Giancarlo Italiano

Giancarlo Italiano joined the Wellington Phoenix ahead of the 2018-19 season as the team’s head analyst and Ufuk Talay’s second assistant coach.

‘Chiefy’ held several junior coaching roles before joining Blacktown City in 2015 as their head of football. In 2017 he became the assistant coach of Sydney FC’s National Premier Leagues (NPL) and youth league teams and a year later was promoted to head coach of the NPL side.

Italiano helped guide the Phoenix to its highest ever regular season finish of third in his maiden season with the club.

He was promoted to assistant coach for the 2020-21 season while the team was forced to play all but two of their matches out of Australia. The Nix finished just one point short of the finals after going on a club record 11-game unbeaten run.

Italiano signed a two-year contract extension with the Phoenix in July 2021, and he helped guide Wellington back to the finals in 2022, despite the team again only getting to play two of their matches in New Zealand.

He took charge of the Nix for two matches in March 2022 after Ufuk Talay tested positive to COVID-19. The Phoenix beat Perth Glory 2-1 in his first match and then downed Brisbane Roar 3-0.

Italiano helped the Phoenix qualify for the finals for the third time in four years in 2023, finishing sixth on the ladder.

He completed the AFC professional coaching diploma, run by Football Australia, in March to become one of a select few coaches in Aotearoa with a pro licence.

The following month Italiano was appointed head coach of the Nix for the next two A-League seasons, following Ufuk Talay’s decision to move on at the end of the campaign.

He oversaw the club’s most successful season in his first 12 months in charge, with the Phoenix narrowly missing out on the Premiers’ Plate and falling just short of a place in the A-League grand final.

Italiano was voted coach of the Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) team of the season.

> 2024-25 season

It was a disappointing campaign for Giancarlo Italiano and the Wellington Phoenix following the departures of a number of first team squad members, including Alex Paulsen, Ben Old and Finn Surman making high-profile transfers.

The men made a strong start to the season, winning three of their first five matches to be one of the early pacesetters.

However, they won only three further matches, only one of which was at Sky Stadium, and finished a lowly 11^th on the A-League ladder and were forced to play an Australia Cup playoff against Brisbane Roar in Darwin after the season.

Despite how the season unfolded the Phoenix recommitted to Italiano as head coach for the 2025-26 A-League.