Francesco Mancini known as Franco was born in Matera on October 10, 1968.
His first club was his hometown's side between 1985 and 1987. The Biancazzurri were in C2 and finished 4th and 16th (relegated).
In 1987 he joined Bisceglie in C2 but left in October before making any appearances for the Nerazzurri stellati.
In October he signed for Foggia in C1 but in his first year played no matches and only 3 in the following season when the Rossoneri were promoted to B under Giuseppe Caramanno. In 1989-90 Zdenek Zeman arrived in Foggia and everything changed with Mancini playing 35 league games while Foggia finished 8th. In 1990-91 the "Satanelli" (Little Devils) won promotion to Serie A and Mancini played 36 league games. In the following four years Mancini played 122 league games with the Diavoli del Sud finishing 9th, 12th, 9th and 16th (relegated, now under Enrico Catuzzi). In his time in Foggia, he played alongside future Lazio Beppe Signori (1992-97) Roberto Rambaudi (1994-98), José Antonio Chamot (1994-98) and former Lazio Gigi Di Biagio (1988-89), Paolo Mandelli (1986-87) and Giovanni Stroppa (1991-93).
In November 1995, after playing 2 league games in Serie B with Foggia, he joined Lazio on loan in Serie A and was reunited with Zeman. Lazio's first choice keepers Luca Marchegiani and Fernando Orsi were both out injured so Zeman requested to bring Mancini to the capital. In the end he only played 6 league games and 2 in Coppa Italia. He did not play particularly well and when Marchegiani returned he was soon side-lined. Lazio had a good season and finished 3rd.
In 1996 he returned to Foggia who were still in Serie B. He played 37 league games under Tarcisio Burgnich and Foggia finished 11th. One of his teammates was former Lazio Oberdan Biagioni (1987-88).
In 1997 Mancini went up the coast and joined Bari in Serie A. He stayed three full seasons, playing 95 league games. The "Galletti" (Cockerels) finished 11th and 10th and 14th under Eugenio Fascetti. His teammates included former Lazio, Thomas Doll (1991-94) and a young Antonio Cassano.
In October 2000 Mancini joined Napoli in Serie A. The Partenopei, under Zeman (1-6) and then Emiliano Mondonico, had a bad season and were relegated. Mancini played 17 league games. He then stayed on in Serie B with a 5th place under Luigi De Canio and a 16th under Franco Colomba (1-16), Franco Scoglio (17-25) and then Colomba again. In the two B years Mancini played another 65 league games.
In 2003 he joined Pisa in Serie C1. He played 30 league games under first Giovanni Simonelli (1-21) and then Antonio Cabrini and the Nerazzurri finished 8th. The following year he left in January after playing another 8 league games.
He joined Sambenedettese in the same C1 league. The manager was future Lazio Davide Ballardini and the Rossoblu finished 4th. Mancini played 14 league games.
In 2005-06 he spent a year with Teramo in C1. He played 32 league games under Marco Cari and the Diavoli finished 7th.
In 2006-07 he was at Salernitana in C1. He played 18 league games under Raffaele Novelli and then Gianfranco Bellotto and the Granata finished 10th.
In 2007-08 he was back in Puglia with Martina in C. The Biancazzurri got through three managers and ended up relegated as well as going bankrupt. Mancini played 14 league games.
His last club was Fortis Trani in Promozione (6th tier). He played 13 league games and the Dragons won promotion.
At almost 40 he then retired.
He became a goalkeeper coach and worked with Manfredonia (2009-10), Foggia (2010-11) and Pescara (2011-12). It was while at Pescara, after training in the morning, that he died suddenly due to a heart attack while back at his home. He was only 43.
Mancini was a goalkeeper. He was not tall, at 1.77, but was acrobatic, brave and excellent with his feet. His style of play led him to alternate spectacular saves with occasional but equally spectacular howlers. One of his more positive moments was when he famously pulled off a "sombrero" on the great Marco Van Basten.
Lazio did not see the best of him. He only played 6 league games and was in one of his error prone periods.
His best moments were the Zemanlandia days at Foggia where a spectacular, attacking style of football impressed the whole nation.
Since his death, on March 30, 2012, the Curva Nord of the Pino Zaccheria stadium in Foggia has been named after him. The same was then done in Matera where one of the stands bears his name.
Lazio Career
Season | Appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
1995-96 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
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