Paolo Di Canio
Encyclopedia
Paolo Di Canio is a Italian
former professional footballer and current manager of League Two
side Swindon Town
. Di Canio made over 500 league appearances and scored over 100 league goals as a player.
As a player Di Canio played in Serie A
for Lazio
, Juventus
, Napoli
and AC Milan, before playing in the Scottish Premier League
for Celtic
and the English Premier League for Sheffield Wednesday
, West Ham United
and Charlton Athletic
.
After his seasons in the Premier League he returned to Italy where he played for Lazio, Ternana
and Cisco Roma before retiring in 2008.
, in the district of Quarticciolo. He signed for Lazio
, in 1985; here he remained until 1990, moving to another of Italy's biggest clubs, Juventus
. He stayed there until 1993 and successive seasons saw him join first Napoli
and then A.C. Milan
. 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 £4.2m. 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 £1.7m 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 would remain 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 looked 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.
On 5 May 2010, Di Canio played in Tony Carr's
testimonial game at Upton Park
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.
, following the club's relegation to League Two. Di Canio began his career as a manager with a emphatic 3-0 win over Crewe on the 6 August 2011. On 30 August 2011, Di Canio was involved in a pitch-side altercation with Swindon striker Leon Clarke, after their defeat in the League Cup
to Southampton
.
and has been photographed and videotaped several times giving the controversial Roman salute
to Lazio supporters while playing for Lazio.
He created controversy by twice using the gesture to salute Lazio fans, first in a match against arch rivals A.S. Roma
and then against A.S. Livorno Calcio
, a club inclined to leftist politics. Di Canio received a one match game ban after the second event and was fined €7,000, after which he was quoted as saying "I will always salute as I did because it gives me a sense of belonging to my people..I saluted my people with what for me is a sign of belonging to a group that holds true values, values of civility against the standardisation that this society imposes upon us." His salute has been featured on unofficial merchandise sold outside Stadio Olimpico
after the ban. Di Canio has also expressed admiration for Mussolini
. On the day of his appointment as manager of Swindon Town, the GMB union
terminated their financial backing of around £4,000-per-season of the club due to Di Canio's fascist views.
, the Latin word "DUX", meaning "leader", or Il Duce
in Italian
, an antonomasia
for Benito Mussolini
. He also has a West Ham United tattoo on his left upper arm.
Juventus
Milan
Celtic
West Ham United
|1985–86
||Lazio
||Serie B
||0||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1986–87||Ternana
||Serie C2
||27||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1987–88
||rowspan="3"|Lazio
||Serie B
||0||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1988–89||rowspan="2"|Serie A
||30||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1989–90
||24||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1990–91
||rowspan="3"|Juventus
||rowspan="3"|Serie A
||23||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1991–92
||24||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1992–93||31||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1993–94
||Napoli
||Serie A
||26||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1994–95||rowspan="2"|Milan
||rowspan="2"|Serie A
||15||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1995–96
||22||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996–97
||Celtic
||Premier Division
||24||12||6||3||1||0||colspan="2"|–||31||15
|-
|1997–98
||rowspan="2"|Sheffield Wednesday
||rowspan="2"|Premier League||35||12||3||0||2||2||colspan="2"|–||40||14
|-
|1998–99
||6||3||0||0||2||0||colspan="2"|–||8||3
|-
|1998–99
||rowspan="5"|West Ham United
||rowspan="5"|Premier League||13||5||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||13||5
|-
|1999–00||30||16||1||0||4||1||10||1||45||18
|-
|2000–01
||31||9||3||1||3||1||colspan="2"|–||37||11
|-
|2001–02
||26||9||1||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||27||9
|-
|2002–03
||18||9||0||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||19||9
|-
|2003–04
||Charlton Athletic
||Premier League||31||4||1||0||1||1||colspan="2"|–||33||5
|-
|2004–05
||rowspan="2"|Lazio
||rowspan="2"|Serie A
||23||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005–06
||27||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|2006–07
||rowspan="2"|Cisco Roma||rowspan="2"|Serie C2
||28||7||||||||||||||||
|-
|2007–08
||18||7||||||||||||||||
318||48||||||||||||||||
24||12||6||3||1||0||colspan="2"|–||31||15
190||67||9||1||13||5||10||1||222||74
532||127||||||||||||||||
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
former professional footballer and current manager of League Two
Football League Two
Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....
side Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
. Di Canio made over 500 league appearances and scored over 100 league goals as a player.
As a player Di Canio played in Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
for Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
, Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
, Napoli
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....
and AC Milan, before playing in the Scottish Premier League
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
for Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
and the English Premier League for Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
, West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
and Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
.
After his seasons in the Premier League he returned to Italy where he played for Lazio, Ternana
Ternana Calcio
Ternana Calcio is an Italian football club based in the city of Terni, Umbria.The team's colours are red and green.The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana have twice played in Serie A...
and Cisco Roma before retiring in 2008.
Career
Di Canio was born in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, in the district of Quarticciolo. He signed for Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
, in 1985; here he remained until 1990, moving to another of Italy's biggest clubs, Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
. He stayed there until 1993 and successive seasons saw him join first Napoli
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....
and then A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
. In 1996 he joined Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and his successful season in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
(scoring 15 goals in 37 appearances) saw him make a move to the English Premiership as he joined Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
for a sum of around £4.2m. Whilst in Sheffield, Di Canio was the club's leading goal scorer for the 1997–98
1997-98 in English football
The 1997-1998 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.-Premier League:Arsenal overhauled Manchester United's lead during the final weeks of the season to win the Premiership title...
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
Paul Alcock
Paul E. Alcock is a retired English football referee, who operated in the English Football League and Premier League. He was based originally in the Redhill area before later moving to Halstead, Kent.-Career:...
to the ground after being sent off while playing for Sheffield Wednesday against Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
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
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
for £1.7m and helped them to achieve a high league position (5th) and qualify for the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
through the Intertoto Cup. He was also the OPTA player of the season 1998–99
1998-99 in English football
-Premier League:Manchester United overcame close competition from Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea to win their fifth Premiership title in seven seasons thanks to the comeback of Roy Keane after his long-term injury and a transfer raid totalling nearly £30 million which netted Aston Villa striker...
. He scored the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Goal of the Season
Goal of the Season
In English football, the Goal of the Season is an annual competition and award given on BBC's Match of the Day, in honour of the most spectacular goal scored that season...
in March 2000 with a volley against Wimbledon
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...
, 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
Sky Sports News
Sky Sports News is a 24-hour sports news channel in the United Kingdom. It is run by BSkyB whose sports channels include Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and 4, as well as Sky Sports HD1, HD2, HD3 and HD4....
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
FIFA Fair Play Award
The FIFA Fair Play Award is a FIFA recognition of good or sporting behaviour or other actions by people or bodies involved in :association football around the world. First awarded in 1987, it has been presented to individuals , teams, fans, spectators, football associations/federations and even...
. The previous December, in a match against Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
, 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
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
tried to sign him for Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
halfway through the 2001-02 season
2001-02 in English football
The 2001-02 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.-Arsenal cruise to title glory:In what had earlier been one of the most closely fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal won the championship by seven points. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the...
, but his attempts were unsuccessful and Di Canio would remain in East London
East London
East London is a city on the southeast coast of South Africa, situated at 32.97°S and 27.87°E in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River and the Nahoon River, and is the country's only river...
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
Glenn Roeder
Glenn Victor Roeder is an English football manager and former player, most recently in charge at Norwich City. As a player, Roeder represented England B on 7 occasions...
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
Trevor Brooking
Sir Trevor David Brooking CBE is a football player turned manager, on-air analyst, and administrator.Brooking attended Ripple Infants School and left Ilford County High School with 11 O-levels and 2 A-levels....
) and scored a winner against Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in the penultimate game of the season that looked 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
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
, 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
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
for the start of 2003–04
2003-04 in English football
The 2003-04 season was the 124th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Arsenal completed the entire campaign without losing a single league game....
. 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
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
, 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
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
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
Alessandro Nesta
Alessandro Nesta, Ufficiale OMRI , is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays as a defender for Serie A club Milan. Considered by many as one of the best centre backs to have ever played the game, he is a four-time member of the annual UEFA Team of the Year.-Early life:Nesta was raised in...
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
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
in January (6 January 2005). However the negative publicity that Di Canio generated for Lazio, including his intimate relationship with club's ultras
Ultras
Ultras are a type of sports fans renowned for their fanatical support and elaborate displays. They are predominantly European followers of football teams...
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
Claudio Lotito
Claudio Lotito is an Italian entrepreneur. He is the owner and president of the Serie A football club S.S. Lazio since 2004....
, 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
Serie C2
Lega Pro Seconda Divisione is the name of the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consists of 54 teams, but in the season 2010–11 the teams are only 49 divided geographically into three divisions of 17, 16 and 16 teams each...
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
Serie C1
Lega Pro Prima Divisione is the name of the third highest football league in Italy. It consists of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 18 teams each. Until 2008 it was known as 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
Coverciano
Coverciano, also known as Casa Italia, located in the quartiere of Florence with the same name, is the central training ground and technical headquarters of the FIGC, the Italian Football Association. The complex covers technical and training events associated with various Italian national football...
to gain a coaching position. In an interview he revealed that his dream would be to manage former club West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
, and applied for the position after the resignation of Alan Curbishley
Alan Curbishley
Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley is an English football manager and former professional player....
in September 2008.
On 5 May 2010, Di Canio played in Tony Carr's
Tony Carr
Anthony Carr MBE is an English sports coach, the current Director of Youth Development at the West Ham United football club's youth academy and is recognised as one of the most influential figures in English football. A former graduate of the academy himself, whose footballing career was cut short...
testimonial game at Upton Park
Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:...
which featured a West Ham team against West Ham Academy
The Academy of Football
The Academy of Football, or just The Academy, is a nickname of the English football club West Ham United.The title pays homage to the success of the club in coaching talented young players...
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
Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:...
ground, which was formally launched by the unveiling of a plaque by Di Canio himself, on 11 September 2010.
Managerial career
Di Canio has a UEFA Pro Licence for coaching. On 20 May 2011 Di Canio was appointed manager of Swindon TownSwindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
, following the club's relegation to League Two. Di Canio began his career as a manager with a emphatic 3-0 win over Crewe on the 6 August 2011. On 30 August 2011, Di Canio was involved in a pitch-side altercation with Swindon striker Leon Clarke, after their defeat in the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
to Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
.
Fascist politics
Since a very early age Di Canio has been a self-proclaimed fascistaItalian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
and has been photographed and videotaped several times giving the controversial Roman salute
Roman salute
The Roman salute is a gesture in which the arm is held out forward straight, with palm down, and fingers touching. In some versions, the arm is raised upward at an angle; in others, it is held out parallel to the ground. The former is a well known symbol of fascism that is commonly perceived to be...
to Lazio supporters while playing for Lazio.
He created controversy by twice using the gesture to salute Lazio fans, first in a match against arch rivals A.S. Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
and then against A.S. Livorno Calcio
A.S. Livorno Calcio
Associazione Sportiva Livorno Calcio is an Italian football club based in Livorno, Tuscany. The club was formed in 1915 and currently plays in Italian Serie B. The team's colors are dark red or maroon...
, a club inclined to leftist politics. Di Canio received a one match game ban after the second event and was fined €7,000, after which he was quoted as saying "I will always salute as I did because it gives me a sense of belonging to my people..I saluted my people with what for me is a sign of belonging to a group that holds true values, values of civility against the standardisation that this society imposes upon us." His salute has been featured on unofficial merchandise sold outside Stadio Olimpico
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico is the main and largest sports facility of Rome, Italy. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex on the north of the city. An asset of the Italian National Olympic Committee, the structure is intended primarily for football...
after the ban. Di Canio has also expressed admiration for Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. On the day of his appointment as manager of Swindon Town, the GMB union
GMB Union
The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom, and has more than 600,000 members. Its members are drawn from many sectors, with particular strength amongst manual workers in local government and the health service...
terminated their financial backing of around £4,000-per-season of the club due to Di Canio's fascist views.
Tattoos
Di Canio has several tattoos including, on his right bicepsBiceps
Biceps may refer to:*Biceps brachii muscle, a muscle located on the inside of the upper arm*Biceps femoris muscle, one of the hamstring muscles of the back of each thigh*Biceps , a point in a metrical pattern...
, the Latin word "DUX", meaning "leader", or Il Duce
Duce
Duce is an Italian title, derived from the Latin word dux, and cognate with duke. National Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini was identified by Fascists as Il Duce of the movement and became a reference to the dictator position of Head of Government and Duce of Fascism of Italy was established...
in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, an antonomasia
Antonomasia
In rhetoric, antonomasia is a substitution of any epithet or phrase for a proper name, such as "the little corporal" for Napoleon I. The reverse process is also sometimes called antonomasia. The word derives from the Greek verb , meaning "to name differently"...
for Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. He also has a West Ham United tattoo on his left upper arm.
Club honours
Lazio- Serie BSerie BSerie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
: Promotion 1987–88 - Supercoppa ItalianaSupercoppa ItalianaThe Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...
: runner-up 20042004 Supercoppa ItalianaThe 2004 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by the 2003-04 winners Milan and the 2003-04 Coppa Italia winners Lazio.The match result was a 3-0 victory for Milan after a hat-trick by Andriy Shevchenko.-Match details:-References:...
Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
- Serie ASerie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
: runner-up 1991–92 - Coppa ItaliaCoppa ItaliaThe Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
: runner-up 1992Coppa Italia 1991-92-First leg:-Second leg:Parma won 2–1 on aggregate.-References:*... - UEFA CupUEFA CupThe UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
: Winner 19931993 UEFA Cup FinalThe 1993 UEFA Cup Final was played on 5 May 1993 and 19 May 1993 between Juventus of Italy and Borussia Dortmund of Germany. Juventus won 3–1 and 3–0 to record a 6–1 aggregate victory, a record aggregate score for a UEFA Cup Final. The fixture would be repeated in the 1997...
Milan
- Serie ASerie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
: Champion 1995–96 - UEFA Champions LeagueUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
: runner-up 1995 - UEFA Super Cup: Winner: 1994
- Intercontinental CupIntercontinental Cup (football)The European/South American Cup, commonly referred to as the World Club Championship, Intercontinental Cup or Toyota Cup, was a football competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL, contested between the winners of the European Cup and the South American Copa Libertadores...
: runner-up 19941994 Intercontinental CupThe 1994 Intercontinental Cup was a football match played on December 1, 1994 between A.C. Milan, winners of the 1993-94 European Cup, and Vélez Sársfield, winners of the 1994 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the National Stadium in Tokyo...
Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
- Scottish Premier Division: runner-up 1996–97
West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
- UEFA Intertoto CupUEFA Intertoto CupThe UEFA Intertoto Cup, also abbreviated as UI Cup and originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition for European clubs that had not qualified for one of the two major UEFA competitions, the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The competition was discontinued...
: Winner 1999
Club
|-|1985–86
Serie B 1985-86
This article contains information on the 1985-1986 season of Serie B, the second highest football league in Italy.-Classification:-Results:-References and sources:...
||Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
||Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
||0||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1986–87||Ternana
Ternana Calcio
Ternana Calcio is an Italian football club based in the city of Terni, Umbria.The team's colours are red and green.The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana have twice played in Serie A...
||Serie C2
Serie C2
Lega Pro Seconda Divisione is the name of the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consists of 54 teams, but in the season 2010–11 the teams are only 49 divided geographically into three divisions of 17, 16 and 16 teams each...
||27||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1987–88
Serie B 1987-88
This article contains information on the 1987-1988 season of Serie B, the second highest football league in Italy.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:...
||rowspan="3"|Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
||Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
||0||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1988–89||rowspan="2"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||30||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1989–90
Serie A 1989-90
Another dominant year for Napoli, with Diego Maradona being among the leading goalscorers in Serie A , behind Marco Van Basten of Milan and Roberto Baggio of Fiorentina .-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:...
||24||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1990–91
Serie A 1990-91
-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:19 goals* Gianluca Vialli 16 goals* Lothar Matthäus 15 goals* Carlos Aguilera * Tomáš Skuhravý 14 goals* Roberto Baggio...
||rowspan="3"|Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
||rowspan="3"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||23||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1991–92
Serie A 1991-92
During this season, under the guidance of Fabio Capello, AC Milan completed a remarkable unbeaten season, a run that eventually totalled 58 games.- Final classification :- Results :-Top scorers:25 goals* Marco van Basten 18 goals...
||24||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1992–93||31||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1993–94
Serie A 1993-94
The 1993–94 Serie A was won by A.C. Milan, being the 14th title for the rossoneri.-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:23 goals* Giuseppe Signori 18 goals* Gianfranco Zola 17 goals* Roberto Baggio...
||Napoli
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....
||Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||26||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1994–95||rowspan="2"|Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
||rowspan="2"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||15||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1995–96
Serie A 1995-96
The 1995–96 Serie A title was won by A.C. Milan , with Juventus finishing as runners-up.-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:24 goals* Igor Protti...
||22||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996–97
Scottish Football League 1996-97
Statistics of the Scottish Football League in season 1996–97.-Scottish Premier Division:-Premier Division/Division One playoff:*Hibernian 1-0 Airdrieonians*Airdrieonians 2-4 Hibernian...
||Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
||Premier Division
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
||24||12||6||3||1||0||colspan="2"|–||31||15
|-
|1997–98
FA Premier League 1997-98
The FA Premier League 1997-98 season saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991, and also become only the second team to win the 'double' of the FA Cup and league title twice...
||rowspan="2"|Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
||rowspan="2"|Premier League||35||12||3||0||2||2||colspan="2"|–||40||14
|-
|1998–99
FA Premier League 1998-99
The 1998–99 FA Premier League season was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. The season will always be remembered as the one in which Manchester United won a unique treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the European Cup...
||6||3||0||0||2||0||colspan="2"|–||8||3
|-
|1998–99
FA Premier League 1998-99
The 1998–99 FA Premier League season was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. The season will always be remembered as the one in which Manchester United won a unique treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the European Cup...
||rowspan="5"|West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
||rowspan="5"|Premier League||13||5||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||13||5
|-
|1999–00||30||16||1||0||4||1||10||1||45||18
|-
|2000–01
FA Premier League 2000-01
The FA Premier League 2000-01 season was the third season running which ended with Manchester United as champions and Arsenal as runners-up. Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three successive English league titles, although three teams had achieved that feat in the past - but with...
||31||9||3||1||3||1||colspan="2"|–||37||11
|-
|2001–02
FA Premier League 2001-02
The 2001–02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling...
||26||9||1||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||27||9
|-
|2002–03
FA Premier League 2002-03
The 2002–03 FA Premier League was the eleventh season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003...
||18||9||0||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||19||9
|-
|2003–04
FA Premier League 2003-04
The 2003–04 FA Premier League season was the twelfth season of the Premier League. In the end, Arsenal went through the season without a single defeat – only the second ever team to do so and were crowned champions once more, at the expense of Chelsea, who had spent heavily throughout the...
||Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
||Premier League||31||4||1||0||1||1||colspan="2"|–||33||5
|-
|2004–05
Serie A 2004-05
In the 2004–05 season, the Serie A, the highest professional football league in Italy, was composed of 20 teams for the first time in several years....
||rowspan="2"|Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
||rowspan="2"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||23||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005–06
Serie A 2005-06
In the 2005–06 season, Serie A, the major professional football league in Italian, was contested for the second year in a row by 20 teams. The league commenced on August 28, 2005 and finished on May 14, 2006...
||27||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|2006–07
Serie C2 2006-07
The 2006-07 Serie C2 was the football league season of Italian Serie C2 for the years 2006 and 2007. It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from September 3, 2006 to May 13, 2007 and the playoff phase. Once the regular season was over, teams placed 2nd to 5th entered a playoff...
||rowspan="2"|Cisco Roma||rowspan="2"|Serie C2
Serie C2
Lega Pro Seconda Divisione is the name of the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consists of 54 teams, but in the season 2010–11 the teams are only 49 divided geographically into three divisions of 17, 16 and 16 teams each...
||28||7||||||||||||||||
|-
|2007–08
Serie C2 2007-08
The 2007–08 Serie C2 season was the thirtieth football league season of Italian Serie C2 since its establishment in 1978 . It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from September 2007 to May 2008, and the playoff phase from May to June 2008.The league was composed of 54 teams...
||18||7||||||||||||||||
318||48||||||||||||||||
24||12||6||3||1||0||colspan="2"|–||31||15
190||67||9||1||13||5||10||1||222||74
532||127||||||||||||||||
Manager
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Swindon Town Swindon Town F.C. Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011... |
11 May 2011 | Present |
|||||
| Total |
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