Bruno Bolchi

Bruno Bolchi

Personal information
Date of birth	February 21, 1940
Place of birth	Milan, Italy
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Manager (former midfielder)
Club information
Current team	retired
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1958–1963	Inter	109	(10)
1963–1964	Verona	19	(0)
1964–1965	Atalanta	25	(2)
1965–1970	Torino	89	(0)
National team
1961	Italy	4	(0)
Teams managed
1971–1972	Pro Patria
1972–1973	Pistoiese
1973–1974	Unione Valdinievole
1974–1975	Sorrento
1975–1976	Messina
1976–1978	Pistoiese
1978–1979	Novara
1980–1981	Atalanta
1982–1983	Cesena
1983–1986	Bari
1986–1987	Cesena
1987–1988	Arezzo
1988–1989	Pisa
1989–1990	Reggina
1990–1991	Brescia
1991–1992	Avellino
1992–1993	Lecce
1993–1995	Cesena
1995–1997	Lucchese
1997–1998	Monza
1999	Reggina
2000–2001	Genoa
2001–2002	Ternana
2003	Messina
2004	Ternana
2005	Catanzaro
2007	Messina
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Bruno Bolchi (born February 21, 1940 in Milan) is an Italian retired football (soccer) manager and former player, who played as a midfielder.

Career

Playing

Bolchi, a midfielder, made his debut at the age of 18 with F.C. Internazionale Milano in a Serie A away match lost 1-0 to S.S.C. Napoli on May 18, 1958. He played six seasons with the nerazzurri, with 109 caps and 10 goals, gaining the nickname Maciste and appearing for the Italian team in four occasions, all in 1961. He obtained notable success during his time with Inter, winning the Serie A title in 1963, and the European Cup in 1964. He then played for Serie B side Verona, and returned to play in the top division for Atalanta and Torino, where he ended his playing career in 1970, also winning the Coppa Italia with the club in 1968.

Coaching

Bolchi started his coaching career in 1971 with Pro Patria, then a Seconda Categoria club (at the time, Seconda Categoria was the sixth level of Italian football). In 1974 he had his first professional coaching job at Sorrento. He also coached Pistoiese, winning the 1976-77 Serie C title, earning promotion into Serie B. He first coached a Serie A team, Cesena, in 1982, but did not manage to save it from relegation. Since then, Bolchi made just two appearances as Serie A coach, despite his long career all over the country: in 1985-1986, his third season as Bari's boss which followed two consecutive promotions from Serie C1 (winning the Serie C1 1983-84 title) to the top tier of Italian football; however, Bolchi was not able to save the biancorossi. In 1988-1989, he had his last Serie A job before 2007, as Pisa head coach, but he was sacked after the 22nd matchday.

On April 23, 2007, with just five matches remaining before the end of the league, Bolchi was appointed head coach of Messina, a team he already coached in their 1975-1976 Serie C campaign and, for six matches, at the end of the 2002-2003 season, in Serie B. He did not manage to avoid relegation, also due to Messina's poor league table well before his appointment, and finally retired from football after the end of the season.

Honours

Player

Inter

• Serie A: 1962-63
• European Cup: 1963-64

Torino

• Coppa Italia: 1967-68

Manager

Pistoiese

• Serie C2, Girone B: 1976-77

Bari

• Serie C1: 1983-84

References

External links

• MessinaStory (Italian)