Luigi "Gigi" Peronace was a Calabria

Calabria

Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

n football agent doing business predominantly between English and Italian clubs. He has been described as the "first real agent in England".

Luigi Peronace was born in Soverato

Soverato

Soverato is a town and comune in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region of southern Italy.-Geography:Soverato sits on the Ionian Sea, in the Gulf of Squillace. Nearby there is a string of villages along the white beaches of the gulf like Montepaone, Davoli and Isca Marina.The Giardino...

, Calabria

Calabria

Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

, Italy

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...

 was born on 29 November 1925. His initial involvement in football came as a playing goalkeeper. Peronace spoke English, and when the British troops came to Calabria during the Second World War he organised football games with them. After the war he went to Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

 to study engineering, but there he also became interpretor to Juventus

Juventus F.C.

Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

's Scottish manager, William Chalmers

William Chalmers (footballer)

William Chalmers was an association football player and manager, who is most well known for managing Italian side Juventus during the 1948-49 season; he is the one of two Scottish managers in the club's history...

, and then to his managerial successor, Jesse Carver

Jesse Carver

Jesse Carver was an English footballer, best remembered for his enlightened management of some of Europe's finest clubs.-Biography:...

. When Carver was sacked, Peronace was no longer needed and let go. He later reunited with Carver when he took the post of business manager

Business manager

In a general context, a business manager is a person who manages the work of others in order to run a business efficiently and make a large profit...

 at Torino. In 1954, he was unexpectedly put in charge of transfers at Lazio

S.S. Lazio

Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...

, the team which he supported.

In 1957, Leyton Orient

Leyton Orient F.C.

Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63...

 manager Alec Stock

Alec Stock

Alec William Alfred Stock was an English footballer and manager.-Career:Alec Stock was born in Peasedown St John and played as an inside-forward for Tottenham Hotspur, Charlton Athletic and QPR before the Second World War and guested for several other clubs during the hostilities...

 was interested in moving to Italy. He was put in contact with Peronace, and they discussed the possibility of a move in Green Park

Green Park

-External links:*...

. Peronace convinced A.S. Roma

A.S. Roma

Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...

 that Stock was the manager they wanted and the move was completed. That year Peronace also negotiated the transfer of John Charles

John Charles

William John Charles, CBE , commonly known as John Charles, was a Welsh international footballer best remembered for spells with Leeds United and Juventus. Rated by many as the greatest all-round footballer ever to come from Wales, he was equally adept at centre-forward or centre-back...

 from Leeds United to Juventus for £65,000 and a £10,000 signing-on fee. In 1961, he negotiated the transfer of Jimmy Greaves

Jimmy Greaves

James Peter 'Jimmy' Greaves is an English former football player, England's third highest international goalscorer, the highest goalscorer in the history of Tottenham Hotspur football club, the highest goalscorer in the history of English top flight football and more recently a television pundit -...

 from Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 to A.C. 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...

,
and the transfers of two English players to Torino

Torino F.C.

Torino Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Torino, is a professional Italian football club based in Turin, Piedmont, that was founded in 1906. The club has spent most of its history in the top tier in Italian football....

 – Joe Baker

Joe Baker

Joseph Henry "Joe" Baker was an England international footballer. Born in Liverpool, England, he spent virtually his entire childhood growing up in Motherwell, Scotland...

 from Hibernian

Hibernian F.C.

Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...

 and Denis Law

Denis Law

Denis Law is a retired Scottish football player, who enjoyed a long and successful career as a striker from the 1950s to the 1970s....

 from Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

. He also aided friend Matt Busby

Matt Busby

Sir Alexander Matthew "Matt" Busby, CBE, KCSG was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–1971 season...

 in transferring Law back to England in 1962, this time to Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

.

He helped organise the Anglo-Italian Cup

Anglo-Italian Cup

The Anglo-Italian Cup is a defunct European football competition that was played intermittently between 1970 and 1996 between clubs from England and Italy. Founded by Gigi Peronace in 1970, following the success of the Anglo-Italian League Cup, it was played as a professional tournament until 1973...

 in the 70s and 80s, and following his death in 1981, the 1982–86 instalments of the tournament were named the Gigi Peronace Memorial. Peronace moved to London, and bought a home in Twickenham

Twickenham

Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...

. Under Enzo Bearzot

Enzo Bearzot

Vincenzo "Enzo" Bearzot was an Italian association football player and manager. He is best known for having led the Italian national football team to a triumph in the 1982 FIFA World Cup.-Playing career:...

, he became general manager for the Italy national football team

Italy national football team

The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

 at the 1978 FIFA World Cup

1978 FIFA World Cup

The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Argentina between 1 June and 25 June. The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth...

. He did the same job at the 1980 UEFA European Football Championship

1980 UEFA European Football Championship

The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth European Football Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. With eight teams competing, the final tournament took place between 11 and 22 June 1980...

, and later that year he was influential in the transfer of Liam Brady

Liam Brady

Liam Brady is a former Irish association football player, and former assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team....

 from Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 to Juventus. Gigi suffered a fatal heart attack in December 1980. He was in Montevideo

Montevideo

Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...

 preparing with the Italian team for the 1980 Mundialito

1980 Mundialito

-Group B:---------Final:-Scorers:3 goals Waldemar Victorino1 goal Ramón Díaz Diego Maradona Edevaldo Junior Serginho Sócrates Toninho Cerezo Zé Sérgio Klaus Allofs Horst Hrubesch Jan Peters Carlo Ancelotti Jorge Barrios Julio Morales Venancio Ramos...

and died in Bearzot's arms in the team hotel on 29 December 1980. He left behind a wife and five children.