Luciano De Paola (born 30 May 1961 in Italy) is an Italian football manager and former player.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 30 May 1961 | ||
| Place of birth | Crotone, Italy | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1983 | Crotone | 59 | (0) |
| 1983–1985 | Frosinone | 64 | (0) |
| 1985–1988 | Francavilla | 85 | (1) |
| 1988–1990 | Cagliari | 71 | (2) |
| 1990–1993 | Brescia | 85 | (2) |
| 1993 | Lazio | 6 | (0) |
| 1993–1994 | Atalanta | 14 | (0) |
| 1994–1996 | Cosenza | 66 | (2) |
| 1996–1998 | Brescia | 66 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Cremapergo | 13 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1999 | Cremapergo | ||
| 2007 | Arezzo | ||
| 2009–2011 | Darfo | ||
| 2011–2012 | Seregno | ||
| 2012–2013 | Trento | ||
| 2013–2014 | AlzanoCene | ||
| 2015 | Piacenza | ||
| 2015–2016 | Lecco | ||
| 2016–2017 | Lumezzane | ||
| 2017 | Lecco | ||
| 2017–2018 | Pergolettese | ||
| 2018–2019 | Trento | ||
| 2019–2020 | Savona | ||
| 2020–2021 | Pergolettese | ||
| 2021–2022 | Lecco | ||
| 2022–2023 | Città di Varese | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
As a player, De Paola was compared to Italian international Gennaro Gattuso, who was also a defensive midfielder.[1] In 2013, the newspaper Corriere della Sera included De Paola in a list of Brescia Calcio's best defensive midfielders.[2]
Upon signing for Cagliari Calcio in 1988, De Paola was interviewed by Guerin Sportivo, where the author wrote that he voted for the Italian Communist Party in the early 1980s.[3] When he joined S.S. Lazio in 1993, a journalist re-published the interview and labelled him a communist. As a result, he was blamed for the team's problems and was eventually forced to leave due to pressure from the club's supporters.[4]
After retirement, De Paola claimed that he had never talked about politics in any interview[5] and was never interested in it.[6]
Coaching career
De Paola mostly worked as head coach in the minor leagues of Northern Italy. His most recent, in charge of Serie C club Pergolettese, ended on 13 April 2021 after he was sacked due to poor results.[7] On 25 November 2021, he was hired as new head coach of Lecco.[8] He rescinded his contract with Lecco on 11 May 2022, a few days after the end of the season.[9]
He subsequently worked at Serie D club Città di Varese until February 2023.[10]
References
External links
- Luciano De Paola at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)