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 Pecchia in 2011 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fabio Pecchia[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1973-08-24)24 August 1973 (age 52) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Formia, Italy | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1991–1993 | Avellino | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1997 | Napoli | 125 | (15) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Juventus | 21 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | Sampdoria | 26 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2001 | Torino | 22 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | →Napoli (loan) | 27 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2006 | Bologna | 33 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | →Como (loan) | 27 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | →Siena (loan) | 59 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Ascoli | 23 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Foggia | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Frosinone | 14 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Foggia | 26 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 466 | (51) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1996 | Italy U21 | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Italy Olympic | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Gubbio | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Latina | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | Hellas Verona | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Avispa Fukuoka | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Juventus U23 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Cremonese | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2025 | Parma | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Fabio Pecchia (Italian pronunciation:[ˈfaːbjoˈpekkja]; born 24 August 1973) is an Italian professionalfootball manager and former player.
Throughout his playing career as amidfielder, he was also known as "l'avvocato" ("the lawyer," in Italian), as he obtained a law degree through theUniversity of Naples.[2][3]
A journeyman with eleven different clubs in his career, Pecchia amassed over 300first division appearances. He began his career withAvellino in 1991, and remained at the club for two seasons. Despite heavy interest fromParma, he moved toNapoli in 1993, where he played for four seasons, becoming a key figure for the club, although he later struggled to establish himself in other teams. He made his Serie A debut with the Neapolitan club on 29 August 1993, at the age of 20, becoming a vital member ofMarcello Lippi's midfield; Pecchia's tactical versatility, speed, technique, vision, and passing range allowed him to excel in Lippi's offensive tactical system, which made frequent use of long balls and fast-paced football. With Napoli, Pecchia soon established himself as one of the most promising and talented young Italian stars of the 90s, due to his leadership and work-rate; during his first season with Napoli, he helped the club qualify for theUEFA Cup.[4] He remained at the club for three more seasons, despite the club's financial difficulties and lack of success during this time. During the1996–97 season, he was named Napoli'scaptain, and he helped the club to reach the1997 Coppa Italia final under managerLuigi Simoni, in which Napoli was defeated byVicenza in extra time; during the first leg of the final, Pecchia scored Napoli's winning goal.[4] Despite his attachment to the club, he was sold to Juventus in 1997 for 10 billion Lit., in an attempt to manage the club's debts; he would later return to Napoli, on loan, however, for a single season, in 2001. In total, he made 152 appearances for Napoli, scoring 21 goals.[4][5]
Pecchia spent a single season withJuventus during the1997–98 season, under his former Napoli manager Marcello Lippi, winning the1997 Supercoppa Italiana, and the Serie A title with the club that season, also reaching the1998 UEFA Champions League final. He made 21 league appearances that season, and scored a decisive goal againstEmpoli to claim the league title. He struggled to break into the first team, however, and was usually used as a reserve, due to the presence ofZinedine Zidane andEdgar Davids in Juventus's midfield.[3] Pecchia was subsequently loaned out to Sampdoria for the1998–99 season, and he was sold tocross-city rivalsTorino for 5.9 billion Italian lire (€3,047,096) in 1999, playing the1999–2000 season with the Turin club, and suffering relegation toSerie B.[6] In June 2001 Juve gave up the remain 50% registration rights to Torino.[5][7]
Thefollowing season, Pecchia moved back to Napoli on loan, although he was unable to save the club from relegation toSerie B.[4] He spent the2001–02 season withBologna, and remained with the club until the2005–06 season, although he spent the2002–03 season withComo, and was loaned out toSiena during the2004–05 season.[3][4][5]
He spent the first half of the2006–07 Serie A season withAscoli, but on 31 January 2007, he was signed bySerie C1 sideFoggia.[8] On 10 July 2007 he signed a 1-year contract withSerie B clubFrosinone, making 26 appearances for the club, and scoring a goal in a home fixture againstChievo. On 10 June 2008, he returned to Foggia, signing a two-year contract that would keep him at the club until 2010, although he retired during the summer of 2009. In total, he made 446 appearances throughout his career, scoring 50 goals. He made 337 appearances in Serie A, scoring 41 goals; 62 in Serie B, scoring four goals and 47 appearances in Serie C, scoring five goals.[3][4][5]
Although he never represented Italy at senior level, Pecchia played for theItaly national under-21 football team on eleven occasions between 1993 and 1996, under managerCesare Maldini, and was a member of the team that won the1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship; he also competed for Italy at the1996 Summer Olympics, making three appearances.[9][10]
Pecchia retired from playing football in 2009, and subsequently became Foggia's assistant coach.[11] He left his coaching post by mutual consent, together with head coachAntonio Porta, on 19 January 2010.[12]
On 18 June 2011, he was appointed head coach of Serie B clubGubbio.[13] He was removed from his managerial post on 16 October 2011 due to poor results.[14]
In the 2012–13 season, he became the new head coach ofLatina, helping the team earn Serie B promotion. From 21 June 2013, he has served as assistant coach forRafael Benítez at his former club Napoli.[4][15] From 3 June 2015 to 4 January 2016, he was assistant coach atReal Madrid under Benítez. When the Spaniard was announced asNewcastle United on 11 March, Pecchia was also announced as part of the coaching set up.
In July 2016, he took over as new head coach of Serie B clubHellas Verona, with the clear goal to bring the club back to the top flight. He completed the2016–17 Serie B season in second place, thus winning automatic promotion to Serie A in his first attempt, and was confirmed in charge of the club for the following2017–18 top flight campaign. The following season, he could not help them avoid relegation, and left the team at the end of the campaign.
In December 2018, he was announced as coach of Avispa Fukuoka, a Japanese club active in the J2 League. He left the team on 3 June 2019, resigning for personal reasons. The following summer he returned to Italy, becoming the coach ofJuventus U23, inSerie C.[16] On 27 June 2020, he led Juventus U23 to winning theCoppa Italia Serie C with a 2–1 victory overTernana.[17]
On 7 January 2021, he returned into management after being appointed head coach ofSerie B clubCremonese.[18] After guiding them to promotion to Serie A by the end of the2021–22 Serie B season, he unexpectedly resigned from his post on 21 May 2022.[19]
On 2 June 2022, just a few days after leaving Cremonese, Pecchia was announced as the new head coach of Serie B clubParma.[20] Later on, he led Parma back to Serie A, by finishing top in the2023–24 season.[21]
Pecchia was capable of playing on bothmidfield wings, despite being naturally right-footed. A versatile player, he was able to adapt to anymidfield position, and also deployed as anattacking midfielder, or in thecentre as adefensive midfielder on occasion. Throughout his career, he was known in particular for his vision, and excellentlong-passing ability, although he was also a quick, dynamic, hard-working, and creative player, with good technical ability, who was known for his speed on the ball. He was also known for his offensive movement off the ball, as well as his ability to lose his markers and find open spaces by making attacking runs into positions from which he could receive and subsequently distribute the ball to teammates. These attributes enabled him to be extremely adept at starting attacking plays, in particular during counter-attacks, and made him a serious offensive threat. In addition to his playing ability, he was also known for his leadership qualities.[3][4][22]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Gubbio |  | 18 June 2011 | 16 October 2011 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 26 | −10 | 016.67 |
| Latina | | 17 June 2012 | 8 April 2013 | 35 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 46 | 32 | +14 | 051.43 |
| Hellas Verona | | 2 June 2016 | 13 June 2018 | 86 | 30 | 19 | 37 | 102 | 129 | −27 | 034.88 |
| Avispa Fukuoka |  | 14 December 2018 | 3 June 2019 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 21 | −8 | 025.00 |
| Juventus U23 | | 29 June 2019 | 17 July 2020 | 37 | 15 | 14 | 8 | 50 | 43 | +7 | 040.54 |
| Cremonese | | 7 January 2021 | 21 May 2022 | 60 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 88 | 60 | +28 | 048.33 |
| Parma | | 2 June 2022 | 17 February 2025 | 110 | 46 | 33 | 31 | 159 | 129 | +30 | 041.82 |
| Total | 356 | 144 | 100 | 112 | 474 | 440 | +34 | 040.45 | |||
Italy U21[24]
Juventus U23
Parma
page 42, IMMOBILIZZAZIONI FINANZIARIE Compartecipazioni ex art. 102 bis N.O.I.F.
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