27 Facts About Massimo Cellino

1.

Massimo Cellino is an Italian entrepreneur and football club owner.

2.

Massimo Cellino has served as vice-president for Serie A in the Lega Calcio.

3.

Massimo Cellino intended to sell Cagliari Calcio, and has said that an agreed sale failed due to the wish of the prospective buyers for him to stay and run the club.

4.

Massimo Cellino finally sold the club to the Italian entrepreneur Tommaso Giulini in June 2014 after 22 years of ownership.

5.

Massimo Cellino had previously tried to buy West Ham United in 2010.

6.

The Football League rejected the proposal on 24 March 2014, stating that Massimo Cellino failed the owner's test.

7.

Massimo Cellino exercised his right to appeal against the Football Leagues's decision.

8.

Massimo Cellino's appeal was heard on 31 March 2014 by an independent QC and, on 5 April 2014, the decision was overturned as Cellino's recent conviction did not involve conduct that would 'reasonably be considered to be dishonest' based on information available to him at the time.

9.

In September 2014, Massimo Cellino appointed Darko Milanic as the new head coach of Leeds on a two-year deal replacing Hockaday, though Milanic was dismissed 32 days later after not winning one of his six games while in charge.

10.

On 1 December 2014, Massimo Cellino was disqualified by the Football League and asked to resign from the club.

11.

On 9 April 2015, Leeds United's suspended owner, Massimo Cellino, informed the press that he believed Salerno had resigned.

12.

On 14 May 2015, Massimo Cellino carried out a press conference unveiling Adam Pearson as the club's Executive Director to work directly alongside Massimo Cellino.

13.

The press conference included Massimo Cellino leaving halfway through for a cigarette break only to return, and for the press conference to run for over an hour, with Massimo Cellino refusing to reveal the future of head coach Neil Redfearn.

14.

On 22 September 2015, Massimo Cellino criticised Leeds player Sam Byram, saying he was 'deeply offended' and 'hurt' that Byram had not signed a new contract at Leeds United.

15.

On 9 May, 2016, Massimo Cellino was acquitted 'on appeal' for his tax evasion conviction, after failing to pay VAT on a Range Rover imported from the USA into Italy.

16.

On 23 May, 2016, it was revealed that MK Dons manager Karl Robinson had turned down the opportunity from Massimo Cellino to become Leeds United head coach, further casting doubt on current head coach Steve Evans' future at the club.

17.

On 31 May, 2016, Steve Evans and his assistant Paul Raynor were both sacked by Massimo Cellino, becoming the sixth manager to be sacked by Massimo Cellino in two years.

18.

On Evans' sacking Massimo Cellino revealed in a club statement that he felt the club 'needed a different approach in order to achieve targets for the new season'.

19.

Massimo Cellino issued a statement on the club website thanking the fans and said 'if you can survive working with me, you can survive anything'.

20.

However, Massimo Cellino replaced him with Pasquale Marino on 12 October 2017, only a few weeks after the club's takeover by Massimo Cellino.

21.

On 16 January 2018, Massimo Cellino then re-hired Roberto Boscaglia as head coach, following Marino's firing.

22.

Massimo Cellino was arrested in February 2013 with the mayor of Quartu Sant'Elena, Mauro Contini, and the public works commissioner Stefano Lilliu, for attempted embezzlement and fraudulent misrepresentation following an investigation into the construction of the Stadio Is Arenas.

23.

Massimo Cellino was held in custody for over two weeks, in a case which remains unresolved.

24.

Massimo Cellino has a deep suspicion of the number 17, which is considered unlucky in Italian culture.

25.

At Cagliari's stadium Massimo Cellino had the number 17 removed from seats and replaced with 16b.

26.

Massimo Cellino has a dislike for the colour purple, which is considered unlucky in Italy, see Italian superstitions.

27.

On 3 May 2014, at Leeds United's annual end of season awards, Massimo Cellino joined the band The Pigeon Detectives on lead guitar for a cover version of Jimi Hendrix's song "Hey Joe".