Alessandro Bonan

Alessandro Bonan has spent nearly three decades shaping how Italian audiences watch football, and he is still one of the most recognisable voices on Sky Sport. In the summer of 2012, he even stepped behind the microphone as a recording artist, writing and performing ‘Melioni di melioni’, the theme song for the summer edition of Speciale Calciomercato, which climbed into the upper reaches of the iTunes download chart. In 2013 he added novelist to his résumé with the noir debut ‘Anatomia di una voce’, published by Cairo Editore.

Born in Pistoia on 10 April 1964, Bonan graduated in political science from the Cesare Alfieri faculty of the University of Florence and became a professional journalist in 1999. His television career began at the Florentine private station Rete 37, where he hosted ‘La tribuna’ covering Fiorentina and Pistoiese. He moved to the pay-TV channel TELE+ in 1996, fronting sports programmes such as ‘Zona campionato’.

When TELE+ merged into Sky Italia in July 2003, Bonan became one of the flagship faces of Sky Sport. He led ‘Fuori Zona’ and ‘Dieci’ alongside comedian Dario Vergassola, co-hosted ‘Sky Calcio Mondiale’ with Ilaria D’Amico during the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and from 2008 anchored ‘Speciale Calciomercato’ with Gianluca Di Marzio. From 2010 he helmed ‘Sky in campo’, analysing Serie A pre-match and post-match coverage.

His range extends beyond Sky: from October 2012 he co-hosted ‘Cielo che gol!’ with Simona Ventura on the free channel Cielo, later fronting its evening edition ‘Stop & Gol’, and he has presented the Europa League special on TV8. In 2015 he hosted an episode of Calciomercato on Sky Sports 1 featuring the band Unquiet Nights, discussing George Best and modern football. It is this blend of authority, wit and versatility that makes him a sought-after host for live broadcasts, panels and corporate events.