Ivano Bonetti

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Personal information
Ivano Bonetti
Full name	Ivano Bonetti
Date of birth	1 August 1964
Place of birth	Brescia, Italy
Height	5' 10" (1.78m)
Position	Midfield
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1981-84 1984-85 1985-88 1987-88 1988-90 1990-93 1993-94 1994-95 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1997-99 1999-00 2000-02	Brescia Genoa Juventus Atalanta Bologna Sampdoria Bologna Brescia Torino Grimsby Town Tranmere Rovers Crystal Palace Genoa Sestrese Dundee	70 (3) . 18 (2) 26 (2) 62 (3) 61 (0) 18 (2) 16 (0) 5 (0) 19 (3) 13 (1) 2 (0) . 19 (0) 18 (2)
Teams managed
2000-02	Dundee
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Ivano Bonetti was born in Brescia, Italy on 1 August 1964. His father Aldo played for Brescia until the Second World War, brother Mario played for Atalanta and brother Dario played over 100 games for AS Roma and won two caps for Italy. Ivano is believed to be the first Italian to play for an English league club.

1 Grimsby
2 External links

[edit] Grimsby

[edit] Initial Impact

When Bonetti signed for Grimsby in 1995, it brought massive national attention to the club and he became an instant fan's favourite. The loyalty of the fans was tested when it was announced that £100,000 was needed to hire Bonetti from the American management company that held the rights to his "services and image", this was raised by £50,000 from the fans and £50,000 from Bonetti himself, further increasing his appeal. Grimsby, under FIFA regulations, were not allowed to deal with the company and probably could not have afforded the money anyway.[1]

The love affair was completed when he scored the winning goal against West Brom, then managed by former Grimsby boss Alan Buckley and featuring several former Grimsby players.

[edit] The "Chicken" incident

On 10 February 1996, an incident after a 3-2 defeat away to Luton Town lead to the departure of Bonetti from Blundell Park. Just a month before Grimsby had beaten them 7-1 in the FA Cup third round. Apparently Brian Laws, angry after the defeat, threw a plate of chicken wings at Bonetti, who he felt did not try hard enough, leaving him with a fractured cheekbone.[2] At the time of the incident, Grimsby were doing well in the league, reaching as high as 2nd, but ended up finishing 17th.

At the end of the season Bonetti left for Tranmere on a free transfer, Laws lasted until November of the next season.

[edit] Continuing Affection

The fact that Bonetti came third in the BBCs "Cult heroes" poll in 2004[3], after playing only a handful of games for the club, behind Clive Mendonca (61 league goals) and John McDermott (Over 600 league appearances) shows that affection for the Italian is still high amongst Grimsby supporters.

In 1998, a consortium looking to take over Grimsby Town, were planning on installing Bonetti as manager, though this later fell through.[4]

[edit] Dundee FC

Ivano, along with brother Dario, enjoyed a stint as manager of Dundee F.C. in Scotland, bringing in world class players such as Temuri Ketsbaia, Fabian Caballero, Giorgi Nemsadze, Beto Carranza, Juan Sara, Zurab Khizanishvili and, most famous of all, Argentine superstar- Claudio Caniggia.