Alessio Dionisi (born 1 April 1980) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of EFL Championship club Watford.
Playing career A centre back with free kick abilities, Dionisi spent most of his career at Serie C2 and Serie D levels, with his highlight being at Tritium, a club he captained and with whom he won promotion to Lega Pro Prima Divisione and also played in the Italian third tier for a season.
Coaching career Early years Dionisi retired from active playing football in 2014, immediately being named head coach of Serie D club Olginatese, which was his final club as a player. He then managed again at the Serie D level with Borgosesia from 2015 to 2017, and Fiorenzuola in the 2017–18 season.
He was then named head coach of Serie D club Imolese in 2018, guiding the club to second place in the league. After the club was admitted to Serie C to fill a vacancy, he was confirmed at Imolese and successfully guided the small club from Emilia-Romagna to a historic third place in the league (the best result in the club's history) and a place in the promotion playoffs, where his club was defeated by Piacenza in the semi-finals.
Venezia His impressive results with Imolese won him the attention of Venezia, who appointed him head coach on 3 July 2019. With Venezia readmitted to Serie B in place of Palermo, he guided the Venetians to keep their place in the Italian second division.
Empoli On 19 August 2020, he was announced as the new head coach of Serie B club Empoli. On his first season in charge, he led Empoli to become 2020–21 Serie B champions and ensure themselves promotion to Serie A.
Sassuolo His impressive results at Empoli led to Serie A club Sassuolo offering him the vacant role of head coach after Roberto De Zerbi's departure; after rescinding his contract with Empoli on 15 June 2021, Dionisi signed a two-year deal with Sassuolo the following day, effective from 1 July 2021. After guiding Sassuolo to two consecutive mid-table placements in the Serie A, Dionisi was sacked on 25 February 2024 following a string of negative results that left the Neroverdi struggling in the bottom positions of the league.
Palermo On 7 June 2024, Dionisi was unveiled as the new head coach of Serie B promotion hopefuls Palermo. In his season in charge of Palermo, he failed to fulfil expectations, being consistently criticized by the Palermo supporters due to his inability in improving the results of the club despite having the third-highest squad of the league in terms of cumulative wages and high-level signings such as Joel Pohjanpalo. He eventually led the club to eighth place in the league and was eliminated by Juve Stabia in the playoffs. On 15 June 2025, Palermo announced that they had relieved Dionisi of his head coaching duties.
Return to Empoli On 16 October 2025, Dionisi agreed to return to Empoli, signing a two-year contract with the Tuscan club. Dionisi was sacked from Empoli on 10 March 2026, after registering only 5 wins in 22 matches.
Watford On 15 June 2026, Dionisi was appointed head coach of EFL Championship side Watford on a two-year deal.
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamNat.FromToRecordOlginatese27 May 201416 October 2014Borgosesia26 May 20152 June 2017Fiorenzuola2 June 201714 May 2018Imolese31 May 201826 June 2019Venezia3 July 201914 August 2020Empoli19 August 202015 June 2021Sassuolo16 June 202125 February 2024Palermo7 June 202415 June 2025Empoli16 October 202510 March 2026Watford15 June 2026present*Total
Honours Head coach Empoli Serie B: 2020–21
Individual Serie A Coach of the Month: September 2023
References