| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1956-02-08)8 February 1956 (age 69) | ||
| Place of birth | Preganziol, Italy | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Pro Mogliano | |||
| Juventus | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Alessandria | |||
| Seregno | |||
| Padova | |||
| Pordenone | |||
| Prato | |||
| Asti | |||
| Spezia | |||
| Giorgione | |||
| Treviso | |||
| Pro Mogliano | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1992–1993 | Salvarosa | ||
| 1993–1994 | Bassano | ||
| 1994–1997 | Treviso | ||
| 1997–1998 | Padova | ||
| 1998 | Genoa | ||
| 2000 | Lumezzane | ||
| 2000 | Pistoiese | ||
| 2001–2003 | Ascoli | ||
| 2003–2004 | Bari | ||
| 2004–2005 | Treviso | ||
| 2005–2006 | Chievo Verona | ||
| 2007–2008 | Treviso | ||
| 2008–2009 | Reggina | ||
| 2009–2010 | Ascoli | ||
| 2010–2011 | Livorno | ||
| 2011 | Empoli | ||
| 2013 | Reggina | ||
| 2014 | Carpi | ||
| 2015 | Pisa | ||
| 2015–2016 | Padova | ||
| 2017 | Alessandria | ||
| 2018–2019 | Pescara | ||
| 2020 | Cosenza | ||
| 2020–2021 | Triestina | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Giuseppe "Bepi" Pillon (born 8 February 1956) is an Italianfootball manager and former player.
Born inPreganziol,Province of Treviso, Pillon moved his first footsteps into football with hometown team Pro Mogliano, before to joinJuventus's youth ranks for three years.[1] He then played mostly forSerie C1 andSerie C2 teams throughout his career, including a four-year spell atPadova and three seasons withSpezia. He spent his two last seasons as a player at Pro Mogliano.[1]
Pillon started his coaching career in 1992 with amateurInterregionale team Salvarosa.[citation needed] He went on to becomeBassano coach the next season before joiningTreviso in 1994, leading them through three consecutive promotion from Interregionale toSerie B. In 1997, he left Treviso to accept an offer fromPadova ofSerie B in 1997, only to be sacked in a few weeks. This was followed by another unsuccessful spell atGenoa in 1998, before being appointed asLumezzane boss during the 1999–2000Serie C1 season. He returned to coach in the Serie B in 2000–01 asPistoiese boss. In 2001–02 he ledAscoli to win the Serie C1 title, heading thebianconeri also in their successive Serie B campaign.
After starting the 2003–04 season without a job, he was appointed at the helm of Serie B teamBari in January 2004, leading thegalletti out of the relegation zone.
In the following season, he was appointed by his former teamTreviso, leading them to an impressive season which ensured them a spot in the promotion playoffs. He was consequently appointed bySerie A teamChievo Verona for their2005–06 campaign which ended in a very impressive sixth place; this was later elevated to third following the2006 Serie A scandal events, meaning Chievo would have awarded a spot in theUEFA Champions League 2006-07 third qualifying round, which they however lost toLevski Sofia. A low start in theirSerie A 2006–07 campaign then convinced the Chievo management to sack Pillon, replacing him withLuigi Delneri.[citation needed]
During the summer of 2007, he was announced as newTreviso boss for their2007–08 Serie B campaign in a third spell at the club for Pillon, with his brother Albino as assistant manager.[1] This new experience however proved not to be as successful as it was initially expected, and Treviso found themselves in the bottom part of the table, escaping relegation in the final weeks of the season. In July 2008 Treviso announced to have agreed a mutual consent leave with Pillon.[2]
On 16 December 2008 Pillon was announced as new head coach of Serie A relegation strugglersReggina Calcio, being appointed as replacement forNevio Orlandi, dismissed because of poor results with theamaranto.[3] His tenure with Reggina however lasted just a month, being dismissed on 29 January 2009 due to poor results.[4]
In November 2009 he was appointed head coach ofAscoli, a team he already coached from 2001 to 2003, replacingAlessandro Pane.[5]
Pillon gained nationwide news after he was protagonist of a highly unusualfair play action during aSerie B league game versusReggina: after his side questionably scored a goal while a Reggina player was lying injured on the pitch, he requested his players to allow the opponent team to score; the game then ended in a 3–1 home loss for Ascoli, and such choice was heatedly criticized by the local fans. The game events and his reactions, with Pillon defending his actions and declaring himself critical of the belligerent atmosphere in Italian football, were then cited as the reason for him being awarded the 2009 International Fair Play prize.[6]
In June 2010 Pillon was announced as new head coach of recently relegatedSerie B clubLivorno.[7] Following an unimpressive first half of season, Pillon was relieved of his managerial duties on 14 February 2011 following a 0–1 loss to minnowsPortogruaro.[8]
On 3 October 2011, Pillon became the new coach ofEmpoli inSerie B, in place of the sackedAlfredo Aglietti.[9] On 20 November 2011 he has been sacked and replaced byGuido Carboni.[10]
On 4 April 2018, he was appointed manager ofSerie B clubPescara.[11] He left Pescara at the end of the 2018–19 season.
On 11 February 2020, Pillon returned into management, being hired at the helm of relegation-threatened Serie B clubCosenza.[12] His stint as Cosenza coach did not however last long, as he submitted his resignations a month later for personal reasons in the midst of the football activities halt caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic in Italy.[13]
On 2 December 2020 he was named head coach ofSerie C promotion hopefulsTriestina, taking over fromCarmine Gautieri.[14] He left Triestina at the end of the 2020–21 season.