Ivano Bonetti (born 1 August 1964) is an Italian

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 Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, club director and former professional footballer, the current CEO and president & owner of Mobisafe. As a player he was a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

from 1981 to 2002. He made appearances for several clubs in Italy in both

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 ...

and

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 ...

most notably

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= 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 150 different nat ...

and

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. He became notably remembered in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for his spell at Grimsby Town where despite being a fans favourite he was involved in an infamous half time bust up with his manager that left him with a broken cheekbone. He also turned out in his home country for

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and Sestrese as well as spells in

with

Tranmere Rovers F.C. Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

and Crystal Palace. In 2000 he was appointed player/manager of

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for 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' ...

side

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

where he remained for two years before being appointed director of football of

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978� ...

club A.S. Pescina Valle del Giovenco where he remained until 2010.

Playing career

Italy

Born in

, Bonetti made his debut for his hometown club,

(1981–84), before moving to

side

(1984–85), and subsequently defending European Champions

(1985–88), where he won the

1985 Intercontinental Cup The 1985 Intercontinental Cup was an Association football match played on 8 December 1985, between Juventus, winners of the 1984–85 European Cup, and Argentinos Juniors, winners of the 1985 Copa Libertadores. Recognised as the best edition in t ...

, and the

1985–86 Serie A The 1985–86 Serie A season was won by Juventus. Teams Pisa, Lecce and Bari had been promoted from Serie B. They all will be relegated. Events Italy arrived at the top of the UEFA ranking. Final classification Results Top goalscorers ...

title; he made his

debut on 10 November 1985, coming on as a late substitute in a 3–1 home win over

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, the club for which his brother Dario was playing at the time. During Ivano's time at the Turin club, he was also sent on loan to

for the

1987–88 Serie B The Serie B 1987–88 was the fifty-sixth tournament of this competition played in Italy since its creation. Teams Piacenza, Padova, Catanzaro and Barletta had been promoted from Serie C, while Brescia, Atalanta and Udinese had been relegated f ...

season, helping the club to obtain a fourth-place finish and Serie A promotion. He later played for

(1988–90), and

(1990–93), where he won his second Serie A title in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, also reaching the European Cup final the following year, playing alongside his brother Dario once again. He later returned to Bologna (1993–94) in

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

, before briefly returning to Brescia the following season (1994–95), and spending the second half of the

1994–95 Serie A The 1994–95 Serie A was won by Juventus, who finished 10 points ahead of their nearest rivals Parma and Lazio. Two pieces of silverware were seized by Juventus, who won the Coppa Italia against Parma but were beaten by the same opponents in t ...

season with

, before moving to England later in 1995.

Grimsby Town

Initial impact

When Bonetti signed for Grimsby Town in 1995; it brought massive national attention to the club and he became an instant fans' favourite. The loyalty of the fans was tested when it was announced that £100,000 was needed to hire Bonetti from the American management company that held the rights to his "services and image"; this was raised by £50,000 from the fans and £50,000 from Bonetti himself, further increasing his appeal. Grimsby, under

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

regulations, were not allowed to deal with the company and probably could not have afforded the money anyway. The love affair was completed when he scored the winning goal against West Brom, then managed by former Grimsby boss

Alan Buckley Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside. As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, Wa ...

and featuring several former Grimsby players.

The "plate of chicken" incident

On 10 February 1996, an incident after a 3–2 defeat away to Luton Town led to the departure of Bonetti from

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...

. Just a month before, Grimsby had beaten them 7–1 in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

third round. Apparently Brian Laws, angry after the defeat, threw a plate of chicken wings at Bonetti, who he felt did not try hard enough, leaving him with a fractured cheekbone. At the end of the season Bonetti left for Tranmere Rovers on a free transfer; Laws lasted until November of the next season. At Tranmere, Bonetti scored twice, including a late winner in a 4–3 win over

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. At the start of the 1997–98 season, Bonetti turned up at Crystal Palace, making two substitute appearances in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, shortly before returning to Italy to join

Legacy

In 1998, a consortium looking to take over Grimsby Town were planning to install Bonetti as manager, though this later fell through.

Coaching career

Ivano, along with brother Dario, enjoyed a stint as a coach, serving as a player-manager of the Scottish club

, replacing

Jocky Scott John Alexander "Jocky" Scott (born 14 January 1948) is a Scottish football coach and former player. During his playing career he played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Seattle Sounders and Scotland. An extensive management career followed with spells at ...

. During his first season at Dundee, he signed in several foreign players such as

Fabián Caballero Néstor Fabián Caballero (born 31 January 1978 in Misiones, Argentina) commonly referred to as Tyson, is a former footballer. Caballero had a 19-year career, playing in Argentina, Paraguay, England, Scotland, South Korea, Cyprus, Chile, Greece ...

Georgi Nemsadze Georgi Nemsadze (born 10 May 1972) is a Georgian former professional football midfielder and manager. In addition to Georgian teams, he played for many European clubs such as Trabzonspor, Grasshopper Club Zürich, AC Reggiana and Dundee. Nems ...

and, most notably, Argentine superstar Claudio Caniggia, the latter being signed by

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

only one year later following an impressive season with the club. Despite this, he made only a sixth place in his first season, but was however publicly backed by the club. Further top signings such as

Temuri Ketsbaia Temuri Ketsbaia ( ka, თემურ ქეცბაია; born 18 March 1968) is a Georgian former professional football player and current manager. He is the current manager of the Cyprus national team. Club career After beginning his pro ...

, Zurab Khizanishvili and Fan Zhiyi failed to make an improvement to the team results, and Dundee ended the 2001–02 season in a disappointing ninth place. He was sacked on 2 July 2002 by the club management. A few months later he claimed back £800,000 from Dundee, declaring he had loaned the money to his former club in order to perform the signing of Fabián Caballero. Between 2004 and 2010 he had a spell as director of football of

club A.S. Pescina Valle del Giovenco. In August 2020, Bonetti joined

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

club Rimini as head youth coach.

Personal life

Bonetti is married and has three children. He is the son of Aldo Bonetti who played for

until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His brother Mario played for

and brother Dario played over 100 games for

and won two caps for Italy.

Media and business interests

Bonetti became an entrepreneur in 2013, he is the founder, CEO and president of Mobisafe, a company that deals with technology applied to health. He sells a product that, when applied to mobile phones, is able to reduce electromagnetic waves, the Skudowave. The medical device has been sold in pharmacies and distribution of the Skudowave to several football clubs, among others

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Juventus *

: 1985–86 * Intercontinental Cup:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Sampdoria *

: 1990–91

References

External links

Bonetti discovers paradise after Juventus
– Ivano signing for Grimsby, Independent, The (London), 2 December 1995
Played for the Town: Ivano Bonetti
– Electronic Fishcake player profile
Bonetti knows wheeling and dealing won't save his neck at Dens
Sunday Herald, The, 14 May 2000 Bonetti becomes Dundee manager

Bonetti T-shirts

The Bonetti years
Review of Dundee Management, BBC website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonetti, Ivano 1964 births Living people Footballers from Brescia Italian footballers Italian football managers Association football defenders Brescia Calcio players Genoa C.F.C. players Juventus F.C. players Atalanta B.C. players Bologna F.C. 1909 players U.C. Sampdoria players Torino F.C. players Serie A players Serie B players Grimsby Town F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Dundee F.C. players F.S. Sestrese Calcio 1919 players Scottish Premier League players Premier League players Dundee F.C. managers Scottish Premier League managers Italian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in England Italian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Scotland Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland