Fabio Celestini

Fabio Celestini (born 31 October 1975) is a Swiss football manager and former player. A defensive midfielder, he started and finished his 15-year professional career with Lausanne, and also played for ten years in France and Spain, representing four clubs. He appeared with the Swiss national team at Euro 2004.

Fabio Celestini
Celestini with Lausanne-Sport in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth (1975-10-31) 31 October 1975
Place of birth Lausanne, Switzerland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Luzern (manager)
Youth career
1983–1995 Renens
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2000 Lausanne-Sport 127 (23)
2000–2002 Troyes 50 (2)
2002–2004 Marseille 59 (1)
2004–2005 Levante 25 (1)
2005–2010 Getafe 121 (1)
2010 Lausanne-Sport 13 (1)
Total 395 (29)
National team
1998–2007 Switzerland 35 (2)
Teams managed
2013–2014 Málaga (assistant)
2014 Terracina
2015–2018 Lausanne-Sport
2018–2019 Lugano
2020– Luzern
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

After retiring as a player, he moved into management, and is now the manager of FC Luzern.

Club career

Born in Lausanne, Celestini started playing professionally with hometown's FC Lausanne-Sport, then had a four-season spell in France, spending two years each with Troyes AC and Olympique de Marseille.[1] Whilst with the latter he played the 2004 UEFA Cup final, coming on as a substitute in the second half of the 0–2 loss to Valencia CF.[2]

Celestini moved to Spain in 2004, playing one season with Levante UD.[3] After the team's immediate relegation he stayed in the country, joining fellow La Liga club Getafe CF where he never was an undisputed starter, but managed to feature heavily in consecutive seasons. In 2007–08, as the Madrid outskirts side reached the quarter-finals in the UEFA Cup, he scored against R.S.C. Anderlecht in a 2–1 group stage home win.[4]

On 16 February 2010, after having been regularly used in the past two seasons, albeit not as a usual first-choice, the 34-year-old Celestini announced he would not renew his contract with Getafe, choosing to return to Lausanne on a one-year deal.[5] However, due to a break in negotiations over his future role at the club after his playing career, he decided to retire before the end of the campaign, playing his last game on 15 December against U.S. Città di Palermo in the Europa League group stage.

On 24 March 2015, after a spell as assistant manager at Spanish club Málaga CF[6] and head coach with Italian amateurs Terracina Calcio 1925,[7] Celestini replaced Marco Simone at Lausanne-Sport in the latter capacity, as the side was in a poor run of results in the Swiss Challenge League.[8] Two months later, he was confirmed in this role for the next three years.[9]

In 2015–16, Celestini led his team back to the Swiss Super League after a two-year absence.[10] On 3 October 2018, he was appointed at FC Lugano in the same division.[11] Just over a year later, he was ousted from his job due to bad results, and replaced by Maurizio Jacobacci.[12]

Celestini signed as manager of FC Luzern on 2 January 2020, on a contract until 30 June 2021.[13]

International career

A Switzerland international since 1998, Celestini collected 35 caps and was a participant at the UEFA Euro 2004 (appearing in two incomplete matches, as the nation exited in the group stage).[14][15]

References
  1. "Marseille move cheers Celestini". UEFA. 31 July 2002. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  2. "Valencia 2–0 Marseille". BBC Sport. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  3. "Levante capture Celestini". UEFA. 18 August 2004. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  4. "Getafe take top spot with Anderlecht win". UEFA. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  5. "Degen krank – Celestini zurück" [Degen ill – Celestini returns] (in German). Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  6. "El Málaga ficha a Bernd Schuster por cinco temporadas" [Málaga sign Bernd Schuster for five seasons]. El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 15 June 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  7. Scibetta, Simone (4 November 2014). "Il Terracina solleva dall'incarico il tecnico Fabio Celestini" [Terracina relieve manager Fabio Celestini of his duties]. Gazzetta Regionale (in Italian). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  8. "Le FC Lausanne-Sport limoge Simone et mise sur Celestini" [FC Lausanne-Sport sack Simone and bet on Celestini] (in French). Swiss Football League. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  9. "Celestini prolonge trois ans au FC Lausanne-Sport" [Celestini extends at FC Lausanne-Sport for three years] (in French). Swiss Football League. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  10. "Chiasso et Le Mont font recours – Lausanne accède à l'élite" [Chiasso and Le Mont appeal – Lausanne reach elite] (in French). Swiss Football League. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  11. "Renzetti e Celestini: per un Lugano più squadra" [Renzetti and Celestini: for a more-of-a-team Lugano] (in Italian). FC Lugano. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  12. "Salta Celestini, Jacobacci nuovo allenatore del Lugano" [Celestini out, Jacobacci new manager of Lugano]. Corriere del Ticino (in Italian). 28 October 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  13. Wyrsch, Daniel; Studer, Pascal (2 January 2020). "Häberli-Nachfolge geklärt: Fabio Celestini ist neuer Trainer des FC Luzern" [Häberli successor unveiled: Fabio Celestini is the new FC Luzern manager]. Luzerner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  14. Chaplin, Mark (13 June 2004). "Ten-man Switzerland frustrate Croatia". UEFA. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  15. Szreter, Adam (17 June 2004). "Rooney stars as England get back on track". UEFA. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
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