 Liverani in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fabio Liverani[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1976-04-29)29 April 1976 (age 49) | ||
| Place of birth | Rome, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Central midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994–1995 | Palermo | ||
| 1995–1996 | Napoli | ||
| 1996 | Cagliari | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996 | Nocerina | 2 | (0) |
| 1997–2000 | Viterbese | 104 | (18) |
| 2000–2001 | Perugia | 32 | (3) |
| 2001–2006 | Lazio | 126 | (6) |
| 2006–2008 | Fiorentina | 64 | (1) |
| 2008–2011 | Palermo | 66 | (0) |
| 2011 | Lugano | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 394 | (28) | |
| International career | |||
| 2001–2006 | Italy | 3 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2013 | Genoa | ||
| 2014–2015 | Leyton Orient | ||
| 2017 | Ternana | ||
| 2017–2020 | Lecce | ||
| 2020–2021 | Parma | ||
| 2022 | Cagliari | ||
| 2024 | Salernitana | ||
| 2025– | Ternana | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Fabio Liverani (Italian pronunciation:[ˈfaːbjoliveˈraːni]; born 29 April 1976) is an Italianfootball manager and formermidfielder. He is the head coach ofSerie C Group B clubTernana.
He made 288Serie A appearances across 12 seasons, representingPerugia,Lazio,Fiorentina andPalermo. He was the firstblack player for theItaly national team, playing three matches from 2001 to 2006.
In 2013, Liverani began his managerial career with a brief spell at top-flight clubGenoa. He also managed the English clubLeyton Orient and theSerie B clubTernana before takingLecce to two consecutive promotions to the top flight.
Liverani was born in Rome, Italy, to aSomali mother and anItalian father.[2] He made his professional footballing debut withViterbese ofSerie C2 in 1996–97. He transferred toPerugia in the 2000–01 season. From 2001 to 2006, Liverani played forLazio in Italy'sSerie A. He was part of their team that won theCoppa Italia in2004, defeatingJuventus 4–2 on aggregate.[3]
The 2006 season saw Liverani move toFiorentina. He played a total of two seasons with the team, including theViola' team's2007–08 Serie A campaign, which ended with Fiorentina securing fourth place and a spot in the third qualifying round of the2008–09 UEFA Champions League.[citation needed] Fiorentina and Liverani parted company the following season.
In May 2008, Liverani signed a three-year contract withPalermo, being also appointed teamcaptain. Liverani was forced to miss the first three months of the 2009–10 season due to a serious injury that he had sustained on May, and broke back into the first team only on November, then being replaced as permanent team captain byFabrizio Miccoli. In his first game as a regular, against Chievo, the first game of new head coachDelio Rossi in charge of the team, Liverani went on to be sent off during the game.[citation needed]
On 30 August 2011, he moved toLugano, signing a two-year contract. Liverani never played for the Swiss, and rescinded his contract by mutual consent later on November.[4]
On 25 April 2001, Liverani became the first black Italian footballer to play internationally with theItaly national team,[5] making his debut with theAzzurri in a friendly match againstSouth Africa in Perugia, under the management ofGiovanni Trapattoni; the match ended in a 1–0 victory for the Italians.[2][6]
On 16 August 2006, he was again summoned to start for the Italy national team in a friendly inLivorno againstCroatia by the team's new coach,Roberto Donadoni; the match ended in a 2–0 loss.[7][8] In total he made three appearances for Italy.[9]
In spite of his lack of pace, agility, stamina or defensive skills,[10][11] Liverani was a highly creative, reliable and quick-thinking player, who was known in particular for his technique, vision, range of distribution and precise passing with his left foot, which enabled him to create chances for teammates, and made him an excellentassist provider.[10][11][12][13][14] Due to his skills and ability to set the tempo of his team's play in midfield, he usually operated in thecentre orin front of the back-line, where he functioned as adeep-lyingplaymaker in midfield.[11][12][13][15] In addition to his playmaking abilities as a footballer, he also stood out for his mentality and leadership, both on and off the pitch.[10][13]
Following his retirement, Liverani was offered a position as youth coach atGenoa, in charge of theAllievi Regionali B squad, which he accepted on 15 November 2011.[16]
On 7 June 2013, Genoa presidentEnrico Preziosi announced the appointment of Liverani as new first team manager in place ofDavide Ballardini.[17] He was sacked on 29 September after one win in his seven Serie A games in charge, and replaced byGian Piero Gasperini.[18]
On 8 December 2014, Liverani was appointed as manager of EnglishLeague One team,Leyton Orient on a2+1⁄2-year contract replacingMauro Milanese who returned to his role as Sporting Director after eight matches in charge.[19] Following their relegation toLeague Two, Liverani left the club by mutual consent in May 2015.[20]
On 6 March 2017, Liverani was appointed as manager ofSerie B team,Ternana replacingCarmine Gautieri who was sacked after gaining only three points in seven matches.[21] Ternana was last with only 23 points in 29 matches, but he gained 26 points in 13 games to avoid direct relegation as well as play-outs.[22] At the end of the season, with the club under new ownership, Liverani's contract was not renewed.[23]
On 17 September 2017, Liverani was appointed manager ofLecce, with whom he achieved two direct promotions from Serie C to Serie A, thus bringing the Salento club back to the Italian top-tier league after seven years.[24][25] Lecce made it to the last day of the2019–20 season, before being relegated with a 4–3 home loss to Parma.[26] On 19 August 2020, Liverani was sacked.[27]
On 28 August 2020, Liverani was appointed manager ofParma on a two-year contract, after the dismissal ofRoberto D'Aversa.[28] On 7 January 2021, after four straight losses, Liverani was sacked.[29]
On 8 June 2022, Liverani was unveiled as the new head coach ofCagliari, following the club's relegation to Serie B.[30]
On 20 December 2022, Liverani was dismissed from his coaching duties following a 1–2 loss atPalermo and a disappointing first half of the season with Cagliari in fourteenth place in the league table.[31]
On 11 February 2024, Liverani was appointed new head coach of the bottom-placed Serie A clubSalernitana until the end of the season.[32]
On 1 April 2025, Liverani was named the new head coach of Serie C promotion hopefuls Ternana, replacingIgnazio Abate, returning to theRossoverdi eight years after his first stint at the club.[33][34]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Genoa |  | 7 June 2013 | 29 September 2013 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 014.29 |
| Leyton Orient |  | 8 December 2014 | 13 May 2015 | 27 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 029.63 |
| Ternana | | 6 March 2017 | 30 June 2017 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 061.54 |
| Lecce | | 17 September 2017 | 19 August 2020 | 115 | 51 | 27 | 37 | 179 | 171 | +8 | 044.35 |
| Parma | | 28 August 2020 | 7 January 2021 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 33 | −15 | 022.22 |
| Cagliari | | 1 July 2022 | 20 December 2022 | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 26 | −2 | 030.00 |
| Salernitana | | 11 February 2024 | 18 March 2024 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 000.00 |
| Total | 205 | 78 | 51 | 76 | 285 | 305 | −20 | 038.05 | |||
Lazio