Paolo Di Canio - Career

Career

Di Canio was born in Rome, in the district of Quarticciolo a working-class area populated by Roma fans, Di Canio was nevertheless drawn to Lazio. As a small boy, he was addicted to Cola and similar drinks and called Palloca, a slang term meaning lard-ball. He was fat, and knock-kneed, and needed to wear orthopedic shoes - "But I never hid. My response was to exercise; to try to become the kind of person I am." He signed for Lazio in 1985 and remained there until 1990, when he was sold to another of Italy's biggest clubs, Juventus. He left Juventus "after an animated exchange with then manager Giovanni Trapattoni" and spent the 1993-94 season with Napoli. Two seasons followed at Milan, culminating in a row with Fabio Capello. In 1996 he joined Celtic in Scotland, and his successful season in Glasgow (scoring 15 goals in 37 appearances) saw him make a move to the English Premiership as he joined Sheffield Wednesday for a sum of around £4.2 million. Whilst in Sheffield, Di Canio was the club's leading goal scorer for the 1997–98 season with 14 goals and he became a favourite of the fans.

In England, Di Canio is infamous for an incident on the pitch in September 1998, when he pushed referee Paul Alcock to the ground after being sent off while playing for Sheffield Wednesday against Arsenal at Hillsborough, which resulted in an extended ban of 11 matches and him being fined £10,000.

In January 1999, Di Canio signed for West Ham United for £1.7 million and helped them to achieve a high league position (5th) and qualify for the UEFA Cup through the Intertoto Cup. He was also the OPTA player of the season 1998–99. He scored the BBC Goal of the Season in March 2000 with a volley against Wimbledon, which is still considered among the best goals in Premiership history and was named as the Premiership's goal of the decade in a December 2009 Sky Sports News viewers' poll, scoring 30% of votes. In this season he was also voted Hammer of the Year by the club's fans.

In 2001, he won the FIFA Fair Play Award. The previous December, in a match against Everton, in a noteworthy display of sportsmanship, Di Canio shunned a goal scoring opportunity and caught the ball from a cross instead as the Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard was lying injured on the ground after he twisted his knee attempting a clearance on the edge of the box. FIFA described the act as "a special act of good sportsmanship."

Sir Alex Ferguson tried to sign him for Manchester United halfway through the 2001-02 season, but his attempts were unsuccessful and Di Canio remained in East London for another season and a half.

He remained a key figure at West Ham until 2003 when, with the Hammers struggling at the bottom of the league, he had a very public row with manager Glenn Roeder and was dropped from the first team. However, he returned at the end of the season (after Roeder, stricken by a brain tumour, was replaced by Trevor Brooking) and scored a winner against Chelsea in the penultimate game of the season that appeared to have preserved West Ham's Premiership status. However, it proved to be irrelevant and they were relegated on the final day of the season after a 2–2 draw away to Birmingham City, where he scored an 89th minute equaliser. He was released on a free transfer and after turning down Leeds United he signed a contract with Charlton Athletic for the start of 2003–04. Whilst at The Valley he helped the club secure its highest league finish since the 1950s. However, he only scored four goals for the Addicks, all of them from the penalty spot (one of them scored from a rebound).

Even though he had already signed an extension to his Charlton contract, in August 2004 he returned to his home team of Lazio taking a massive paycut in order to return to the economically stretched Roman team. Lazio fans were happy to have a Rome-bred Lazio supporter in the team again, something missing since the departure of Alessandro Nesta in 2002. He scored in the Rome derby, just as he had in 1989, leading the team to a 3–1 victory over A.S. Roma in January (6 January 2005). However the negative publicity that Di Canio generated for Lazio, including his intimate relationship with club's ultras and their increased influence thanks to his presence in the team, coupled with problems with some teammates and coaches, exasperated club president and majority shareholder, Claudio Lotito, with whom he already had a difficult relationship. As a result, Di Canio's contract was not renewed in the summer of 2006. During several of his games for Lazio, Di Canio made a fascist salute to their right-wing fans. He subsequently signed with Cisco Roma of Serie C2 on a free transfer. In his first season with Cisco Roma, his team failed promotion to playoffs, despite a runners-up position in the regular season. He subsequently agreed to stay with Cisco for another season, in a second attempt to win promotion to Serie C1 with the Roman side.

On March 10, 2008, Di Canio announced his retirement from football, ending his 23-year playing career before the end of the season due to physical issues. It is his intention to begin coaching lessons at Coverciano to gain a coaching position. In an interview he revealed that his dream would be to manage former club West Ham, and applied for the position after the resignation of Alan Curbishley in September 2008. Di Canio played in Tony Carr's testimonial game at Upton Park on 5 May 2010, which featured a West Ham team against West Ham Academy old boys. He played for both sides during the match. The West Ham team won 5-1. In July 2010, in honour of Di Canio, West Ham announced the opening of the 'Paolo Di Canio Lounge', within the West Stand, at their Upton Park ground, which was formally launched by the unveiling of a plaque by Di Canio himself, on 11 September 2010.