Dominique D'Onofrio

Who is Dominique D'Onofrio?

Dominique D'Onofrio is an Italo-Belgian football coach, later chairman. He was born on 18 April 1953 in Castelforte. He was coachbuilder until his brother bought out Standard Liège and enabled him to integrate a professional club. At Standard de Liège since 1998, at first with the U6, he quickly took over from Tomislav Ivić for 2000–01. He took charge for the first team for three matches in December 2000. In January 2001, he took over from Michel Preud'homme until July 2002.

In 2002–2003, he took over from Robert Waseige for the first five matches of the Championship. He had little success as first team coach, and was fired on 14 September 2002, after domestic defeat against Club Bruges and a catastrophic first season.

Adored by some supporters who appreciated the results gained under his leadership, reviled by others who disliked his gameplay and recourse to a long-ball system, he left his post in May 2005, before being named a few weeks later after the club failed to find a replacement. This provoked great remorse from those supporters who had campaigned for his firing, who apologised a few days before his return was announced.