Denis Zanko
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Denis Zanko | ||
| Date of birth | 13 April 1964 | ||
| Place of birth | Vannes, France | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
- | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1980–1984 | Laval | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1985 | Laval | 27 | (2) |
| 1985–1986 | Racing Paris | 26 | (0) |
| 1986–1988 | Tours | 58 | (0) |
| 1988–1991 | Dunkerque | 87 | (1) |
| 1991–1995 | Valence | 108 | (2) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1999–2000 | Valence | ||
| 2009–2011 | Le Mans B | ||
| 2011–2013 | Le Mans | ||
| 2014–2016 | Laval | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Denis Zanko (born 13 April 1964) is a French former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Ligue 2 side Laval. He made over 250 league appearances for five different clubs during his playing career before becoming a coach in 1995. He went on to manage Valence and Le Mans B, and was appointed first-team manager at Le Mans in December 2011.
Born in Vannes, Zanko started his playing career with Laval, and made his debut for the reserve team in the 1980–81 season. He played his first senior match for the club four years later and went on to score 2 goals in 27 Division 1 matches during the 1984–85 campaign. In the summer of 1985, Zanko joined Division 2 side Racing Paris, where he made 26 first-team appearances. At Racing he was a part of the team that won the Division 2 Group B in 1986. In the summer of that year he switched clubs again, signing for Tours. Zanko spent two seasons with the club, during which he played 58 league matches.
In 1988, Zanko transferred to Division 2 Group A side Dunkerque. He made a total of 37 league and cup appearances during his first season at the club, and scored his first goal for Dunkerque in the 3–1 away win over Le Mans on 22 April 1989. Zanko spent two more years with the team, playing in a further 53 league matches. He moved to Division 3 outfit Valence in the summer of 1991, and scored once in 30 appearances as the side won promotion to Division 2 at the end of the 1991–92 season. The following season, he played 28 matches, again scoring once, as the team finished fifth in their group to secure their place in the new nationwide Ligue 2. Zanko played two more seasons with Valence, making a total of 50 league appearances.
Following his retirement from playing in 1995, Zanko joined the coaching staff at Valence. He spent four years as a coach before being appointed as manager in 1999 following the departure of Bruno Metsu. However, the team finished second-bottom of the division after winning only 6 of their 38 matches, and was subsequently relegated to the Championnat National. Zanko left Valence at the end of the 1999–2000 season. He then spent a year out of football before becoming a coach at Laval, where he had started his playing career, in 2001. Zanko went on to spend seven seasons on the staff at Laval, before being hired as a youth-team coach by Le Mans in June 2008.
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