Luigi "Gigi" Peronace (; 29 November 1925 – 29 December 1980) was a

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n football agent doing business predominantly between English and Italian clubs. He has been described as the "first real agent in England". Luigi Peronace was born in

Soverato Soverato ( Calabrian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of Southern Italy. Soverato is the wealthiest town per capita in Calabria, and it has recently been experiencing a spike in tourism since 2015. R ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

was born on 29 November 1925. His initial involvement in football came as a playing goalkeeper. Peronace spoke English, and when the British troops came to Calabria during 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 ...

he organised football games with them. After the war he went to

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, 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 ...

to study engineering, but there he also became interpreter to

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 ...

's Scottish manager, William Chalmers, and then to his managerial successor,

Jesse Carver Jesse Carver (7 July 1911 – 29 November 2003) was an English footballer, best remembered for his enlightened management of some of Europe's finest clubs. Club career Carver started out in football as a player, joining Blackburn Rovers as an ...

. When Carver was sacked, Peronace was no longer needed and let go. He later reunited with Carver when he took the post of business manager at

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 1954, he was unexpectedly put in charge of transfers at

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, the team which he supported. In 1957, Leyton Orient manager Alec Stock was interested in moving to Italy. He was put in contact with Peronace, and they discussed the possibility of a move in Green Park. Peronace convinced

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

that Stock was the manager they wanted and the move was completed. That year Peronace also negotiated the transfer of

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-round ...

from Leeds United to Juventus for £65,000 and a £10,000 signing-on fee. In 1961, he negotiated the transfer of Jimmy Greaves from Chelsea to A.C. Milan, and the transfers of two Scottish players to

–

Joe Baker Joseph Henry Baker (17 July 1940 – 6 October 2003) was an England international footballer. Born in Woolton in Liverpool, England, he spent virtually his entire childhood growing up in Motherwell, Scotland. He is notable for being the first ...

from Hibernian and

Denis Law Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City ...

from

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

. He also aided friend

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager, who managed Manchester United F.C., Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 197 ...

in transferring Law back to England in 1962, this time to

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 ...

. He helped organise the

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...

in the 70s and 80s, and following his death in 1981, the 1982–86 instalments of the tournament were named the Gigi Peronace Memorial. Peronace moved to London, and bought a home in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

. Under Enzo Bearzot, he became general manager for the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

at the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

. He did the same job at the

1980 UEFA European Football Championship The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams i ...

, and later that year he was influential in the transfer of Liam Brady from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

to Juventus. Gigi suffered a fatal heart attack in December 1980. He was in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

preparing with the Italian team for the

1980 Mundialito The 1980 World Champions' Gold Cup (Spanish for ''"Copa de Oro de Campeones Mundiales"''), also known as Mundialito (''"Little World Cup"''), was a friendly international football tournament organized by the Uruguayan Football Association and sup ...

and died in Bearzot's arms in the team hotel on 29 December 1980. He left behind a wife and five children. Peronace is the first Italian football agent and football manager, with great success in the U.K., before any other Italian, such as Fabio Capello, Carlo Ancelotti or Antonio Conte.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peronace, Gigi 1925 births 1980 deaths People from the Province of Catanzaro Italian sports agents Association football agents Football people in Italy