Crawley Town have appointed former Arsenal and Sunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone as their new player-coach, with the experienced Italian set to oversee the club’s goalkeeping department while remaining available for first-team selection.
The 38-year-old arrives at the League Two club following a coaching spell with Brighton & Hove Albion’s academy and succeeds Kris Dixon, who departed the Reds last week after two years in the role.
Mannone enjoyed an impressive playing career spanning nearly two decades, making almost 130 appearances across the Premier League and Championship. The former Italy youth international represented Arsenal, Hull City, Sunderland, Reading and French side Lille, among others.
His most recent senior appearance came in May 2024 for Lille in Ligue 1 before he moved into coaching with Brighton & Hove Albion’s academy.
Crawley Town head coach Colin Kazim-Richards believes Mannone’s experience at the highest level will prove invaluable both on and off the pitch.
Speaking after the appointment, Kazim-Richards said: “To be able to add to my coaching staff, to the club, someone of Vito’s calibre is a credit in itself.
“His knowledge, his footballing experiences, playing at the highest level with some of the best coaches in terms of standards – what it actually takes and ideas coming from a country that creates amazing goalkeepers – has really taken us up another level.
“Vito comes with an intensity, and it’s something I’m looking forward to in terms of creating a relationship and benefiting from his skills from a goalkeeper’s perspective, and also as a person.
“As soon as we spoke, I knew he was the right man, so I can’t wait to work with him.”
The appointment adds significant experience to Crawley Town’s coaching staff ahead of the new League Two season, with Mannone combining his coaching responsibilities with a role as emergency goalkeeping cover for the first team.