# Tony Cargnelli

Anton Cargnelli (1 February 1889 – 27 June 1974) most commonly known as Tony Cargnelli, was an Austrian football player and manager.
Very little is known about his time as a player, he is most famous for managing several top clubs in Italian football.

## Club career

Anton "Tony" Cargnelli was born on 1 February 1889 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary from an Italian father and Austrian mother. He started playing junior level football at Rennweger SV, starting his senior career at in 1906 at Wiener AC. In 1907 he went at Germania Schwechat for three years, afterwards moving at Wiener AF with whom he won the 1913–14 title. In an article from the Sport Tagblatt newspaper, Tony Cargnelli's style of play was described as:"Old football knowers still remember the WAC (n.r. - Wiener AC club) and WAF (n.r. - Wiener FC club, or AF Vienna) player, Toni Cargnelli. Cargnelli was a fighter and a technical player. He played almost every position because he was among the few footballers who understood football and therefore did not have to rely on strength. In 1917 he retired as a player and tried to put into practice the knowledge he had acquired on the field as a coach".

## International career

Tony Cargnelli made one appearance at international level for Austria, playing all the minutes on 30 May 1909 in a friendly which ended 1–1 with rivals Hungary.

## Managerial career

Tony Cargnelli started coaching in 1920 at Germania Schwechat, moving one year later in Germany where in the following three years he coached VfL Köln, SC Idar-Oberstein and in July 2023 he became the first coach of Borussia Dortmund where he stayed until December. He then returned to Austria for half of year to coach Admira Wien then made a comeback to Germany at VfB Mühlburg.
In 1926, Cargnelli went to coach in Romania, being hired by CA Timișoara but also worked as a volunteer for Politehnica Timișoara, managing the clubs including when they played against each other, after Politehnica's 3–0 win over CA from 1927 in the Regional championship, the Universul newspaper wrote: "The people of Timișoara had the opportunity to see a beautiful game between two teams that each in their own way showed what they owed to the joint coach Cargnelli". In 1927 he finished the Regional championship with CA on the fifth place and with Politehnica on the second place with 23 points, just one below first place Chinezul Timișoara who qualified to the national championship. After he ended his spell in Romania, an article from the Sport Tagblatt newspaper described Tony Cargnelli's managing style:"He acquired his theoretical knowledge at the German University, being aware that it is not enough to show the players how to play the ball, but to be able to appreciate how much physical effort he can demand of each player. Physical training is not a mechanical thing, but must be worked on individually, and that is possible only if you have the necessary knowledge".
In 1927 he went to coach in Italy, firstly at Torino with whom he won the 1927–28 title, having the best offence of the championship with 111 goals scored, players Adolfo Baloncieri with 35 goals and Julio Libonatti with 31, being the top-goalscorers of the league. In the following season he finished the Group A of the league on the first place with six points in front of AC Milan, reaching the final of the championship which was played in three legs and lost to Bologna.
Cargnelli's next move was to sign with Palermo in Serie B, then going at Serie C side Foggia which he helped promote to the second league in the 1932–33 season. In the 1933–34 Serie B edition Cargnelli coached Bari, being close to the first promotion of the club to Serie A but lost the promotion final with Sampierdarenese Genova.
In 1935, Cargnelli returned to Torino, managing to save the team from relegation and to win the Coppa Italia after a 5–1 win over Alessandria in the final. In 1936, he returned for a second spell at Bari, which he kept for two years in Serie A. In 1938 Cargnelli arrived at Ambrosiana-Inter where he worked with international forwards Giuseppe Meazza, Pietro Ferraris and Annibale Frossi, helping the club win for the first time in its history the Coppa Italia in the 1938–39 edition, getting pass Napoli, Livorno and A.S. Roma in the campaign, defeating with 2–1 Novara in the final. In the following season he won with Ambrosiana-Inter the league title, having three points above Bologna. After a third spell at Torino from 1940 until 1942, he went at Liguria and Cuneo, then in 1946 he arrived at Lazio Roma which he led for two seasons. In the following years he worked at Lucchese Libertas, Bologna and Alessandria, retiring at age 62 after leading the latter in the 1950–51 Serie C season.

## Death

Tony Cargnelli died on 27 June 1974 at age 85.

## Honours
### Player

Wiener AF
* 1. Klasse: 1913–14

### Manager

Torino
* Divisione Nazionale: 1927–28, runner-up 1928–29
* Coppa Italia: 1935–36
Foggia
* Serie C: 1932–33
Ambrosiana-Inter
* Serie A: 1939–40
* Coppa Italia: 1938–39