Gianluca Signorini

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Gianluca Signorini (born 17 March 1960 in Pisa - died 6 November 2002 in Pisa) was an Italian football (soccer) player, mostly known for his time spent at Genoa C.F.C..

Gianluca Signorini started his career playing for his home team, Pisa S.C. of Serie C1, and successively for Pietrasanta, Prato, Livorno, Ternana and Cavese before joining A.C. Parma, with Arrigo Sacchi as coach. He quickly became a key player for Parma, and was successively signed by Nils Liedholm's A.S. Roma, and then Genoa in 1988, after personal requests by coach Francesco Scoglio. He played seven seasons for Genoa, all seven years as team captain, a hard defender and definitely a fan favourite, remembered as one of the last (and best) Italian sweepers in recent years. He ended his career for Pisa in 1997. He played 210 Serie A matches with 6 goals.

After having ended his playing career, Signorini started a managing career working for Pisa, but soon after he discovered he was suffering from motor neuron disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, an illness that slowly forced immobility, paralyzing all his muscles. He died on November 6, 2002, in his Pisa home. In his honour, the #6 Genoa CFC jersey, wore by Signorini during his time for the rossoblu, has been retired.