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English Football Legends Series

"Gianfranco Zola tries everything because he is a wizard and the wizard must try."
Claudio Ranieri reflects on Zola's back-heeled goal against Norwich in 2002

Gianfranco Zola

Clubs: Napoli, Parma, Chelsea, Calgiari

Position: Forward

Appearances*: 629

Goals*: 193

Honours: FA Cup, 2,
League Cup, 1
Cup Winners Cup, 1
UEFA Cup, 1
Serie A, 1

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* League appearances and goals only

One of the best foreign players to play in England, the prodigiously talented Italian was a revelation at Chelsea and a fans favourite wherever he played.

Club career in Italy

Gianfranco Zola began his career at Sardinian club Nuorese in 1984.

In 1986, he moved to Torres where he spent three seasons, before signing for Serie A club Napoli in 1989.

The talented young striker was understudy to Diego Maradona as Napoli won the title in 1990.

Zola showed an early appetite for hard work, and would spend hours after training practising free kicks, often with Maradona mentoring him.

In 1991, Zola helped Napoli win the Supercoppa Italiana, and received his first call-up to the Italian national side under, winning his first cap against Norway in November.

In 1993, he left Napoli for Parma where he won the UEFA Cup. He was also in the side that finished runners-up in both Serie A and the Italian Cup in 1995.

It was at Parma that he established his reputation as a sublimely creative player. However, Parma coach Carlo Ancelotti favoured a rigid system, and found it difficult to find a role for Zola.

He was made available for transfer and joined Chelsea for November 1996, for 4.5 million pounds.

Chelsea

Zola was an immediate hit a Chelsea, putting in a string of outstanding performances and scoring some memorable goals.

He was a key factor in the Blues FA Cup triumph that season, scoring four goals en route to the final, including an audacious effort in the semi-final against Wimbledon, backheeling the ball before spinning 180 degrees and slotting home.

At the end of the season he was voted Football Writer's Player of the Year, the only player ever to win the accolade without playing a full league season in England.

In 1997/98, he helped Chelsea to three more trophies, the League Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the Super Cup.

In the Cup Winners Cup he was carrying an injury, and started on the bench against Stuttgart. Introduced as a second-half substitute he slotted the winner with his second touch, just 21 seconds after coming on.

In the same season, Gianfranco Zola scored the first hat-trick of his career, in a 4-0 victory over Derby County.

Chelsea made their first appearance in the Champions League in 1999/2000, with Zola scoring three times in their run to the quarter-finals.

There was also another FA Cup triumph, his free-kick setting up Roberto Di Matteo's winner against Aston Villa in the final.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink arrived at Chelsea in the off season and Zola proved an ideal foil for the Dutch striker, the pair scoring 32 league goals between them.

However, the arrival of Eidur Gudjohnsen a year later saw Zola's appearances start to become more infrequent, as Hasselbaink and Gudjohnsen established themselves as the preferred strike partnership.

The little Italian, though, could still deliver when called upon - as he proved in a FA Cup tie against Norwich when he scored with a back-heeled effort while in mid-air.

2002/03 was his final season at Chelsea, and his most prolific. He scored 16 goals to help Chelsea qualify for the Champions League. He was also voted the club's Player of the Year.

Zola's final Chelsea goal came against Everton, on Easter Monday 2003. His final appearance for the club was on the final day of the season against Liverpool as a 70th minute substitute.

Late in the game he received the ball and went on a mazy dribble, beating four Liverpool players - both sets of fans applauded him.

In total he played 312 games for Chelsea, scoring 80 goals.

In the summer of 2003, as rumours started to circulate about the impending takeover at Stamford Bridge, Zola left Chelsea to join Cagliari, in his native Sardinia.

Within a week of his departure Chelsea was acquired by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Abramovich tried to convince Zola to return to London, but typical of the man, he refused to renege on his verbal contract with Cagliari.

In 2003, Gianfranco Zola was voted Chelsea greatest ever player by Blues fans.

In November 2004, he was awarded an Honorary OBE - Order of the British Empire - in a special ceremony in Rome.

Return to Italy

In his first season back in Italy, Zola led Cagliari to promotion to the Serie A.

He then extended his contract for a further year as the Rossoblu managed a respectable mid-table finish in the Italian top flight.

Zola retired in June 2005, ending his career with two goals against Juventus in his final match.

Management Career

In 2006, Gianfranco Zola was appointed assistant coach of the Italian under 23 squad, and in September 2008, he took over as manager of West Ham United.

In his first season he guided the Hammers to 9th place playing the kind of football demanded by their fans.

However, the following year West Ham narrowly avoided relegation and the new owners of the club terminated his contract two days after the start of the season.

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