Giorgio Contini (born 4 January 1974) is a Swiss football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Swiss Super League club Young Boys.
Playing career
Teams
He played at various clubs in Switzerland, such as FC Winterthur, FC St. Gallen, FC Luzern and FC Lausanne-Sport. His greatest success was the Swiss championships with FC St. Gallen in 1999/2000. In summer 2005, he ended his footballing career.
National
Contini played his only international match for Switzerland in a friendly match against Poland, on 28 February 2001.
Coaching career
After retiring as soccer player, Contini started his coaching career at FC Oberwinterthur, who played in the 2. Liga Interregional, in 2005. In the following year, he joined FC St. Gallen as coach of the second team. He remained at St. Gallen until 2011. During his time there, he also assisted in coaching the first team, from 2006 until 2007, under Rolf Fringer, and also served as interim coach in 2011. He joined FC Luzern in 2011 as assistant coach, under Murat Yakin.
In late 2012, he was hired by FC Vaduz as head coach, where he remained until June 2017. The following season, he rejoined FC St. Gallen as head coach, this time, for one year. From 2018 until 2021, he was head coach of FC Lausanne-Sport, whom he led to promotion to the Swiss Super League in 2020.
On 9 June 2021, Contini was confirmed as the new head coach of Grasshopper Club Zürich.[1]
On 19 March 2023, Swiss online news site nau.ch reported that Contini had handed in his resignation in mid February,[2] which would see him leaving the club in the summer, following a six month notice period. On the same day, the club confirmed the news and stating their intention of continuing their cooperation for the duration of the season.[3] This news came on the heels of Contini's GC having won two games in a row for the first time that season.
On 15 February 2024, Contini was confirmed as the assistant coach of Switzerland national football team coach Murat Yakin.[4]
On 18 December 2024, he was appointed as the head coach of Swiss champions Young Boys on a two-and-a-half-year contract.[5] On 1 February 2025, he managed his 244th game in the Swiss Super League, making him the sole record holder since the league reform in 2003, ahead of Christian Gross and Alain Geiger.[6]
Honours
Player
- FC St. Gallen
Manager
- Vaduz
- Swiss Challenge League (1): 2013–14
- Liechtenstein Cup (4): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16
- Lausanne-Sport
- Individual
- Liechtensteiner Coach of the Year (2): 2014, 2016
Personal life
Contini is of Italian descent.[7]
References
- ^ "GIORGIO CONTINI NEUER CHEFTRAINER BEI GC". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 9 June 2021.
- ^ "Exklusiv: GC auf Trainersuche – Giorgio Contini hat gekündigt!". nau.ch. 19 March 2023.
- ^ "UPDATE ON THE COACH SITUATION". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 19 March 2023.
- ^ "Männer-Nationalteam: Giorgio Contini wird Assistenztrainer" (in Swiss High German). Swiss Football Association. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
- ^ "Giorgio Contini wird Cheftrainer bei YB" (in German). BSC Young Boys. 18 December 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ "Rekordtrainer der Super League" (in Swiss High German). Swiss Football League. 4 February 2025. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ "Fussball: Giorgio Contini hofft auf einen italienischen EM-Sieg gegen Spanien". Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
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