🤯 Manager steps down after nearly 44 years in charge of Italian club 🇮🇹 | OneFootball

President of Virtus Verona, Luigi Fresco made a significant decision: to change the coach in an attempt to avoid the worst for his team in the Italian Serie C.

The "detail" is that he is also the coach of the team in question.

The decision formalized this Thursday (5) will represent his departure from the technical command of Virtus Verona after almost FORTY-FOUR YEARS.

That's right!

The then assistant Tommaso Chiecchi will take over.

Now 64 years old, Luigi Fresco began his "reign" as coach in June 1982. When he was only 21 years old.

And he has been the club's president since July 1st of the same year.

His journey at the club began at the age of 18 when he was elected director in 1979.

Months later, he took over the youth team and was elected to the top position three years later.

He also holds a degree in pedagogy and is the administrative director of a secondary school located east of the city of Verona.

Absolute Record Holder

Luigi Fresco became known as the "Italian Ferguson" thanks to his longevity.

He leaves the legendary United coach far behind, as Sir Alex Ferguson led the Red Devils for "only" 26 years.

Fresco also surpassed the Frenchman Guy Roux, who was in charge of Auxerre for 36 uninterrupted years.

Reached Professional Football

Virtus never reached the status of Verona and Chievo, but it stopped playing only in provincial and regional amateur leagues with Luigi Fresco.

It was a tenth-division club in the Italian football chain in 1982.

It reached the seventh division a decade later. The sixth division came in 2000.

It won the Veneto Amateur Coppa Italia in 2006 and debuted in professionalism in 2013.

According to a report by the site Calciopédia in 2021, Virtus still has a significant social function in the region.

One of the actions was to help recover and resocialize addicts and former heroin traffickers in the region.

Virtus also welcomed and fed about 50 families of refugees from Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It still hires athletes in exile, such as Gambian goalkeeper Sheikh Sibi, who has been with the club since 2020.

Situation in Serie C

The team's situation in Group A of the Italian third division is not the best.

It occupies the 18th position among the 20 teams with 21 points.

They are 13 points behind Arzignano, which is 15th and is avoiding the risk of relegation.

The last place is directly relegated to Serie D - a condition that already belongs to Triestina.

The teams that are between positions 16 and 19 compete in a playoff against relegation.

There are eight rounds remaining.

Photo: Reproduction

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.