Paolo Monelli was born in Castelnovo ne’ Monti near Reggio Emilia on January 27, 1963.
His long career started very early, at just 16 years of age, when he debuted with Monza in Serie B on February 25, 1979. With the "Brianzoli", together with Daniele Massaro, who would go on to win everything at AC Milan, he formed one of the most interesting young attacking duos.
In 1981 they both were signed by Fiorentina. In his first year he was the first reserve behind forwards Ciccio Graziani and Daniel Bertoni. For the 1982-83 season he was loaned to Ascoli but after a year he went back to Florence and stayed for four seasons. His scoring ability progressively went dry and he had a long period of drought.
In 1987 he signed for Lazio in Serie B on a three-year deal. He was one of the protagonists of Lazio’s return to Serie A, scoring 13 league goals, some of fundamental importance, like the one in injury time at Catanzaro which basically secured promotion.
In the summer of 1988, Lazio surprisingly sold him to Bari in Serie B. It was a shock to the fans and to manager Eugenio Fascetti who had a big row with President Gianmarco Calleri, leading him to be sacked.
Monelli played 42 games for Lazio (37 in Serie B with 13 goals and 5 in Coppa Italia with one goal).
Bari managed to get promoted to Serie A and he scored 10 goals. He stayed for another year in Serie A but did not score much (4 goals in 21 games). After Bari he signed for Pescara in Serie B but suffered a serious injury which left him out for over a year. In January 1993 he moved to Vicenza in Serie C1. He ended his career with another three years in Serie C (Nola, Crevalcore and Palazzolo).
In total he played 167 League games in Serie A, 150 in Serie B and 65 in Serie C.
Once he stopped playing, he became a manager and head coach of Monza youth teams from 2000 to 2013. He is currently manager of Monza Women’s team.
Monelli will always be remembered fondly at Lazio for his goals that took the club back to Serie A after some very difficult years.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1987-88 | 42 (14) | 37 (13) | 5 (1) |
Sources
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