Former Birmingham City manager and Chelsea legend has bizarre role with Team Europe in Ryder Cup

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The Ryder Cup starts this Friday, as Team Europe face the USA in Farmingdale, New York, looking to defend their crown from 2023.

While it may seem strange to see a connection between golf’s ultimate team competition and the Championship, one familiar face to the EFL will be on site at the Bethpage Black Course this weekend.

Gianfranco Zola made his name on the pitch with Chelsea throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, and following his retirement, he has spent time with two second tier clubs in the form of Birmingham City and Watford.

However, rather strangely, the iconic Italian will now take part in this year’s Ryder Cup, but perhaps not in a way that would be immediately obvious.

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Gianfranco Zola takes on role of buggy driver at Ryder Cup

While Zola is a keen golfer himself, he will not be taking part in the competition as a player, but he will be spotted frequently in the USA from Friday to Sunday.

The former Birmingham boss will be the buggy driver for Team Europe vice-captain Francesco Molinari, who hails from Turin in Italy.

Zola has been in the team’s official photos, and he will spend his weekend driving Molinari from hole-to-hole as Europe look to retain the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2014.

Luke Donald is the captain once again, while the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland will be searching for victory among others.

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Gianfranco Zola’s time at Birmingham City did not go to plan

It’s been eight years since Zola was last the head coach of a club, and that was Birmingham. However, he will still be looking to forget his time at St. Andrew’s.

While Birmingham won a record-breaking promotion to the Championship last season, back in the 2016/17 campaign, their form fell apart when the Italian arrived in the West Midlands.

Gary Rowett was sacked by the board earlier in the 2016/17 season, despite having the Blues fighting for a play-off spot, and he was replaced by Zola. However, the club struggled for results in the remaining months as the threat of relegation grew.

Zola won just two of his 24 league games in charge, losing 14 and drawing only eight, before he resigned after gameweek 43.

Nowadays, there is much more positivity around St. Andrew’s. Chris Davies has the backing of owner Tom Wagner, and Birmingham will be looking for victory against Coventry City on Saturday.