Alessio Dionisi Takes Over Watford on Two-Year Deal
Watford appointed alessio dionisi as head coach on a two-year contract. The 46-year-old Italian replaces Ed Still after Watford’s latest reset at Vicarage Road.
The move gives Watford another permanent coach after Still lasted less than three months. Dionisi becomes the club’s 12th head coach, not including interim bosses, since the end of the 2020-21 season.
Vicarage Road Turns Again
Still was sacked on 3 May after Watford were beaten 4-0 by Coventry City in his final game. The club finished 16th in the Championship, 16 points adrift of the play-off places, and then moved quickly to install Dionisi on a longer deal than the one that preceded him.
That sequence matters because Watford have spent much of the last four years changing managers rather than settling on one. After dismissing Tom Cleverley at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, the club went through three permanent head coaches and interim boss Charlie Daniels’ two-game spell in charge before landing on Dionisi.
Gian Luca Nani’s Profile Test
Sporting director Gian Luca Nani said the club had been tracking Dionisi for a while and wanted a coach with a proven promotion record. “Alessio has been on our radar for a long period and we are really pleased to have reached an agreement with him,” he said.
He added: “We made it clear we were looking for an experienced coach who has won leagues and been promoted - and Alessio fits the profile.” Nani also said: “He is an excellent coach, who we believe has the credentials to get the best out of the players we have in the squad and those we want to add,” before adding, “I know Alessio is really excited by the opportunity and we look forward to seeing the positive impact he will have here.”
Dionisi’s Route From Empoli
Dionisi arrives after a short spell at Empoli ended in March, when he was dismissed after five months in charge following a run of five wins in 22 matches. Watford reached an agreement with Empoli over a contract that was set to run until near the end of 2027, clearing the way for him to leave gardening leave.
His background fits the brief Watford set out. Dionisi won the Serie B title with Empoli in the 2020-21 season, then replaced Roberto de Zerbi at Sassuolo in the summer of 2021. Watford said he will now begin his 10th job in a 12-year managerial career, and that this is his first job outside his homeland.
He will not arrive alone. Luca Vigiani returns to Vicarage Road as an analyst after working under Walter Mazzarri in the 2016-17 season, and Fabio Spighi joins as head of physical performance. Dionisi is also the first Italian to manage Watford since Claudio Ranieri in the 2021-22 season, another reminder of how often the club has looked abroad while still searching for stability.
The appointment gives Watford a coach with a title and promotion track record, but it also extends a long run of turnover under the Pozzo family’s ownership since 2012. Dionisi steps into a job where the last manager lasted less than a quarter of a season, and the club will expect this two-year contract to mean more than another brief stop.
