Vanni Sartini

Vanni Sartini (born 14 November 1976) is an Italian professional football coach, who is the head coach of Canadian Premier League club Halifax Wanderers FC.

Early life Sartini was born in Florence, Italy, to a teenage couple - both his parents were 17 at the time of his birth.

He went on to feature regularly in the Italian amateur leagues, He spent three seasons there, before taking the same role at fellow amateur club Luco di Mugello. coaching formation, goalkeeping training and athletic training. At the same time, he worked in the opposition analysis department for the Italian under-17, under-19 and under-21 national teams. in 2016 Sartini was offered a job by the United States Soccer Federation, where he led the U.S. Soccer Pro License Coaching Course until 2018.

On 27 August 2021, Sartini took over as interim coach of the Whitecaps' first team, after the sacking of Marc Dos Santos. On 29 August, Sartini took charge for the first time as Whitecaps' head coach in their league match against Real Salt Lake, which ended in a 4–1 victory at BC Place. although the team eventually lost to Sporting Kansas City in the first round.

On 30 November 2021, Whitecaps announced that Sartini would officially become the club's new head coach, having signed a contract until the 2023 season.

On 26 July 2022, the Italian manager won the first trophy of his career as Whitecaps won the Canadian Championship, following a 5–3 win (on aggregate) over Toronto FC after a penalty shoot-out in the final match.

On 8 June 2023, Sartini guided the Canadian team to their second Canadian Championship title in a row, thanks to a 2–1 win over CF Montréal in the final match. On 5 November, during an MLS Cup playoff game against Los Angeles FC, Sartini received his first red card in Major League Soccer for verbally abusing referee Tim Ford in the stoppage time of the second half; moments earlier, Ford had accidentally collided with a Whitecaps player, preventing them from defending a counter-attack from the opponents that ended up in a goal, which was later overturned due to a delayed offside decision.

On 26 September 2024, Sartini led the Whitecaps to the victory of their third consecutive Canadian Championship title, following a 4–2 win on penalties over Toronto FC in the final match. On 25 November, the club announced that they had parted ways with Sartini at the end of the 2024 season: over his time in Vancouver, he collected an overall record of 57 wins, 51 losses and 39 draws across all competitions, leading the club to qualify for the MLS Playoffs in three seasons and win three consecutive Canadian Championships.

Halifax Wanderers FC On 10 December 2025, Sartini was appointed as both head coach and general manager of Canadian Premier League side Halifax Wanderers FC.

Manager profile

"We had a game in two days. If I step into the locker room and act like I’m the boss, everyone’s going to say, 'Who the f**k are you?' So, I called a group of players, the leaders, who are respected, and asked them: 'Tell me, what is the situation? Tell me.' I wanted them to know that we’re all on the same page. The players are the leaders." — Vanni Sartini, breaking down his approach to team talk in the wake of his first game in charge of Vancouver Whitecaps FC in August 2021. He cited his interest in languages and common knowledge as the main reason behind his decision to learn English as a kid, saying, "I like to travel, and I was the only one with my friends that was an English speaker, so I was always the one who spoke with everyone. I have the urge to know things I don't know."