Alessandro Zarrelli

Alessandro Zarrelli

Zarrelli (left) playing during the 2013-14 season.
Personal information
Full name	Alessandro Zarrelli
Date of birth	(1984-09-05) 5 September 1984
Place of birth	Rivoli, Italy
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Selkirk
Number	19
Youth career
2002–2004	A.C.D. Asti
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2005	Lisburn Distillery	4	(0)
2008–2009	Queens Park	15	(1)
2009–2010	Irvine Meadow	10	(0)
2010–2011	Northwich Victoria	9	(0)
2011	Hucknall Town	13	(0)
2012	Lincoln Moorlands Railway	17	(0)
2012	Diss Town	9	(0)
2013	Downham Town	12	(0)
2013	Long Melford	8	(0)
2013–2014	Ware	3	(0)
2014	Erith & Belvedere	7	(0)
2014	Eastbourne Town	6	(0)
2014	Sheppey United	3	(0)
2014–	Selkirk	17	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13th April 2015. † Appearances (Goals).

Alessandro Zarrelli¹ (born 5 September 1984), sometimes referred to as Alex Zarrelli, is an Italian semi-professional footballer and Academy football coach, who plays as a defensive midfielder for Scottish Lowland League side Selkirk.

He is also known in the United Kingdom as the former confidence trickster who sent fake faxes to football clubs in Wales and Northern Ireland during the 2004–05 season posing as a make believe Italian football official who was offering a young professional footballer on a cultural exchange from the Italian Football Association. Upon accepting the offer, the player they would receive instead would be Zarrelli, a young footballer who had gone through the youth system at A.C.D. Asti. Having managed to secure a short deal with Lisburn Distillery, he failed to impress both Bangor City and Connah's Quay Nomads despite spending time training with both clubs, and after both clubs sent out an alert over the "mystery Italian football star"^[1] in May 2006, he was eventually exposed by the Sky TV documentary "Superfakes".^[2]

Since then, Zarrelli has forged a career as a semi-professional footballer in Scotland and England, has graduated in Sport at Leeds Metropolitan University and now coaches youngsters at academy level. He has previously played for Lisburn Distillery, Queens Park, Irvine Meadow, Northwich Victoria, Hucknall Town, Lincoln Moorlands Railway, Diss Town, Downham Town, Long Melford, Ware, Erith & Belvedere, Eastbourne Town and Sheppey United.

Controversy

During the 2004–05 season, Alessandro Zarrelli, a young footballer from Turin in Italy, began sending fake letters and faxes to clubs in Northern Ireland and Wales posing as an up-and-coming young professional footballer, who had been offered to clubs on a cultural exchange by the Italian Football Federation. The letter was sent by an Italian Executive named "Matteo Colobase" when in reality Colobase did not exist and it was Zarrelli himself. The letter promised the clubs a young Italian footballer who had previously played at youth level for clubs such as Sheffield Wednesday, Rangers^[3] and A.C.D. Asti. The first club he contacted was in January 2005, when he approached IFA Premiership side Lisburn Distillery, who eventually signed the player on a short-term deal,^[4] he only appeared for a handful of matches before being released later on that season due to a "breach of club rules". He then contacted Welsh Premier League side Bangor City in July 2005, who were unaware of his previous exploits in Northern Ireland, but after staying with the club 10 days, manager Peter Davenport contacted a friend who worked for Zarrelli's supposed former club Sheffield Wednesday. Davenport's friend said that Wednesday only had him at the Club for about a month as a trainee; a few months later, Glasgow Rangers also confirmed that Zarrelli had been at Murray Park for 6-7 weeks in 2001, also as a trainee in their Academy. Most of the problems started during his time at Bangor, when he requested a wage of £200 a week despite initially stating in one of his letters that his wages would be supplied by the FIGC.^[5]

Davenport went on to add, "He was only here for about a week to 10 days. In that time, I checked a bit into his background and it didn't add up. He arrived here with a broken nose, so he never actually played for Bangor. He just took part in one warm-up session. He wasn't anything special." Whilst staying with the club, he was put up in the town's Regency Hotel, in which upon his departure, he failed to settle his bill. Soon after, he moved on to fellow Welsh club Connah's Quay Nomads where his stay was only a couple of days after the club had been quick to check his credentials, however in similar circumstances to that of his stay he had been put up in a hotel paid for by Nomads chairman John Gray.

Shortly afterwards, Zarrelli allegedly approached Welsh League and Cup champions TNS who had just been defeated in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League by Liverpool, this time his alleged target club didn't fall for the trick.^[5] TNS secretary Ian Williams said, "It's important that clubs look closely at any player which approaches them - we didn't pursue it, we did our homework beforehand."^[1]

He was eventually exposed by the Sky TV show "Superfakes" ^[3] which covered Zarrelli's story as their main feature, but also mentioned the likes of Ali Dia who had in similar circumstances, managed to infiltrate Premier League side Southampton.^[6] The documentary team were able to track the fax number to a shop in Asti, Italy. The crew then tracked him to London, where they staged a fake meeting posing as football scouts, Zarrelli showed up and began to talk for twenty minutes, before the crew sprung their surprise upon him. Zarrelli admitted all before later phoning the TV's presenters to sarcastically thanking them for making him famous.

Football career

Zarrelli moved over the border to Scotland in 2006, and played with Queens Park,^[7] and Irvine Meadow. He then moved back to England in 2010, to play with Northwich Victoria^[8] Hucknall Town^[9] and Lincoln Moorlands Railway.^[10] In September 2012, he signed as a semi-professional footballer for Diss Town and days after his signature, club chairman Dicky Upson said that "he will be judged on his footballing ability", adding, "We are aware of what happened in the past, which was several years ago. [The programme] is still on YouTube and I have seen it. I have met and spoken with Alex and told him he will be judged on his footballing ability and nothing else at our club".^[11] In February 2013, he signed for Downham Town.^[2]

Downham boss Pete Brassett went on to say about his new signing, "When I first met Alex he was very honest. He told me all about what has happened in the past. We will move forward and it doesn’t really affect me massively. The past is the past - without a doubt he’s trying to get his life back on track. Some people would have buried their head in the sand but he’s come through it, picked himself back up again, and I respect him for that. He deserves a chance.”^[2] In August 2013, Zarrelli joined Long Melford^[12] where after a decent start and some positive performances he managed to earn a starting place in most of the matches played. That solid start earned him a short term move to Ware, before transferring to Erith & Belvedere in January 2014 until the end of the season, where personal circumstances limited his appearances for the club, which eventually ended up being relegated.^[13] Zarrelli joined Eastbourne Town in June 2014, where he signed a short term deal until September. Once the deal expired he moved to Sheppey United, where again injuries depleted the number of games he played. At the time of leaving the Club Zarrelli had made three appearances. In October Zarrelli got a job working in Edinburgh, and was close to join Coldstream, but on October the 24th 2014 he went on to sign for Selkirk FC in the Scottish Lowland League where he currently plays.

Personal life

Zarrelli now lives in Edinburgh.^[2] He graduated in Sport Development at Leeds Metropolitan University and is now doing an MSc in Sports Coaching whilst working at a Professional Football Club, coaching youngsters in their Academy. He has obtained several coaching badges with both the SFA and the FA and currently is a Licensed Coach.

Notes

1. ^ Zarrelli is often incorrectly named in most sources as "Alessandro Zarelli".

See also

• Ali Dia

References

External links

• Alessandro Zarrelli on Twitter