Igor Protti

Italian former professional footballer (born 1967)

Igor Protti (born 24 September 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who currently works as a general manager for Livorno. Throughout his playing career, he made a name for himself as a prolific and opportunistic striker, who mainly operated in the penalty area. Protti started his career with his hometown club Rimini in 1983; although he played for several Italian club sides throughout his career, including Lazio and Napoli, he is mostly remembered for his time with Livorno, where he established himself as a legendary figure in the club's history during his second spell with the side, and eventually remained with the team until his retirement. Along with Dario Hübner, Protti is the only player to have won the top scoring titles in Serie A, Serie B, and Serie C1; he is also the only Serie A top scorer to have suffered relegation with his club (Bari, at the time).

Protti spent the majority of his early career playing for teams in lower divisions; he made his career debut in Serie C1 at the age of 16, with his home town club Rimini, on 27 May 1984. After two seasons with the club, he later moved on to Livorno in 1985, for three seasons. After a season period with Virescit Bergamo, he was acquired by Messina in 1989, and he became an important figure with the club, making his Serie B debut with Messina, and scoring 31 goals over three seasons. In 1992, he moved to Bari, and after two seasons in Serie B, he helped his team to achieve Serie A promotion. During the 1994–95 season, he scored his first goal in Serie A against Napoli, as well as his first ever hat trick, against Lazio. despite his team, Bari, being relegated. scoring 11 goals during his first season with the club. Protti's number 10 was then retired by the club. He has also been given the freedom of the city of Livorno in 2007. During the awarding ceremony, he asked the #10 jersey not to be retired any longer in order to "give anybody back the dream to dress it one day". The number was to be reassigned starting from the 2007–08 season, with Francesco Tavano wearing the number 10 shirt.

In June 2015, Protti was hired as the new director of football of Tuttocuoio, with former Livorno teammate Cristiano Lucarelli as head coach. They were both relieved from their roles in April 2016. In June 2016, Protti returned to Livorno as a "club manager". He left Livorno by the end of the 2018–19 season. He returned to work with Livorno as a "club manager" in August 2021, following the club's exclusion from Serie D and successive admission to Eccellenza under a new property. In July 2022, Protti was promoted as general manager.