Dario Gradi

Who is Dario Gradi?

Dario Gradi MBE is an Italian-born English football manager and former player. He has been associated for more than 30 years with Crewe Alexandra, with whom he is currently the Director of Football and also Director of the academy.

Gradi had a 24-year first spell as manager of Crewe between 1983 and 2007. He stepped down from his managerial role in 2007, handing first-team responsibilities to Steve Holland, and became technical director. At that time, Gradi was the longest serving manager of an English football league club. After returning as manager in 2009, he stepped down on 10 November 2011 to focus on youth development at Crewe.