Giuseppe Sannino

Born in Campania, Sannino relocated to Turin with his family after his father was hired by the Fiat automobile company in Turin. In his career, Sannino played as a creative attacking midfielder for several minor league teams, with Serie C2 club Vogherese being the one he became most associated with. Sannino retired from active football in 1988, after a lone season with Ligurian amateur club Entella.

Lower leagues in Italy

Sannino entered into a coaching career in 1990, as responsible of the Allievi (under-17) team at Vogherese. In 1992, he became youth coach at Pavia, and one year later he worked with the same role at Monza. In 1996, he took his first head coaching experience at amateur Eccellenza club Oltrepò, ending the season in sixth place. After a short stint as youth coach at Como, in 1998 Sannino took his first head coaching role in a professional league at Serie C2 club Biellese: this experience however turned out to be disappointing, as he was dismissed before the end of the season. In 1999, he took charge of Serie D club Südtirol, leading them to first place in the league, and then keeping the club in Serie C2 the following season. In 2001–02, he managed Meda, another Serie C2 club, but was dismissed again before the end of the season. In 2002–03, he then led Sangiovannese to sixth place in Serie C2. Two other unsuccessful stints followed with Varese and Cosenza, but both ended with him being fired. In 2005, he took the reins of Lecco, guiding the Lombardian team to a surprise promotion to Serie C1 in his second season in charge of the club. This was followed by three more consecutive promotions: the first at Pergocrema (from Serie C2 to Serie C1), and the other two at Varese, where he was appointed by Sean Sogliano during the season and successfully guided the club from Serie C2 to Serie B. In his first season in Serie B, Sannino led Varese to a…