Franco Scoglio

Francesco Scoglio was born in Lipari, in the province of Messina, Italy. He played as a defender or midfielder.

Nicknamed il Professore (the Professor) because of his past teaching activity (he was a pedagogy graduate), Scoglio never actually had a playing career. He started a managing career in 1972 in one of the Reggina youth teams. He then went on coaching at amateur and Serie C levels in Sicily and Calabria (Gioiese, Messina, Acireale, Akragas). It was Scoglio who discovered the great potential of Salvatore Schillaci, one of his players during Scoglio's second stint in Messina. However, Scoglio is most remembered for his time in Genoa CFC, which was also the team for which he first coached. He achieved great success with his next clubs, being often fired before the end of the season. He is also known for having coached the national teams of Tunisia and Libya. Under his management, Tunisia reached the semi-finals of the 2000 African Cup of Nations. His last coaching (and unsuccessful) experience was on 2002–2003 for SSC Napoli.

Following his death, in 2016 the city of Messina, the provincial capital of his birthplace as well as the home of ACR Messina, a club he coached for many years, honoured his memory by renaming the local stadium after him.