Cod Almighty | Article

by Nicolino Tobia

25 April 2006

Two weeks ago Cod Almighty's fashionwear department received an email - an email from Italy. The email was an order from a fan, but not a fan of Grimsby Town - a fan of Ivano Bonetti. Nicolino Tobia lives in Brescia, the town of Ivano's birth, with his wife, Lucia. They're huge admirers of the ex-Torino, Sampdoria, Juventus and Town midfielder, and when they discovered our classy Italian blue tribute to their idol they just had to have a couple.

It turns out that the ex-Mariner is part of Gigi Maifredi's Serie A team. Maifredi was a renowned football coach, managing Juve while Bonetti was a player there in the early 1990s, battling for a starting place with Michel Platini. In 2002 Maifredi abandoned top-level management to move across to television. He joined the staff team of the popular Sunday show Quelli che il Calcio ("Those who Football") and there he remains. He manages a small squad of former players - "Maifredi's team" - who re-enact for the show the key goals from the weekend's Serie A action (imagine Baddiel and Skinner's 'Phoenix from the Flames' performed on a weekly basis by a team of ex-pros).

Nicola told us that he and Lucia go along regularly to watch Maifredi's team - so we thought we'd ask him to have a few words with Ivano while they were there.

A week last Sunday I approached Ivano and requested an interview for Cod Almighty, a Grimsby Town fans' website where I had found T-shirts bearing his image for sale. He was more than willing to oblige but, because of all the goals that had just been scored in Serie A, he had to postpone the interview until this weekend just gone. So as I approach Ivano a week later he remembers me, and asks me to sit patiently until he has enough time to spend a decent amount of it with me.

After a brief delay I start by wishing him a big hello from all his fans back in Grimsby and also thank him gratefully on behalf of Cod Almighty for granting them (and me) the time for this interview for all Grimsby supporters everywhere. But is he surprised to be asked, after all this time? "I am very happy. I too have not forgotten them, but I am surprised that the Grimsby fans have contacted me for this interview."

As my wife and I have already received our Ivano T-shirts, we have taken them along for the man himself to see. "That's unbelievable! Beautiful. Can I try it on? The blue is just like the blue of Italy. I'll wear it for sure." To see Ivano with the Ivano T-shirt is strange, but it seems to please him. "The Grimsby fans have always loved me and I want to wear this T-shirt immediately, for them!"

As Ivano puts on the T-shirt several people come over to ask about it, and he has to spend some time explaining where the shirt has come from. Only then can we get down to the interview proper.

I ask him to speak to us about the goal for which Grimsby fans remember him best. "Which goal? Oh, I understand. That one against West Brom. It was very important for me, but also for my fans, as it represented a change. That goal was also important for the club."

But what about the rest of his short time at Grimsby Town? How was that? "Grimsby was a very important period in my life. After that first experience, I knew international football better. I was able to play like at Juventus: I had freedom to move and my team-mates wanted to give me the ball." I get the sense that Ivano is fondly remembering a time when he vastly enjoyed his football. "These years in the UK I learned many things. I only stayed a few months with Grimsby but I had many good ideas for the squad." Was Grimsby the planting of the acorn of his management career, perhaps?

I change the subject slightly, bringing up the BBC Cult Heroes vote, in which Ivano featured alongside Clive Mendonca and John McDermott. "Mendonca and McDermott are true legends for Grimsby," he says. "They played for a long time for the club. In comparison I played a very short time, as you know. As such eight per cent is very good." He again seems surprised that the Grimsby fans remember him so affectionately. "In Italy all that matters to the players is the state of the pitch, but in England the happiness of the fans is top priority. And for me the Grimsby people are fantastic." And the girls? "I truly do not understand how they resist that cold without stockings!" Lasting memories indeed.

But what about now? What pays the bills at present? "I play in the Maifredi Serie A team where we re-enact the goals from the games in Serie A in Italy. You can see us on RAI2 on Italian TV every Sunday at 3pm." It seems to me that Ivano is still convinced he can one day become a manager or a coach of an Italian team. Perhaps one day he will manage an Italian side against Grimsby Town.

Our time is up and Ivano has to leave, but before he departs he offers some final words. "Many thanks to Cod Almighty for commemorating me with this T-shirt and for this interview. To my fans I say: many thanks. This T-shirt - given to me by Lucia, my number one fan in Italy - is also dedicated to you all."

And the final words from me: many, many thanks for this opportunity to interview Ivano, even if the interview is short. Thank you from Nicolino and Lucia - Ivano's biggest fans in Italy!

Many thanks, likewise, to Nicolino and Lucia from Cod Almighty; we're very grateful indeed (and sorry if anything has gone amiss in the editing). Anyone who'd like to commemorate Ivano with a T-shirt