Paolo Di Canio

Who is Paolo Di Canio?

Paolo Di Canio is an Italian former professional footballer. He made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals in the course of his playing career before moving into management. During his playing days he primarily played as a forward but could also play as an attacking midfielder.

Di Canio began his career in the Italian Serie A, playing for Lazio, Juventus, Napoli and A.C. Milan, before a brief spell with the Scottish club Celtic. He subsequently spent seven years in the English Premier League with Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United and Charlton Athletic. He returned to Italy in 2004, playing for Lazio and Cisco Roma before retiring in 2008. He played for the Italian under-21s but was never capped for the senior team.

Among the individual awards he received as a player, Di Canio was named SPFA Players' Player of the Year in 1997 and West Ham's player of the season in 2000. However, his career was at times characterised by controversy: he received an eleven-match ban in 1998 for pushing a referee and attracted negative publicity over his self-proclaimed allegiance to fascism.

In 2011, Di Canio entered football management in England with Swindon Town, guiding them in his first full season as manager to promotion to League One. He was appointed as the Sunderland manager at the end of March 2013. His controversial appointment lasted 13 games until he was sacked on 22 September after Sunderland had won only three games under his managership.