Roberto Venturato
Personal information
Date of birth (1963-04-14) 14 April 1963 (age 60)
Place of birth Atherton, Queensland, Australia
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1982 Montebelluna 29 (0)
1982–1983 Cremonese 0 (0)
1983–1984 Pergocrema 0 (0)
1984–1987 Giorgione 68 (7)
1987–1990 Pergocrema 87 (8)
1990–1991 Venezia 31 (5)
1991–1993 Pergocrema 65 (6)
1993–1994 Treviso 24 (0)
1994–1996 Pizzighettone 33 (1)
Managerial career
1996–2002 Pizzighettone (Youth)
2002–2007 Pizzighettone
2007–2009 Cremonese (Assistant)
2009–2010 Cremonese
2012–2013 Castellana
2013–2014 Piacenza
2014–2015 Pergolettese
2015–2021 Cittadella
2022 SPAL
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Roberto Venturato (born 14 April 1963) is an Australian-born Italian football coach and former player, most recently in charge as manager of Serie B club SPAL.

Playing career

Venturato was born in Australia to Italian immigrants who moved back to Veneto in 1973.[1][2][3] A midfielder,[4] he spent the majority of his career playing in the minor professional leagues of Italy (as well as amateur level) for a number of teams, most notably Cremonese and Pergocrema. He retired in 1996 after two seasons with then-amateurs Pizzighettone.

Coaching career

After retiring from active football, Venturato stayed at Pizzighettone, where he took over a role as youth coach and non-playing staff member. In 2002, he was named new head coach and guided the club to win the Serie D title, thus ensuring a historic first promotion to the professional football ranks for the small Lombardian club. In 2005, he won one further promotion, guiding Pizzighettone to win the Serie C2 playoffs, and remained at the club until 2007 serving as head coach for two full seasons at Serie C1 level.[3]

After relegating in 2007, Venturato left Pizzighettone to serve as Emiliano Mondonico's assistant at Cremonese.[3] He stayed at Cremonese also in 2008 as Ivo Iaconi's assistant, a role he maintained also after the reappointment of Mondonico during that very season. In March 2009 he replaced Mondonico as new head coach of Cremonese, serving at this role until June 2010, when he left after losing the Serie C1 promotion playoff final to Varese.[3]

After two years without a club during which he took a job as a financial promoter,[2] Venturato moved back into management as head coach of Serie D club Pergolettese (heir of his former playing club Pergocrema), which he promptly guided to promotion to Serie C2 on his first and only season in charge. In October 2013 he took over at Serie D club Piacenza, being however removed from his managerial duties in January 2014 due to poor results. He successively returned to Pergolettese (now back to Serie D) the following season.

In July 2015 Venturato was named new head coach of Cittadella in the Lega Pro league, replacing long-time manager Claudio Foscarini.[3] On his first full season in charge, Foscarini won promotion to Serie B as Lega Pro champions, and was confirmed for the club's 2016–17 Serie B campaign, which Venturato started with style thanks to five consecutive wins in the first five games of the season.[5]

In the 2018–19 Serie B season, Venturato successfully led Cittadella to seventh place in the regular season and then a spot in the promotion playoff finals, eliminating third-placed Benevento in the semi-finals. Venturato left Cittadella by the end of the 2020–21 Serie B season, after six years in charge, following a 2–1 aggregate defeat to Venezia in the promotion playoff finals.

On 5 January 2022, he was appointed new head coach of Serie B club SPAL, signing a one-and-a-half year contract.[6] He was dismissed on 9 October 2022, following a 2–0 loss at Frosinone, leaving SPAL in fourteenth place in the 2022–23 Serie B league table.[7]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 1 October 2022
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Pizzighettone Italy 22 May 2002 7 June 2007 200 70 70 60 223 212 +11 035.00
Cremonese Italy 26 March 2009 21 June 2010 50 24 15 11 80 61 +19 048.00
Castellana Italy 1 July 2012 27 May 2013 39 15 13 11 50 46 +4 038.46
Piacenza Italy 29 October 2013 8 January 2014 9 4 1 4 14 17 −3 044.44
Pergolettese Italy 23 June 2014 20 June 2015 38 15 12 11 48 49 −1 039.47
Cittadella Italy 10 July 2015 29 June 2021 270 123 66 81 406 319 +87 045.56
SPAL Italy 5 January 2022 9 October 2022 27 7 12 8 34 38 −4 025.93
Total 633 258 189 186 855 742 +113 040.76

References

  1. ^ Rugari, Vince (24 May 2020). "The quiet Australian on the brink of an Italian football miracle". The Age. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Cittadella, il successo di Venturato: "Faccio il promotore finanziario, ma smetto per la A"" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Chi è Roberto Venturato, tecnico del momento e re della Serie B col Cittadella" (in Italian). Il Napolista. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  4. ^ Roberto Venturato at WorldFootball.net
  5. ^ "Serie B, Cittadella 5 vittorie su 5 Verona torna big con Pazzini e Valoti" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  6. ^ "ROBERTO VENTURATO E' IL NUOVO RESPONSABILE TECNICO DELLA PRIMA SQUADRA SPAL" (in Italian). S.P.A.L. 5 January 2022.
  7. ^ "MISTER VENTURATO SOLLEVATO DALL'INCARICO DI ALLENATORE DELLA PRIMA SQUADRA" (in Italian). S.P.A.L. 9 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
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