David Diplacido

David Diplacido
Personal information
Full nameDavid Diplacido
Date of birthMay 18, 1977
Place of birthNewmarket, Canada
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing positionMidfielder
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1998-2005Toronto Lynx182(7)
2002→Mississauga Olympians (loan)4(2)
2005Montreal Impact11(0)
2006Toronto Lynx24(0)
2007North York Astros17(0)
2008Italia Shooters5(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of December 27, 2014.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of n/a

David Diplacido (born May 18, 1977, in Newmarket, Ontario) is a former soccer player who played the majority of his career with the Toronto Lynx where he is currently the club's all-time leader in club appearances. He had a short stint with the Montreal Impact winning a Regular Season Championship and a Voyageurs Cup title with the club. In the later half of his career he played in the Canadian Soccer League.

Playing career

In the summer of 1998 he signed with the Toronto Lynx making his debut on May 2, 1998 against Long Island Rough Riders, and was awarded the Lynx Public Relations Award. In 1999, Peter Pinizzotto gave him a starting role in the midfield to put more creativity in the centre of the field. Later on he developed into a skilled attacking midfielder with great passing vision which helped the Lynx make the playoffs in 2000 eliminating teams like Long Island Rough Riders, and Richmond Kickers, but the Lynx playoff run came to an end in the Eastern Conference Final against the Rochester Raging Rhinos in a 2-1 loss on aggregate. In 2001 he scored two goals and recorded two assists but the Lynx failed to reach the playoff stage, as they had done the previous season, while at the end of the season he was awarded the Lynx Fan Favourite Award.[1]

On June 9, 2002 he played his 100th game with the club. He formed a strong partnership with rookie Nikola Budalić in the midfield both their goals almost allowed the Lynx to clinch a playoff berth which they barely missed out on. Once the 2002 A-league season came to a conclusion, Diplacido was loaned to the Mississauga Olympians of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. He made his debut on September 11, 2002 in a Open Canada Cup match against the Toronto Croatia.[2] He recorded his first goal for Mississauga in 4-3 victory over the Vaughan Sun Devils on October 4, 2002.[3] He helped the Olympians secure a playoff berth by finishing second in the Western Conference, but unfortunately where defeated by the North York Astros in a wild card match.[4]

In 2003, and 2004 the Lynx struggled and failed to make the playoffs again. It was announced on April 19, 2005 the re-signing of Diplacido for the 2005 season.[5] Throughout the season the Lynx performed poorly and the team was stuck at the bottom of the table for the majority of the year, and eventually finished with a record of 3 wins, 17 losses, and 8 ties the worst performance in league and club history and a 12th place finish. On August 1, 2005 he was transferred to the Montreal Impact along with Charles Gbeke in order to assist the Impacts' offence, which lost key players to European teams.[6] He played a key role in the midfield helping the Impact to a 15-game undefeated streak setting a new league record, while helping the team clinch the Regular Season title and claiming the Voyageurs Cup, but the Impact failed to defend their 2004 League title.

In the summer of 2006 with the return of head coach Duncan Wilde, Diplacido returned to Toronto with his signing announced in a press conference on April 18, 2006.[7] On August 18, 2006 he was honored as the first player to reach 200 games for the Toronto Lynx.[8] In the 2006 season he assisted the Lynx to a 10 game undefeated streak at home, and reached the Open Canada Cup finals match, but were defeated by Ottawa St. Anthony Italia in a 2-0 loss.[9] Once the season came to a conclusion the Lynx franchise dropped two divisions down to the PDL, which resulted in Diplacido being released from his contract along with all the other professional senior players. He left the Lynx as their all-time leader in games played for the club with 206 matches since he joined in 1998. On June 27, 2007 he joined the North York Astros of the Canadian Soccer League. He made his debut on June 7 in exhibition game against the Mexico U-20.[10] He assisted the Astros by clinching a playoff berth by finishing third in the National Division, but where eliminated by eventual champions the Toronto Croatia.

In 2008, Diplacido signed with the Italia Shooters, and scored a goal in his first match with the club against Portugal FC on September 5, 2008.[11] Diplacido helped the Shooters win their second International Division title.[12] In the playoff run he contributed by a victory over the Brampton Lions in the quarterfinals.[13] But unfortunately Italia were defeated by eventual champions Serbian White Eagles in the semi-final match.[14]

Honors

Montreal Impact

Italia Shooters

References

  1. ↑ THE LYNX HONOUR THEIR FINEST PLAYERS OF THE 2001 SEASON
  2. ↑ Glover, Robin (September 11, 2002). "Result of the Wednesday September 11th, 2002 CPSL game between Toronto Croatia and Mississauga Olympians played at Memorial Park in Streetsville at 8:00pm. This was the first game of the two leg quarterfinal of the League Cup.". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  3. ↑ Glover, Robin (October 4, 2002). "Result of the Friday October 4th, 2002 CPSL game from Vaughan Sun Devils and Mississauga Olympians played at Dufferin District at 8:00pm.". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  4. ↑ Glover, Robin (October 18, 2002). "Result of the Friday October 18th, 2002 CPSL Wild Card game to determine semi-finalists for the Rogers Cup between North York Astros and Mississauga Olympians.". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  5. ↑ Glover, Robin (April 19, 2005). "Details from the Toronto Lynx press conference of Tuesday April 19th, 2005 held at the Travelodge Hotel Dixie in Toronto at 11:00am. (by Rocket Robin)". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  6. ↑ DiPlacido and Gbeke join Impact
  7. ↑ Glover, Robin (April 18, 2006). "April 18, 2006 USL Toronto Lynx press conference (by Rocket Robin)". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  8. ↑ ARISTODEMO AND DIPLACIDO TO BE HONOURED
  9. ↑ Glover, Robin (September 24, 2006). "Result of the Sunday September 24, 2006 Open Canada Cup Final between Toronto Lynx and Ottawa St Anthony’s Italia played at Esther Shiner in North York at 5:00pm.". Rocket Robin's home page.
  10. ↑ CSL exhibition game between North York Astros and the Mexico U-20s team
  11. ↑ CSL game between Portugal FC and Italia Shooters
  12. ↑ Wiredo hat-trick drives Italia Shooters to International Division title
  13. ↑ THE SCORERS ON FRIDAY...
  14. ↑ Serbian Eagles defeated Italia Shooters 3-0 in the first semi-final on Friday to earn a berth in the final for the third year in succession

External links