Davide Nicola


Davide Nicola is an Italian football former player and current manager of Genoa.

Club career

Nicola was born in Luserna San Giovanni.
During his time in Genoa C.F.C. he was noted for kissing a policewoman on the sideline after a goal. He also helped the club to lift the 1996 Anglo-Italian Cup.
In the Serie B 2005–06 playoffs he scored a goal that gave his Torino F.C. a promotion to Serie A. In the 2006–07 season of Serie B his good play for Spezia Calcio in the last few games contributed to Spezia avoiding relegation.
He only played in the Serie A for one season in the 2004–05 season.

Managerial career

In July 2010 he retired from playing for Lumezzane in order to replace the outgoing head coach Leonardo Menichini at the helm of the club. On 28 June 2011, his contract was renewed.
During the 2012–13 season, he became the head coach of Livorno in Serie B. In January 2014, Livorno sacked Nicola with the club second-from-bottom in the Serie A table.
On 21 April 2014, Nicola was appointed manager of Livorno again.
On 17 November 2014, he became the new manager for F.C. Bari.
On 23 June 2016, he was appointed manager of Serie A newcomers Crotone. He promised to ride a bicycle from Crotone to his home town of Turin if they avoided relegation. They finished 17th, two points above the relegation zone, overturning Empoli on the final matchday of the season in what was hailed as a football miracle, as Crotone had collected only nine points in the whole first half of the season. In order to fulfill the promise, Nicola celebrated the result by riding 1300 km from Crotone to Turin on a bicycle.
On 13 November 2018, he was appointed manager of Udinese.
On 28 December 2019, he was appointed manager of Genoa.

Personal life

Nicola was the father of Alessandro, who died in a road accident in 2014, aged only 14.

Managerial statistics

All competitive league games and international matches are included.