Legends: Gianfranco Zola
A look back at the career of the mercurial Italian, who took England by storm
5 July 2017
Just over half a century ago, Gianfranco Zola was born in Oliena in the province of Nuoro, Sardinia.
The diminutive forward worked his way through the lower leagues with Nuorese and Sassari Torres before landing a dream move to Italian giants Napoli, where he played alongside all-time great Diego Maradona.
Zola went onto win the Serie A title in his first season before claiming the Supercoppa Italiana at the beginning of the following campaign, although he played no part in Napoli’s 5-1 victory over Juventus.
As a result of Maradona’s drug ban for the second half of the 1991/92 season, Zola was used as the main focal point of the side, as he starred alongside Brazilian forward Careca. However, the Neapolitan side were unable to mount a successful title defence and ended the campaign in eighth place.
But Zola’s individual efforts had not gone unnoticed, as national team manager Arrigo Sacchi rewarded the little magician with his first international cap against Norway in November 1991.
Eventually, Zola moved onto pastures new in 1993 as he joined Parma who had finished third in Serie A – eight places above Napoli.
I Crociati (the Crusaders) won the European Cup Winners Cup the previous season with a 3-1 win over Belgian outfit Royal Antwerp, and Zola was part of the side that claimed European Super Cup victory over the legendary AC Milan team containing players such as Demetrio Albertini, Alessandro Costacurta, Marcel Desailly, Brian Laudrup, Paolo Maldini and Christian Panucci.
That was the first of two European honours Zola would win with Parma as Nevio Scala’s side beat Juventus in the 1995 UEFA Cup final. Gianluca Vialli lined up for Juve, and the duo would go onto form a formidable partnership at Stamford Bridge just one year later as Ruud Gullit overhauled his Chelsea squad with numerous European additions.
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The Italian would go onto win a host of domestic honours while in west London as he marked his first season in English football with an FA Cup winner’s medal. He would replicate the feat three years later, with compatriot Roberto Di Mateo scoring in both finals.
Despite being unable to mount a serious title bid, Chelsea continued to progress in cup competitions – both domestically and continentally – as they claimed a League Cup and Cup Winners Cup double in 1997/98.
Zola came off the bench to score the winner against Stuttgart in Stockholm as the Blues won only their second European trophy. Vialli’s side also went onto win the Super Cup with a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in Monaco at the start of the 1998/99 campaign.
That would prove to be the Italian’s last major honour with the club before he departed for Cagliari in his native Sardinia, just one week before Roman Abramovich’s Stamford Bridge takeover.
Zola eventually called time on his glittering career that had spanned more than two decades in 2005, before taking up a coaching role with Italy under-21s in 2006. He took on his first managerial position at West Ham United in 2008 until his contract was terminated at the end of a disappointing 2009/10 season.
After nearly two years in exile, the Italian was appointed as Watford manager following the club’s takeover by Giampaolo Pozzo. Zola led the Hornets to a third place finish in the Championship, where they eventually reached the play-off final with a thrilling 3-2 aggregate victory over Leicester City. However, Watford succumbed to defeat and Zola resigned midway through the following campaign with the club 13th in the table.
Since then, the Italian has had stints with Cagliari, Qatari outfit Al-Arabi and, most recently, a disastrous spell with Birmingham City where the team won just twice in his 24 games in charge.
