Delio Onnis

Delio Onnis (born 24 March 1948) is a former professional football player who played as striker. Born in Italy, his family emigrated to Argentina in his youth and he was nicknamed "El Tano" (the Italian) in Argentina.[1][2][3]

Delio Onnis
Personal information
Date of birth (1948-03-24) 24 March 1948
Place of birth Giuliano di Roma, Italy
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position(s) Forward
Youth career
1963–1967 Almagro
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1966–1968 Almagro 18 (11)
1968–1971 Gimnasia LP 95 (53)
1971–1973 Reims 65 (39)
1973–1980 Monaco 278 (223)
1980–1983 Tours 110 (64)
1983–1986 Toulon 74 (39)
Total 593 (363)
Teams managed
1990–1991 Toulon
1992–1995 Paris
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

With 299 goals, he is the all-time top highest goalscorer in the history of Ligue 1 in France, and was the leagues top scorer on 5 different occasions. He played the majority of his career for Stade de Reims, AS Monaco, Tours FC and Sporting Toulon Var. With Monaco he won one league title and one Coupe de France.[1][2][4]

Career

Onnis was born in Giuliano di Roma in Italy, but moved to Argentina before he was 3 and subsequently gained Argentinian citizenship.[3] Beginning his football career as a youth player for Club Almagro, he made a successful transition to the senior team and subsequently earned a move to Gimnasia La Plata where he played alongside players like Roberto Zywica. He was the star striker for the team that finished third in 1970 which brought him to the attention of scouts from Europe.[1][2]

In 1971 he joined Stade de Reims at the same time as his compatriot Zywica, finishing his first season with 22 goals and his second season with 17.[4] In 1974 the newly promoted AS Monaco signed him and over the next 7 seasons he was their top scorer every year, eventually scoring 223 goals, with 157 in the league.[4][3] In 1976 the club were relegated, but Onnis stayed with them and helped them regain their top flight status for the 1977-78 season that saw them finish as league champions, and the following season win the Coupe de France.[1][2][3]

In 1980, despite playing in one of the best teams in Division 1, he signed for newly promoted and inexperienced team FC Tours, where he was twice again Division 1 leading goalscorer. In 1983 Tours were relegated, and as a result he joined SC Toulon, where he finished his career in 1986.[1][2][4]

International career

Onnis was never called up for Argentina which had a policy of favouring players who remained in the domestic league, and throughout the 70's and 80's was behind in the pecking order Argentinian compatriots such as Carlos Bianchi and Mario Kempes, Leopoldo Luque.

Scoring titles

Carlos Bianchi had been signed as his replacement at Reims in 1973–74. Bianchi went on to win five scoring titles over the next six seasons, including four back-to-back between 1975 and 1979, Onnis breaking Bianchi's run in 1974–75. Following Bianchi's return to Argentina in 1980, Onnis went on to win four back-to-back scoring titles of his own, leaving them with five apiece and meaning that in 11 seasons between 1973–74 and 1983–84 they won five scoring titles each with only Vahid Halilhodžić win in 1982 for FC Nantes breaking their dominance.[lower-alpha 1]

Honours
Monaco
Individual
Records
  • Ligue 1 all-time highest goalscorer: 299 goals

References
  1. "FRENCH FOOTBALL'S GREATEST EVER STRIKER: DELIO ONNIS". frenchfootballweekly.com. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  2. Rincon, Jaime (8 December 2009). "Delio Onnis, the DNA of the goal". Marca.com. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  3. "Happy birthday Delio Onnis". asmonaco.com. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  4. "Delio Onnis". lequipe.fr. Retrieved 19 January 2020.

Notes
  1. Twice the title was shared. In the first instance with Erwin Kostedde in 1979–80, and then with Patrice Garande in 1983–84
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