Paolo Di Canio

Paolo Di Canio is an Italian former professional footballer and manager, born in 1968 and raised in Rome, who played mostly as a deep-lying forward but could also operate as an attacking midfielder or winger. Over a long career he made more than five hundred league appearances and scored over one hundred goals. He began in Serie A with Lazio, Juventus, Napoli and Milan, spent a short spell at Celtic in Scotland, and then played seven years in the English Premier League for Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United and Charlton Athletic, before returning to Lazio and retiring in 2008. He played for the Italian under-21 side but was never capped by the senior national team. He was known as a gifted yet temperamental player, honoured with the SPFA Players' Player of the Year award in 1997 and, in 2001, the FIFA Fair Play Award. He later managed Swindon Town and Sunderland.