Roberto Di Matteo

Robbie Di Matteo won the FA Cup and European trophies with Chelsea as player and manager winning the Champions League in the latter role. Roberto has an academic background, having built on a business studies degree gained in his native Switzerland by taking an MBA course at London's European School of Economics. Born of Italian parents, he joined Lazio in 1993 following a Swiss title success early in his career. After moving to Stamford Bridge three years later - for a then Chelsea record fee of £4.9m - Di Matteo scored the fastest ever goal in a Wembley final. He fired home from 30 yards after just 43 seconds as Chelsea went on to beat Middlesbrough in the 1997 FA Cup final. The following season, Roberto helped Chelsea land the UEFA Cup Winners Cup and the League Cup (in which he again scored in the final). He conjured up yet another Wembley winner in 2000 as Chelsea beat Aston Villa to lift the FA Cup again. Di Matteo was forced into premature retirement just two years later at the age of 31 after suffering a horrific triple leg fracture. His six years at Chelsea spanned 175 appearances and 26 goals. He also made 34 appearances for Italy. The former Chelsea and Italy midfielder took charge of Milton Keynes Dons in July, 2008 and led the club to the League One play-offs in his first season. Di Matteo inherited a side new to a higher level following promotion-winning Paul Ince's departure for Blackburn. But he showed the value of a far-sighted approach - having advanced through the UEFA coaching licences while still plying his trade on the field - by guiding MK to third place, just two points behind Peterborough. They lost to Scunthorpe on penalties in the play-off semi-finals, but Roberto's team had been praised throughout the campaign for the quality of their football. He was then confirmed as the new manager of West Brom on June 30, 2009. In his first season, he would enjoy great success, by leading the club to promotion to the Premier League by finishing second in the Championship. West Brom and Di Matteo enjoyed their start to a new campaign as he was named Premier League manager of the month for September. Despite winning promotion to the Barclays Premier League and the club not being in the bottom three during his time in charge, in the 2010/11 campaign, the board decided to part with Roberto in February 2011. He returned to Stamford Bridge before the start of the 2011/12 campaign, initially as assistant to Andre Villas-Boas. Di Matteo was then made interim coach following his departure in March and remarkably went onto lead the club to Champions League and FA Cup Final victories. Having later been confirmed as the club's permanent manager, he remained at Chelsea until November 2012. Following his outstanding success with Chelsea he received the LMA Special Merit Award at the end of the 2012/13 season. There followed a short spell at Schalke 04 in Germany, before returning to England with Aston Villa in 2016.