Alberto "Albertino" Bigon (born October 31, 1947 in Padua

Padua

Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

) is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 manager and former player.

Playing career

Bigon started his playing career for his native city team Padova

Calcio Padova

Calcio Padova is an Italian football club, based in Padua, Veneto. The club was founded in 1910. Padova is playing in Serie B, having last been in Serie A in 1996...

. He made his Serie A

Serie A

Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

 debut with SPAL

Spal 1907

SPAL 1907 is an Italian football club, based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1907 as Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor and was refounded in 2005....

 in 1967, but obtained most of his playing triumphs with AC Milan

A.C. Milan

Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

, where he played from 1971 to 1980. He appeared in 218 league matches with AC Milan, scoring 56 goals and winning a Serie A championship in 1979, as well as three Coppa Italia

Coppa Italia

The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...

 tournaments (1972, 1973, 1977) and a Cup Winners' Cup (1973). Bigon retired from playing football in 1984.

Coaching career

Bigon coached his first team, Reggina, in 1986–1987, then Cesena

A.C. Cesena

Associazione Calcio Cesena is an Italian football club based in Cesena, Romagna. The club was formed in 1940 and won the first promotion to Serie A in 1973. Since then, the club have been in the Italian Premier League for a total of in 11 seasons, reaching the best achievement in 1976 with the 6th...

, in 1987. He coached Cesena until 1989, when he left to coach Napoli

S.S.C. Napoli

Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....

, then led by Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...

. He immediately won a Serie A championship, the second in Napoli's history. He then won the Italian Super Cup the same year. He left the club in 1991, after a poor eighth place followed by Maradona's forced farewell to Napoli. He then coached minor clubs such as Lecce

U.S. Lecce

Unione Sportiva Lecce or simply U.S. Lecce is an Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia who play in the Italian Serie A. After being crowned Serie B champions in 2009–10, the team successfully managed to avoid relegation in 2010-11....

 (Serie B

Serie B

Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

), Udinese

Udinese Calcio

Udinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....

 (Serie A, saved from relegation after playoffs) and Ascoli

Ascoli Calcio 1898

Ascoli Calcio 1898 is an Italian football club based in Ascoli Piceno, Marche. The club was formed in 1898 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, having returned to it after two seasons spent in Serie A...

 (Serie B). In 1996, he was appointed coach of Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 team FC Sion

FC Sion

FC Sion is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home games at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and the Swiss Cup in each of their twelve appearances in the final, the most recent being in 2011.The first team also...

, which he led to win Swiss Super League

Swiss Super League

The Swiss Super League or Axpo Super League is the top tier of the Swiss Football League. The Swiss Super League is currently ranked 16th according to UEFA's ranking of league coefficients, which is based upon Swiss team performances in European competitions.-Names:-Participating clubs:The teams...

 for its second time in history. Bigon then tried an unsuccessful return to Serie A with Perugia

Perugia Calcio

Associazione Calcistica Perugia Calcio is an Italian association football club based in Perugia, Umbria, direct heir of the old Perugia Calcio and A.C. Perugia, excluded from Italian football because of financial troubles....

. In November 1999 he was appointed coach of Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 club Olympiacos, but was fired on April 10, 2000, despite the first place in the championship table.

After seven years without a job, Bigon made a comeback to football in February 2007, when he was appointed coach of FC Sion, a team he already managed years before.

In August 2008, he become head coach of Slovenian football team Interblock Ljubljana. However, this experience lasted only a very short time, as Bigon left the club on September 2008 by mutual consent with the club due to personal health issues.