Ivano Bonetti

Italy

Born in Brescia, Bonetti made his debut for his hometown club, Brescia (1981–84), before moving to Serie B side Genoa (1984–85), and subsequently defending European Champions Juventus (1985–88), where he won the 1985 Intercontinental Cup, and the 1985–86 Serie A title; he made his Serie A debut on 10 November 1985, coming on as a late substitute in a 3–1 home win over Roma, the club for which his brother Dario was playing at the time. During Ivano's time at the Turin club, he was also sent on loan to Atalanta for the 1987–88 Serie B season, helping the club to obtain a fourth-place finish and Serie A promotion. He later played for Bologna (1988–90), and Sampdoria (1990–93), where he won his second Serie A title in 1991, also reaching the European Cup final the following year, playing alongside his brother Dario once again. He later returned to Bologna (1993–94) in Serie C1, before briefly returning to Brescia the following season (1994–95), and spending the second half of the 1994–95 Serie A season with Torino, before moving to England later in 1995.

Grimsby Town

Initial impact

When Bonetti signed for Grimsby Town in 1995, it brought massive national attention to the club, and he became an instant fans' 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…

Ivano, along with brother Dario, enjoyed a stint as a coach, serving as a player-manager of the Scottish club Dundee, replacing Jocky Scott. During his first season at Dundee, he signed in several foreign players such as Fabián Caballero, Georgi Nemsadze and, most notably, Argentine superstar Claudio Caniggia, the latter being signed by Rangers only one year later, following an impressive season with the club. Despite this, he made only a sixth place in his first season, but was, however, publicly backed by the club. Further top signings such as Temuri Ketsbaia, Zurab Khizanishvili and Fan Zhiyi failed to make an improvement to the team results, and Dundee ended the 2001–02 season in a disappointing ninth place. He was sacked on 2 July 2002 by the club management. A few months later he claimed back £800,000 from Dundee, declaring he had loaned the money to his former club in order to perform the signing of Fabián Caballero. Between 2004 and 2010, he had a spell as director of football of Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Valle del Giovenco. In August 2020, Bonetti joined Serie D club Rimini as head youth coach.

Bonetti is married and has three children. He is the son of Aldo Bonetti who played for Brescia until the Second World War. His brother Mario played for Atalanta, and his brother Dario played over 100 games for Roma and won two caps for Italy.

Media and business interests

Bonetti became an entrepreneur in 2013. He is the founder, CEO and president of Mobisafe, a company that deals with technology applied to health. He sells a product that, when applied to mobile phones, can reduce electromagnetic waves, the Skudowave. The medical device has been sold in pharmacies and distribution of the Skudowave to several football clubs, among others Bayern Munich, Juventus and Manchester United.

Juventus

Serie A: 1985–86 Intercontinental Cup: 1985 Sampdoria

Serie A: 1990–91