Francesco Mancini (10 October 1968 – 30 March 2012) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, best known for his association with Foggia during the 1990s.

Football career

Early career

Mancini started his career at hometown club Matera in 1985. He later played for

Bisceglie Bisceglie (; nap, label= Biscegliese, Vescégghie) is a city and municipality of 55,251 inhabitants in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, in the Apulia region (''Italian'': ''Puglia''), in southern Italy. The municipality has the fourth hi ...

in 1987.

Foggia

Mancini joined Foggia in 1987 and remained with the club for a decade. He helped the club achieve

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 Cop ...

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

under manager Zdeněk Zeman, winning the

1990–91 Serie B The Serie B 1990–91 was the fifty-ninth tournament of this competition played in Italy since its creation. Teams Modena, Lucchese, Taranto and Salernitana had been promoted from Serie C, while Udinese, Verona, Cremonese and Ascoli had been ...

title. He played 2

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

games for Foggia in the 1995–96 season, before leaving on loan for S.S. Lazio in November

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

. He returned to Foggia in the summer of 1996 and played another Serie B season with the club.

Bari

In summer 1997, he joined

A.S. Bari Società Sportiva Calcio Bari, commonly referred to as Bari, is an Italian football club based in Bari, Apulia. Bari currently plays in the . The team finished the 2021–22 season in first place in Serie C and earned promotion to Serie B for ...

, where he played 95 games in three Serie A seasons.

Napoli

In October 2000, he transferred to

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Camp ...

, to replace young keeper Ferdinando Coppola who had been sold to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. His first choice place was lost to new signing Alberto Fontana in January 2001, however. He regained his first choice spot following Napoli's relegation to

. In the 2002–03 season, despite the presence of backup goalkeeper

Marco Storari Marco Storari (born 7 January 1977) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After a lengthy spell in Italy's lower leagues, he arrived in Serie A aged 27. Steady performances for Messina prompted his signing by A.C. Milan ...

and subsequently

Emanuele Manitta Emanuele Manitta (born 12 January 1977) is a retired Italian football goalkeeper. Football career Early career A native of Caltagirone, Sicily, he spent one season at youth rank of A.S. Bari before to move to Sicilian amateur club U.S. Ragusa, ...

, he still made 27 appearances at age of 35.

Late career

In summer 2003, he joined Pisa of Serie C1 as Napoli choose to sign Manitta permanently. In January 2005, he transferred to

Sambenedettese A.S. Sambenedettese S.r.l. is an Italian association football club, based in San Benedetto del Tronto, Marche. Sambenedettese currently plays in Serie D. History Foundation The club was founded in 1923 as ''U.S. Sambenedettese''. In 195 ...

of Serie C1, in exchange for

Domenico Di Dio Domenico is an Italian given name for males and may refer to: People * Domenico Alfani, Italian painter * Domenico Allegri, Italian composer * Domenico Alvaro, Italian mobster * Domenico Ambrogi, Italian painter * Domenico Auria, Italian archit ...

. He then played for

Teramo Teramo (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Tèreme ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines ( Gran Sasso d'Itali ...

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 ...

and A.C. Martina, all in Serie C1.

Post-playing career

During the 2009–10 season, he worked as the goalkeeping coach and the assistant coach of

Manfredonia Manfredonia is a town and commune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, from which it is northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of Monte Gargano, and gives its name to the gulf to the east of ...

, who were playing in the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione league. In July 2010 he was appointed the new goalkeeping coach of his former club Foggia, where he worked as part of the backroom staff of his mentor Zdeněk Zeman. Later on, in July 2011, he followed Zeman to

club

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

Death

On 30 March 2012, 43-year-old Mancini was found dead at his

home by his wife after suffering a sudden heart attack.

Honours

;Foggia *

champions:

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

References

External links

2005-06 Profile at footballplus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mancini, Francesco 1968 births 2012 deaths Italian footballers F.C. Matera players Calcio Foggia 1920 players S.S. Lazio players S.S.C. Bari players S.S.C. Napoli players Pisa S.C. players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players A.S.D. Martina Calcio 1947 players A.S. Sambenedettese players Serie A players Serie B players Association football goalkeepers People from Matera Sportspeople from the Province of Matera A.S. Bisceglie Calcio 1913 players Footballers from Calabria