season Chelsea won the European Super Cup
1998 UEFA Super Cup
The 1998 UEFA Super Cup was a match that was played on 28 August 1998 at Stade Louis II, Monaco, contested between Cup Winners' Cup holders Chelsea and Champions League winners Real Madrid. Chelsea won the match 1–0. Guus Hiddink manager of Real Madrid went on to manage Chelsea to win the...
by beating Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
1–0, and finished 3rd in the Premier League, just four points behind champions Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
in what was Chelsea's highest league finish since 1970. Vialli made his final competitive appearance for the club against Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
at the end of that season (a game in which he scored), finishing his Chelsea career with 83 appearances and 40 goals.
The following season saw Chelsea reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
on their debut in the competition, the highlight of which was a 3–1 quarterfinal first leg victory over FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
, although they were eventually knocked out on aggregate following a 5-1 return leg loss at Camp Nou
Camp Nou
Camp Nou , sometimes called "the Nou Camp" in English, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The stadium, located in the west of the city, has been the home of FC Barcelona since its construction in 1957....
that needed extra time. Despite a disappointing 5th place finish in the Premier League, the campaign ended on a high note when Vialli guided Chelsea to a win over Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
in the 2000 FA Cup final
FA Cup Final 2000
The 2000 FA Cup Final took place on 20 May 2000 and was the last to be played at the old Wembley Stadium. It was contested between Chelsea and Aston Villa, who had finished 5th and 6th respectively in the Premier League that season...
.
The 2000–01
2000-01 in English football
The 2000–01 season was the 121st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Manchester United secured their 3rd Premiership title in succession and their 7th title in just nine seasons...
season started brightly, with Chelsea beating Manchester United to win the FA Charity Shield, Vialli's fifth official trophy with the club in less than three years, making him the club's most successful manager at the time. But Vialli was sacked five games into the season after an indifferent start and having fallen out with several players, including Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola
Gianfranco Zola, OBE, Ufficiale OMRI is a retired Italian footballer and manager, who most recently managed West Ham United from 2008 to 2010, after having been assistant manager of the Italy U-21 under Pierluigi Casiraghi...
, Didier Deschamps
Didier Deschamps
Didier Claude Deschamps is a retired French footballer and current manager of Marseille. He played as a defensive midfielder. As an international, he assisted France with victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000...
and Dan Petrescu
Dan Petrescu
Daniel Vasile Petrescu is a Romanian football manager and former player, currently the manager of Kuban Krasnodar in the Russian Premier League....
.
Watford
Vialli then took up an offer to manage First DivisionFootball League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
club Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...
in 2001–02. Despite making wholesale and expensive changes to the playing and coaching staff, the Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
side finished an unimpressive 14th and Vialli was sacked after one year. Following this, he was drawn into a lengthy dispute with the club over the payment of the remainder of his contract.http://football.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4601448-103,00.html
Other
In 2006, Vialli released The Italian Job: A Journey to the Heart of Two Great Footballing Cultures, co-written with his close friend and reputable football journalist, Gabriele MarcottiGabriele Marcotti
Gabriele Marcotti is an England-based Italian sports journalist, sports author, and radio-television presenter.Born in Italy and now based in London, he was raised in Chicago, Poland, Germany, New York and Japan...
. Written over a period of two and a half years from November 2003 until early 2006, the book discusses the differences between English and Italian football. Vialli is donating the proceeds of the book to the "Fondazione Vialli e Mauro per la ricerca e lo sport", which is a charitable foundation he founded together with former player Massimo Mauro
Massimo Mauro
Massimo Mauro is an Italian politician, a former professional football player.-Playing career:Mauro made his Serie A debut with Catanzaro in 1980 and then went on to play with Udinese, Juventus and Napoli before to retire in 1993.He also represented Italy at the 1988 Summer Olympics...
in order to raise funds for research into cancer and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Today Vialli works as a TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
football commentator for Sky Italia
Sky Italia
Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian digital satellite television platform owned by News Corporation launched on 1 August 2003, when the former platforms TELE+ and Stream TV merged together...
. In 2007 he was linked with a move to the managers position at Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
, following the club takeover by Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore is an Italian businessman. During the 1980s, he was convicted for multiple counts of fraud, receiving two prison sentences, only one of which he served. As a fugitive from Italy, he set up restaurants and then a number of successful Benneton franchises in the Virgin Islands and the...
and Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone is an English business magnate, as president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration and through his part-ownership of Alpha Prema, the parent company of the Formula One Group of companies. As such, he is generally considered the primary...
and the dismissal of John Gregory as manager, but ultimately declined any interest in the job.
Personal life
Vialli has been married to Cathryn White-Cooper since 26 August 2003 and has two children. He is a keen golfer and has played at the Dunhill links championship pro-am event.Career statistics
|-|1980–81||rowspan="4"|Cremonese
U.S. Cremonese
Unione Sportiva Cremonese is an Italian football club, based in Cremona. The club was founded in 1903. Cremonese played the 2005/2006 season in Serie B, having won Serie C1/A the previous season. However, in the 2005/2006 Serie B campaign, Cremonese came out twenty-first, being therefore relegated...
||Serie C1
Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione is the name of the third highest football league in Italy. It consists of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 18 teams each. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1....
||2||0||||||||||||||2||0
|-
|1981–82
Serie B 1981-82
This article contains information on the 1981-1982 season of Serie B, the second highest football league in Italy.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:...
||rowspan="3"|Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
||31||5||||||||||||||||5
|-
|1982–83
Serie B 1982-83
This article contains information on the 1982-1983 season of Serie B, the second highest football league in Italy.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:...
||35||8||||||||||||||||8
|-
|1983–84
Serie B 1983-84
This article contains information on the 1983-1984 season of Serie B, the second highest football league in Italy.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:...
||37||10||||2||||||||||||12
|-
|1984–85
Serie A 1984-85
The 1984/1985 Serie A season heralded Hellas Verona's first and so far only Scudetto. Unusually, none of the big three of Juventus, AC Milan or Inter managed to finish in the top two...
||rowspan="8"|Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...
||rowspan="8"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||28||3||||6||||||||||||9
|-
|1985–86
Serie A 1985-86
-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...
||28||6||||2||||||||||||8
|-
|1986–87
Serie A 1986-87
The 1986/1987 Serie A season ended with S.S.C. Napoli doing the "domestic double", winning their first Scudetto and third Coppa Italia, spurred on by their talismanic captain Diego Maradona....
||28||12||||4||||||||||||16
|-
|1987–88
Serie A 1987-88
The 1987/1988 Serie A season marked A.C. Milan's first Scudetto under the Silvio Berlusconi era and their first since the 1978/1979 season. S.S.C. Napoli, with a team including Diego Maradona, Ciro Ferrara and Careca were pre-season favourites. The championship went down to the last day of the...
||30||10||||3||||||||||||13
|-
|1988–89||30||14||||12||1||1||||5||||32
|-
|1989–90
Serie A 1989-90
Another dominant year for Napoli, with Diego Maradona being among the leading goalscorers in Serie A , behind Marco Van Basten of Milan and Roberto Baggio of Fiorentina .-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:...
||22||10||||2||||||||7||||19
|-
|1990–91
Serie A 1990-91
-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:19 goals* Gianluca Vialli 16 goals* Lothar Matthäus 15 goals* Carlos Aguilera * Tomáš Skuhravý 14 goals* Roberto Baggio...
||26||19||||3||||||||1||||23
|-
|1991–92
Serie A 1991-92
During this season, under the guidance of Fabio Capello, AC Milan completed a remarkable unbeaten season, a run that eventually totalled 58 games.- Final classification :- Results :-Top scorers:25 goals* Marco van Basten 18 goals...
||31||11||||3||||||||7||||21
|-
|1992–93||rowspan="4"|Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
||rowspan="4"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||32||6||7||2||||||10||5||49||13
|-
|1993–94
Serie A 1993-94
The 1993–94 Serie A was won by A.C. Milan, being the 14th title for the rossoneri.-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:23 goals* Giuseppe Signori 18 goals* Gianfranco Zola 17 goals* Roberto Baggio...
||10||4||||||||||2||0||12||4
|-
|1994–95||30||17||7||3||||||9||2||46||22
|-
|1995–96
Serie A 1995-96
The 1995–96 Serie A title was won by A.C. Milan , with Juventus finishing as runners-up.-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:24 goals* Igor Protti...
||30||11||||||1||1||7||2||38||14
|-
|1996–97
FA Premier League 1996-97
The 1996–97 FA Premier League season was the fifth season of the competition, since its formation in 1992. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, Manchester United, along with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool...
||rowspan="3"|Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
||rowspan="3"|Premier League||28||9||1||2||||||||||29||11
|-
|1997–98
FA Premier League 1997-98
The FA Premier League 1997-98 season saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991, and also become only the second team to win the 'double' of the FA Cup and league title twice...
||21||11||1||2||1||0||8||6||31||19
|-
|1998–99
FA Premier League 1998-99
The 1998–99 FA Premier League season was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. The season will always be remembered as the one in which Manchester United won a unique treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the European Cup...
||9||1||3||2||5||6||1||1||18||10
410||146||||42||2||2||||29||||219
58||21||5||6||6||6||9||7||78||40
468||167||||48||8||8||||36||||259
|-
|1985||1||0
|-
|1986||10||0
|-
|1987||10||5
|-
|1988||11||5
|-
|1989||10||1
|-
|1990||3||0
|-
|1991||8||3
|-
|1992||6||2
|-
!Total||59||16
|}
Club playing honours
Cremonese- Serie C1: promotion 1980–81
Sampdoria
- Serie ASerie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
: 1990–91Serie A 1990-91-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:19 goals* Gianluca Vialli 16 goals* Lothar Matthäus 15 goals* Carlos Aguilera * Tomáš Skuhravý 14 goals* Roberto Baggio... - Coppa ItaliaCoppa ItaliaThe Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
: 1985, 1988Coppa Italia 1987-88The 1987–88 Coppa Italia was the 40th Coppa Italia, the major Italian domestic cup. The competition was won by Sampdoria, who defeated Torino 3–2 on aggregate in a two-legged final played at Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa and Stadio Comunale in Turin....
, 1989Coppa Italia 1988-89The 1988–89 Coppa Italia was the 41st Coppa Italia, the major Italian domestic cup. The competition was won by Sampdoria, who defeated SSC Napoli 4–1 on aggregate in a two-legged final played at Stadio San Paolo and Stadio Giovanni Zini .-First leg:-Second... - Supercoppa ItalianaSupercoppa ItalianaThe Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...
: 19911991 Supercoppa ItalianaThe 1991 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Serie A 1990-91 winners Sampdoria and Coppa Italia 1990-91 winners Roma.The match took place on 24 August 1991 in Marassi, Genoa and resulted in a 1-0 victory for Sampdoria.-Match details:... - UEFA Cup Winners' CupUEFA Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
: 1990
Juventus F.C.
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
- Serie ASerie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
: 1994–95 - Coppa ItaliaCoppa ItaliaThe Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
: 1995Coppa Italia 1994-95The 1994–95 Coppa Italia was the 47th edition of the tournament. The final was contested between Juventus and Parma, who also met in the previous month in the 1995 UEFA Cup Final.-First leg:-Second leg:Juventus won 3–0 on aggregate.-References:*... - Supercoppa ItalianaSupercoppa ItalianaThe Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...
: 19951995 Supercoppa ItalianaThe 1995 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Juventus, the Serie A 1994-95 winner, Parma, the Coppa Italia 1994-95 runner-up, since Juventus had won both trophies in the 1994-95 season.... - UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
: 1996 - UEFA CupUEFA CupThe UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
: 1993UEFA Cup 1992-93The UEFA Cup 1992–93 was won by Juventus, who beat Borussia Dortmund 6–1 in the final aggregate over, a record score for a UEFA Cup final. It was the third victory in the competition for the Italian team ....
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
: 1997 - League CupFootball League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
: 19981998 Football League Cup FinalThe 1998 Coca-Cola Cup Final was a football match played between Chelsea and Middlesbrough on 29 March 1998 at Wembley Stadium. Chelsea, under new manager Gianluca Vialli, won with two extra time goals and would go on to win the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup later that season... - UEFA Cup Winners' CupUEFA Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
: 1998 - UEFA Super Cup: 19981998 UEFA Super CupThe 1998 UEFA Super Cup was a match that was played on 28 August 1998 at Stade Louis II, Monaco, contested between Cup Winners' Cup holders Chelsea and Champions League winners Real Madrid. Chelsea won the match 1–0. Guus Hiddink manager of Real Madrid went on to manage Chelsea to win the...
International playing honours
Italy national football teamItaly national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...
- World CupFIFA World CupThe FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
: 3rd place 1990
Club managerial honours
Chelsea F.C.Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
- Football League CupFootball League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
: 1998 - UEFA Cup Winners' CupUEFA Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
1998 - UEFA Super Cup: 1998
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
: 2000 - FA Charity Shield: 2000
Managerial stats
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Chelsea Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four... |
 |
12 February 1998 | 12 September 2000 | 143 | 76 | 29 | 38 | |
| Watford Watford F.C. Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade... |
|
1 June 2001 | 14 June 2002 | 52 | 20 | 21 | 11 | |
See also
- List of players to have won the three main European club competitions