 Colomba in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1955-02-06)6 February 1955 (age 70) | ||
| Place of birth | Grosseto, Italy | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973–1975 | Bologna | 9 | (2) |
| 1975–1976 | →Modena (loan) | 28 | (1) |
| 1976–1977 | →Sambenedettese (loan) | 27 | (1) |
| 1977–1983 | Bologna | 159 | (4) |
| 1983–1988 | Avellino | = 132 | (14) |
| 1988–1990 | Modena | 48 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1990–1992 | Modena (youth team) | ||
| 1992–1993 | Spal (youth team) | ||
| 1993–1994 | Olbia | ||
| 1994–1995 | Novara | ||
| 1995–1997 | Salernitana | ||
| 1997–1998 | Reggina | ||
| 1998–1999 | Vicenza | ||
| 1999–2002 | Reggina | ||
| 2002–2003 | Napoli | ||
| 2003 | Reggina | ||
| 2004–2005 | Livorno | ||
| 2005–2006 | Avellino | ||
| 2006–2007 | Cagliari | ||
| 2007 | Verona | ||
| 2008–2009 | Ascoli | ||
| 2009–2010 | Bologna | ||
| 2011–2012 | Parma | ||
| 2012–2013 | Padova | ||
| 2014 | Pune City | ||
| 2016 | Livorno | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Franco Colomba (born 6 February 1955) is an Italianfootball coach and former player, most recently in charge ofSerie B clubLivorno.
Colomba was born inGrosseto. Amidfielder, he started his playing career inBologna, making hisSerie A debut during the1973–74 season. He played for Bologna until 1983, except two loan spells atSerie B teamsModena andSambenedettese, in 1975 and 1976 respectively. After having left Bologna, Colomba signed forAvellino, a minor Serie A team where he played until 1988, when Avellino relegated toSerie B, and became a favourite among thebiancoverdi fans. He ended his career in 1990 with Modena.
After three years as youth coach forModena andSpal, Colomba took his first head coaching job in 1993, at the helm ofOlbia ofSerie C2. After an impressive season withNovara one year later, in 1995 Colomba was called to coachSalernitana, where he narrowly missed immediate promotion toSerie A; he was fired one year later, because of poor results. In 1997, Colomba signed forReggina ofSerie B, where he obtained a seventh place. At the end of the season, he left Reggina for Serie A teamVicenza, where he however did not end the season, being fired after nineteen matchdays.
Colomba returned to Reggina in 1999, and stayed inCalabria for three seasons, with a relegation in 2001 (after having lost a play-off match toVerona) and a successive promotion in 2002. In the 2002–03 season, Colomba had a somehow turbulent Serie B experience at fallen giantsNapoli, with a sacking and a successive recall, and a disappointing fifteenth place as a result. The next year saw Colomba making his third comeback at Reggina, but he is fired after the eleventh matchday and replaced byGiancarlo Camolese. The 2004–05 season started with Colomba at the helm of newly promoted Serie A sideLivorno, but abruptly ended in January, when he was sacked and replaced byRoberto Donadoni. In October 2005, a Serie B team in danger of relegation,Avellino, called him to replaceFrancesco Oddo; however, Avellino finally lost its place to Serie B after two play-off matches lost toAlbinoLeffe.
Colomba returned to coach in December 2006, when he was appointed to replaceMarco Giampaolo at the helm of Serie A clubCagliari Calcio. He was fired on 26 February 2007 following a 2–0 home defeat toLazio.
On 19 July 2007, he was announced as head coach ofSerie C1 clubVerona.[1] However, Verona had a very poor start in theirSerie C1 2007–08 campaign, with no wins in the initial seven league matches, and a shock 1–2 defeat againstLegnano led the club management to sack Colomba on 8 October 2007.[2]
In December 2008 he was appointed as new head coach ofAscoli, becoming the third manager of thebianconeri in theSerie B 2008–09, and replacingVincenzo Chiarenza.[3] He guided Ascoli into a mid-table finish at the end of the season, but his contract was not extended and therefore left the club.[4]
On 20 October 2009, Colomba was appointed new head coach of Bologna, taking over fromGiuseppe Papadopulo.[5] Notably, despite being born in Grosseto, Colomba grew up in Bologna and is a fan of the local club since childhood, and Bologna was also the club that gave him the chance to make his professional football debut. After taking the reins of therossoblu club, he defined his appointment as head coach of Bologna as a dream coming true.[6] He guided Bologna to keep their place in the Serie A in 2009–10, however his position was put under question afterSergio Porcedda took over the club. Originally confirmed at the helm of the club, he was ultimately dismissed on 29 August 2010, exactly one day before the first game of the season, allegedly due to disagreements with the board.[7]
On 5 April 2011, Colomba was announced as the new head coach ofParma, replacingPasquale Marino, and saved the club from relegation, being subsequently confirmed at the helm of the club also for the new season. On 9 January 2012, he was fired and replaced byRoberto Donadoni following Parma extended winless streak to six matches with a 5–0 loss toInter.[8]
On 22 June 2014, he signed with newly formedIndian Super League outfitFC Pune City as manager.[9]
On 6 August 2018 he collected the Salvatore La Gamba Sports Prize in Vibo Valentia (VV) for the section "Young Promised Coach"