Ali Dia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ali Dia | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ali Dia | |
| Date of birth | 20 August 1965 | |
| Place of birth | Dakar, Senegal | |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1988-1989 1989-1990 1990-1991 1991-1992 1996 1996–1997 |
Beauvais Dijon La Rochelle Saint-Quentin Blyth Spartans Southampton Gateshead |
1 (0) 8 (2) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Ali Dia (born Dakar, 20 August 1965 in Dakar, Senegal) is a former amateur Senegalese footballer who once played for English FA Premier League club Southampton, after falsely claiming to be a Senegalese international.
After a playing career at the lower levels in France and Germany, and having already had failed trials at Port Vale, Gillingham and Bournemouth, before playing at semi-pro club Blyth Spartans, Dia was signed by Southampton manager Graeme Souness in 1996, after Souness received a phone call purporting to be from Liberian international and former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah. "Weah" told Souness that Dia was his cousin, had played for Paris Saint-Germain and had played 13 times for his country. In actual fact, none of this was true, and the phone call was from Dia's agent.[1] Nonetheless, Souness was convinced, and signed Dia on a one-month contract.
Dia played just one game for Southampton, in the number 33 shirt, against Leeds United on November 23, 1996; he had originally been scheduled to play in a reserve friendly against Arsenal, but the match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch. In the match against Leeds, he came on as a substitute for Matthew Le Tissier after 32 minutes but his performance was spectacularly below Premier League quality. He was later substituted (by Ken Monkou) after playing for 53 minutes; Leeds won the match 2–0.
Dia was released by Southampton two weeks into his contract. He briefly played for non-league Gateshead, before leaving in February 1997. His whereabouts since then are unknown among reliable sources. [1]
He has achieved a notorious status amongst English football fans for his lack of ability, and is regularly featured in lists of bad players or bad transfers.[2][3] He was named at #1 in a list of "The 50 worst footballers", by newspaper The Times.[4]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Ali Dia - Southampton. laughfc.co.uk.
- ^ The 10 worst foreign signings of all time. The Observer (2000-08-06).
- ^ Premiership's Top 10 Foreign Flops. whoateallthepies.tv.
- ^ The 50 worst footballers. The Times (2007-07-04). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
[edit] References
Barreaud, Marc (1998). Dictionnaire des footballeurs étrangers du championnat professionnel français (1932-1997). L'Harmattan, Paris. ISBN 2-7384-6608-7.
