Davide Nicola (born 5 March 1973) is an Italian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former player. He was most recently head coach of

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

Club career

Nicola was born in

Luserna San Giovanni Luserna San Giovanni (Occitan: ''Luzerna e San Jan'', Piedmontese: ''Luserna e San Gioann'', French: Lucerne Saint-Jean) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located in the Val Pellice a ...

. During his time in

Genoa C.F.C. Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to as Genoa (), is a professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, that competes in , the second division of the Italian football league system. Established in 1893, Genoa is ...

he was noted for kissing a policewoman on the sideline after a goal. He also helped the club to lift the 1996 Anglo-Italian Cup. In the Serie B 2005–06 playoffs he scored a goal that gave his

Torino F.C. Torino Football Club (), commonly referred to as Torino or simply Toro, is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont. They currently play in Serie A. Founded as ''Foot-Ball Club Torino'' in 1906, Torino are among the mos ...

a promotion to

. In the 2006–07 season of Serie B his good play for

Spezia Calcio Spezia Calcio is a professional Association football, football club based in La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. Spezia Calcio was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurni (or Hurny in some documents), who played for the early Crystal Palace am ...

in the last few games contributed to Spezia avoiding relegation. He only played in the

for one season in the 2004–05 season (15 games for A.C. Siena).

Managerial career

In July 2010 Nicola retired from playing for

Lumezzane Lumezzane (Brescian: ; locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. With a population of 22,255 () it is one of the largest towns in the province of Brescia. It is situated in the Gobbia Valley, which is a side val ...

in order to replace the outgoing head coach Leonardo Menichini at the helm of the club. On 28 June 2011, his contract was renewed. During the 2012–13 season, Nicola became the head coach of

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

. In January 2014, Livorno sacked Nicola with the club second-from-bottom in the

table. On 21 April 2014, Nicola was appointed manager of Livorno again. On 17 November 2014, Nicola became the new manager for F.C. Bari. On 23 June 2016, Nicola was appointed manager of Serie A newcomers

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

. Nicola promised to ride a bicycle from Crotone to his home in Turin if they avoided relegation. Crotone finished in 17th place, two points above the relegation zone, and ahead of

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

on the final matchday of the season in what was hailed as a football miracle, as Crotone had collected only nine points in the whole first half of the season. Fulfilling the promise, Nicola rode 1300 km from Crotone to Turin on a bicycle. On 13 November 2018, Nicola was appointed manager of

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

. On 28 December 2019, Nicola was appointed manager of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. On 19 January 2021, following the sacking of

Marco Giampaolo Marco Giampaolo (; born 2 August 1967) is an Italian coach (sport), manager, and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder (association football), midfielder. He was most recently the head coach of Serie A cl ...

, Nicola was appointed manager of

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

. In his first game in charge,

Simone Zaza Simone Zaza (born 25 June 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker, most recently for club Torino. Zaza began his professional club career with Atalanta in 2008, where he remained for two seasons. In 2010, he moved ...

scored two second-half goals to help Torino draw 2–2 with

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

, having been two goals down. After guiding Torino to narrowly escape relegation, he was not confirmed for the new season. On 15 February 2022, Nicola was appointed new head coach of Serie A relegation-battling club

until the end of the season. Under Nicola's tenure, Salernitana obtained 18 points in the remaining 15 matches and avoided relegation, another escape hailed as a miracle by the media. Nicola signed a new two-year contract with the club on 3 June 2022. He was later dismissed by the club on 16 January 2023, after a 8–2 loss away at

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

; only to be appointed back at the helm of the club just two days later. However, as results did not improve, Nicola was dismissed once again on 15 February 2023.

Personal life

Nicola was the father of Alessandro, who died in a road accident in 2014, aged 14.http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/14-07-2014/davide-nicola-livorno-tragedia-incidente-bici-muore-figlio-14enne-801236821554.shtml Gazzetta

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicola, Davide 1973 births Living people Association football defenders Italian footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Genoa C.F.C. players S.S. Fidelis Andria 1928 players A.C. Ancona players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Ternana Calcio players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players Torino F.C. players Spezia Calcio players Ravenna F.C. players F.C. Lumezzane V.G.Z. A.S.D. players Italian football managers U.S. Livorno 1915 managers F.C. Crotone managers Udinese Calcio managers Genoa C.F.C. managers Torino F.C. managers U.S. Salernitana 1919 managers Serie A managers People from Luserna San Giovanni Footballers from Piedmont Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Turin