Giorgio Contini

Giorgio Contini (born 4 January 1974) is a Swiss football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Swiss Super League club Young Boys.

Giorgio Contini

Personal information
Full name	Giorgio Contini
Date of birth	(1974-01-04) 4 January 1974 (age 51)
Place of birth	Winterthur, Switzerland
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Young Boys (head coach)
Youth career
1991–1992	YF Juventus Zürich
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1994	FC Winterthur	34	(3)
1994–1995	FC Frauenfeld	30	(23)
1995–1996	FC Baden	36	(18)
1996–2001	FC St. Gallen	144	(25)
2001–2002	FC Luzern	15	(1)
2002–2003	FC Lausanne-Sport	28	(6)
2003–2005	FC Winterthur	72	(19)
Total		359	(95)
International career
2001	Switzerland	1	(0)
Managerial career
2005–2006	FC Oberwinterthur
2006–2011	FC St. Gallen II
2006–2007	FC St. Gallen (assistant)
2011	FC St. Gallen
2011–2012	FC Luzern (assistant)
2012–2017	FC Vaduz
2017–2018	FC St. Gallen
2018–2021	Lausanne-Sport
2021–2023	Grasshopper
2024	Switzerland (assistant)
2024–	Young Boys
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Teams

He played at various clubs in Switzerland, such as FC Winterthur, FC St. Gallen, FC Luzern and FC Lausanne-Sport. His greatest success was the Swiss championship with FC St. Gallen in 1999/2000. In summer 2005, he ended his footballing career.

National

Contini played his only international match for Switzerland in a friendly match against Poland, on 28 February 2001.

Coaching career

After retiring as soccer player, Contini started his coaching career at FC Oberwinterthur, who played in the 2. Liga Interregional, in 2005. In the following year, he joined FC St. Gallen as coach of the second team. He remained at St. Gallen until 2011. During his time there, he also assisted in coaching the first team, from 2006 until 2007, under Rolf Fringer, and also served as interim coach in 2011. He joined FC Luzern in 2011 as assistant coach, under Murat Yakin.

In late 2012, he was hired by FC Vaduz as head coach, where he remained until June 2017. The following season, he rejoined FC St. Gallen as head coach, this time, for one year. From 2018 until 2021, he was head coach of FC Lausanne-Sport, whom he led to promotion to the Swiss Super League in 2020.

On 9 June 2021, Contini was confirmed as the new head coach of Grasshopper Club Zürich.^[1]

On 19 March 2023, Swiss online news site nau.ch reported that Contini had handed in his resignation in mid February,^[2] which would see him leaving the club in the summer, following a six month notice period. On the same day, the club confirmed the news and stating their intention of continuing their cooperation for the duration of the season.^[3] This news came on the heels of Contini's GC having won two games in a row for the first time that season.

On 15 February 2024, Contini was confirmed as the assistant coach of Switzerland national football team coach Murat Yakin.^[4]

On 18 December 2024, he was appointed as the head coach of Swiss champions Young Boys on a two-and-a-half-year contract.^[5] On 1 February 2025, he managed his 244th game in the Swiss Super League, making him the sole record holder since the league reform in 2003, ahead of Christian Gross and Alain Geiger.^[6]

Honours

Player

FC St. Gallen

• Swiss Super League (1): 1999–2000

Manager

Vaduz

• Swiss Challenge League (1): 2013–14
• Liechtenstein Cup (4): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16

Lausanne-Sport

• Swiss Challenge League (1): 2019–20

Individual

• Liechtensteiner Coach of the Year (2): 2014, 2016

Personal life

Contini is of Italian descent.^[7]