Edoardo Reja

Reja began his career with the SPAL youth squad, coached by Paolo Mazza, playing in midfield alongside lifelong friend Fabio Capello, and other notable players such as Louis Pasetti and Adriano Zanier. Together, they helped the team win the 1963–64 Campionato Nazionale Primavera. In 1965, Reja joined Capello in Serie A, in the SPAL first team, earning an appearance with the Italian U-23 squad. Reja played for two more teams, US Città di Palermo and Alessandria in a long career that lasted until 1975, playing a total of 124 Serie A matches.

Early career

Reja started his coaching career in 1979 serving as boss of Serie D team Molinella. Next year he then coached Monselice of Serie C2. In 1989, he coached his first Serie B team, Pescara, of which he was previously the youth squad boss. He successively gained good successes in the same league with Cosenza, Lecce and Brescia, where he won the championship. In fact, he launched the career of notable footballer Andrea Pirlo at Brescia, where Pirlo was a regular member of the squad. However, Reja opted to give up the opportunity to coach Brescia in Serie A, preferring to accept an offer from Torino, another Serie B team, where he then missed promotion defeated in the promotion playoffs to Perugia after a penalty shootout.

Serie A debut at Vicenza, Genoa, Catania and Cagliari

During the 1998–1999 season, he was appointed coach of Serie A club Vicenza, thus making his debut in a top division team, but was unable to save the team from relegation. Next year he remained at Vicenza and led his team back to Serie A, but promptly relegated one more time in 2001. In 2001–2002, he replaced Franco Scoglio at the helm of Genoa (Serie B), but to be fired himself only three months later. On 2002–2003, he was appointed in the mid-season by Catania boss Luciano Gaucci to replace John Toshack. In November 2003, he replaced Gian Piero Ventura at Cagliari and guided the rossoblu to second place in the Serie B and promotion to Serie A, but was not confirmed.

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Reja was born in the village of Lucinico (Slovene: Ločnik), now a suburb of Gorizia (Slovene: Gorica), near the border between Italy and Slovenia. His father was a Slovenian from the village of Vipolže in Brda, Slovenia, while his mother was Friulian. He is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, and Friulan. However, his levels of fluency vary: while he is able to speak the standard form of Italian, he only speaks a regional variety of Slovenian, strongly influenced by his native Brda dialect. He is close friends with Fabio Capello. Reja has been married to his wife Livia since 1969; he met his wife while rooming with Capello in Ferrara, at the time playing for SPAL.

Player

SPAL

Campionato Nazionale Primavera: 1964–65 Alessandria Calcio 1912

Serie C1: 1973–74

Manager

Brescia

Serie B: 1996–97 Vicenza

Serie B: 1999–2000 Napoli

Serie C1: 2005–06