François Ciccolini (born 3 June 1962) is a French

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player who last coached

Adanaspor Adanaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Adana; currently, they play in the TFF First League. The club was founded in 1954 by middle-class merchants and artisans in response to their perceived ali ...

in Turkey.

Career

Born in Cozzano,

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

, Ciccolini spent most of his playing career as a forward on the island, with

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastia (, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a French professional association football, football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football in France, ...

and Gazélec Ajaccio. In his first managerial job with AS Porto-Vecchio, he took them to the last 32 of the 1999–2000

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

before losing to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. He then moved into the ranks of Bastia, becoming manager in 2004 and being sacked in April 2005 when the team was 19th in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

. Ciccolini returned to management in 2008 at Red Star F.C., and was dismissed the following March with the team in danger of relegation. After working in the youth teams of

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...

, he took the job at

Neuchâtel Xamax FCS Neuchâtel Xamax Football Club Serrières or Neuchâtel Xamax FCS () is a Swiss football club based in Neuchâtel. It was created in 1970 through a merger between FC Cantonal, founded in 1906 and Swiss champions of 1916, and FC Xamax founded ...

in June 2011. Following defeat in the first two games of the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

season, he was dismissed in July and replaced by Joaquín Caparrós. In October 2014, Ciccolini was hired at

JS Kabylie Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (Kabyle grammar, Kabyle: Ilemẓiyen inaddalen n leqvayel; Berber languages, Tamazight: ⵉⵍⵎⵣⵢⵏ ⵉⵏⴰⴷⴰⵍⵏ ⵏ ⵍⵇⵠⴰⵢⵍ; ), known as JS Kabylie or simply JSK, is an Algerian profession ...

in Algeria but left two months later to rejoin Bastia. He served as assistant to Ghislain Printant before taking the job outright in January 2016, with the team three points outside the relegation zone. They finished the season in 10th, but by the end of February 2017 they were 19th and he was dismissed and replaced by Rui Almeida. Ciccolini's next job was at Stade Lavallois in the third-tier

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

. Early on in his tenure in August 2018, he made a threat of physical violence towards a

Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...

journalist, and earned a five-month ban with the last two suspended. The following February, he made an obscene gesture towards fans at JA Drancy, and left his job by mutual consent days later. In June 2019, Ciccolini returned to Gazélec on a two-year deal as manager, after the team's play-off relegation from

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

. In May 2020, he was sacked, following the team's relegation to

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a Association football, football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system be ...

. In November 2020, Ciccolini was appointed at

USM Alger Union Sportive de la Médina d'Alger (); known as USM Alger or simply USMA for short, is a Association football, football club based in the inner suburbs of Algiers. The club was founded in 1937 and its colours are red and black. Their home sta ...

back in Algeria. He was dismissed after his debut, a 2–1 loss to CR Belouizdad in the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

, for "disrespecting government officials" by refusing to take a runners-up medal from

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Abdelaziz Djerad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciccolini, Francois 1962 births Living people Footballers from Corse-du-Sud French men's footballers Men's association football forwards SC Bastia players Ligue 2 players French football managers Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Expatriate football managers in Algeria French expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland French expatriate sportspeople in Algeria SC Bastia managers Neuchâtel Xamax FCS managers JS Kabylie managers USM Alger managers Ligue 1 managers CO Saint-Dizier players Stade Lavallois managers Gazélec Ajaccio managers TFF 1. Lig managers Adanaspor managers Expatriate football managers in Turkey French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 20th-century French sportsmen Sportspeople from Corsica