Franco Lerda

Franco Lerda
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-08-19) 19 August 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth Fossano, Italy
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1977–1979 Fossanese
1979–1980 Saviglianese
1980–1981 Centallo
1981–1983 Cuneo
1983–1985 Torino
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1987 Torino 19 (1)
1987–1988 Messina 29 (2)
1988–1989 Taranto 32 (3)
1989–1990 Triestina 29 (6)
1990–1991 Chievo 32 (8)
1991–1993 Cesena 74 (25)
1993–1994 Brescia 33 (6)
1994–1995 Napoli 12 (0)
1995–1996 Brescia 16 (2)
1996–1998 Atletico Catania 40 (8)
1998 Alessandria 8 (1)
1998–2002 Cuneo 115 (73)
2002–2003 Canavese 21 (11)
International career
1985–1987 Italy U21 2 (1)
Managerial career
2005–2006 Saluzzo
2006–2007 Casale
2007–2008 Pescara
2008–2009 Pro Patria
2009–2010 Crotone
2010–2011 Torino
2011 Torino
2012–2013 Lecce
2013–2014 Lecce
2016 Vicenza
2018 Vicenza
2019 Partizani
2021–2022 Pro Vercelli
2022–2023 Crotone
2023 Potenza
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Franco Lerda (born 19 August 1967) is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a forward, most recently in charge of Serie C club Potenza.

Club career

Lerda began his career with the Torino youth system, at the age of 16, joining the first team during the 1985–86 season. He made his professional debut with the club on 6 November 1985, coming on for Júnior in Torino's 3–1 defeat to Hajduk in the return leg of the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup. He made his Serie A debut on 24 November, in a 4–1 home win over Pisa, coming on for Schachner. He remained with the club for two seasons, collecting 19 appearances, and scoring 1 goal. He subsequently played in the lower divisions with Messina, Taranto, Triestina (in Serie B), Chievo Verona (in Serie C1), Cesena, and Brescia (in Serie B once again). He helped Brescia to earn Serie A promotion during the 1993–94 Serie B season, also winning the Anglo-Italian Cup with the club in 1994.[1]

The following season, after making two appearances with Brescia, he moved to Napoli, without being able to find the net, and subsequently returning to Brescia for the 1995–96 Serie B season. He later spent a season and a half with Serie C1 side Atletico Catania, narrowly missing out on Serie B promotion. He ended his career after playing with Alessandria in Serie C2, Cuneo and Canavese, in Serie D, and finally, with Saluzzo, in the Piedmont Eccellenza League, retiring after the 2003–04 season.[1]

International career

On 19 November 1986, Lerda made his debut for the Italy national under-21 football team, in a 1–1 home draw against Switzerland. He scored his first goal for the Italy under-21 side on 11 February 1987, in a 2–1 away win over Portugal; these were his only two appearances for the under-21 side.[2]

Managerial career

Lerda had been the manager of a few clubs in lower divisions. In June 2010, he became manager of Torino.[3]

On 9 March 2011, he was sacked by the Torino board and replaced by Giuseppe Papadopulo.[4] However, eleven days later Papadopulo was sacked and Lerda was reinstated as manager.[5] On 29 May 2011, he was once again sacked following the club's failure to secure a spot in the Serie A-playoffs.[6]

In June 2012, he became new manager of Lecce.[7] On 21 January 2013, he was sacked following a 3–1 defeat against San Marino despite the team being in 2nd place in the Lega Pro Prima Divisione.[8]

He was reinstated as Lecce head coach on 24 September 2013, after the dismissal of Francesco Moriero. He was sacked on 27 December 2014 and replaced by Dino Pagliari.[9]

On 15 March 2016, he became new manager of Serie B side Vicenza.[10] He was dismissed in October 2016.

On 26 March 2018, he returned to Vicenza, this time in the Serie C.[11]

On 17 June 2019, he became the new manager of Albanian club Partizani. He was sacked on 15 December 2019 following two consecutive defeats.

On 7 December 2021, he was hired by Pro Vercelli in Serie C.[12] He left the club on 25 May 2022 by mutual consent, after completing the season in seventh place and being successively eliminated by Juventus U23 in the second round of the promotion playoffs.[13]

On 30 May 2022, Crotone announced to have hired Lerda, who had already coached the Calabrians during the 2009–10 season, as their new head coach on a one-year deal, following the club's relegation to Serie C.[14] He was dismissed on 13 February 2023, leaving Crotone in second place in the league table.[15]

On 19 October 2023, Lerda was named new head coach of Serie C club Potenza.[16] His experience at Potenza however turned out to be short-lived, as he was dismissed on 7 December 2023 following a home loss to Taranto.[17]

Honours

Player

Brescia

Manager

Partizani

References

  1. ^ a b Giovanni Cimino (20 November 2009). "La carriera di Franco Lerda: prima bomber, poi uomo delle imprese impossibili" [Franco Lerda's career: first a striker, then the man of the impossible accomplishments] (in Italian). Tutto Reggina. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Nazionale in cifre: Lerda, Franco" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  3. ^ Franco Lerda ha firmato, ora è ufficiale
  4. ^ Papadopulo è il nuovo tecnico del Torino Archived 2011-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Esonerato Giuseppe Papadopulo Archived 2011-03-23 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Torino appoint former Bari coach Giampiero Ventura
  7. ^ Il Lecce di Tesoro a Franco Lerda. L'ex granata pronto per la panchina
  8. ^ Lecce, esonerato Franco Lerda (in Italian)
  9. ^ "LCalciomercato Lecce, esonerato Lerda: Pagliari il nuovo tecnico (in Italian)". Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Franco Lerda è il nuovo allenatore" (in Italian). Vicenza Calcio. 15 March 2016. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  11. ^ "FRANCO LERDA NUOVO ALLENATORE DEL VICENZA" (in Italian). Vicenza Calcio. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 28 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  12. ^ "BENVENUTO MISTER FRANCO LERDA" (in Italian). Pro Vercelli. 7 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Pro Vercelli, è addio con Lerda. Le parti hanno deciso di non proseguire il rapporto" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Lerda è il nuovo allenatore del Crotone. Bentornato mister!" (in Italian). F.C. Crotone. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Lerda sollevato dall'incarico" (in Italian). F.C. Crotone. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  16. ^ "UFFICIALE: FRANCO LERDA ALLA GUIDA TECNICA DEL POTENZA CALCIO" (in Italian). Potenza Calcio. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  17. ^ "UFFICIALE: ESONERATO FRANCO LERDA" (in Italian). Potenza Calcio. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.