 Peschisolido in 2011 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paolo Pasquale Peschisolido | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1971-05-25)25 May 1971 (age 54) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Scarborough,Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Striker | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1989–1992 | Toronto Blizzard | 72 | (32) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1991 | Kansas City Comets (indoor) | 43 | (24) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Birmingham City | 43 | (16) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Stoke City | 66 | (19) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Birmingham City | 9 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | West Bromwich Albion | 45 | (18) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–2001 | Fulham | 95 | (24) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000 | →Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001 | →Sheffield United (loan) | 5 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001 | →Norwich City (loan) | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2004 | Sheffield United | 79 | (17) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | Derby County[A] | 91 | (20) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Luton Town | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009 | St Patrick's Athletic | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 562 | (174) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1987 | Canada U-17 | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1988 | Canada U-20 | 6 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Canada U-23 | 12 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–2004 | Canada | 53 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2012 | Burton Albion | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Paolo Pasquale Peschisolido (born 25 May 1971) is a Canadian formersoccer player and coach. Peschisolido was coach of EnglishLeague Two clubBurton Albion from May 2009 until March 2012.
Aforward, Peschisolido began his career in theCanadian Soccer League with theToronto Blizzard and played in theMajor Indoor Soccer League with theKansas City Comets before moving to England.
Over 16 seasons he scored 118 goals from 447 appearances inthe Football League, playing for nine different clubs:Birmingham City,Stoke City,West Bromwich Albion,Fulham,Queens Park Rangers,Sheffield United,Norwich City,Derby County andLuton Town.
Peschisolido represented his country from U-16 level upwards to the senior level spanning from 1986 to 2004, making his senior debut for theCanadian national team in 1992. He went on to play 53 times for Canada, scoring 10 goals, in a 12-year senior international career.[1][2] On 1 June 2013, he was inducted into theCanadian Soccer Hall of Fame.
Peschisolido was born inScarborough, now part ofToronto,Ontario. He began hisprofessional playing career when still a high-schooler withArchbishop Denis O'Connor Catholic High School inAjax. Peschisolido led the team toOFSAA finals in his last year then moved on as a trainee with theToronto Blizzard of theCanadian Soccer League, where he was named the "Rookie of the Year" in 1989.[3] He also played the 1990–91Major Indoor Soccer League season with theKansas City Comets, being named the league's 'Newcomer of the Year'.[4][5]
After spending a year with theJuventus academy, returning homesick saw him offered the opportunity from his former national youth team coachTony Taylor to joinBirmingham City for £25,000 in November 1992.[6] He was joint top scorer in each of his two seasons with the club.[7]
In August 1994, he moved on toStoke City in a £400,000 plus player exchange deal involvingDave Regis.[6][8] He was top scorer with 15 goals for the 1994–95 season,[9] and remained at Stoke until March 1996, when he returned to Birmingham until the end of the 1995–96 season, scoring once in nine appearances.[10]
Peschisolido signed forWest Bromwich Albion in a £600,000 deal in July 1996.[11] He made his first appearance for the club in the 3–1 homeLeague Cup defeat toColchester United on 3 September 1996. Four days later, Peschisolido scored just nine minutes into his Albion league debut, as the Midlands side ran out 2–0 winners atQueens Park Rangers.[6] He was joint top League scorer that season for the club.[12]
After 51 appearances and 21 goals for West Brom, he dropped down a division to joinFulham in October 1997, for a £1.1 million transfer fee.[13][14] He appeared 37 times for 'the Cottagers' in the 1997–98 season, scoring 13 goals, before helping the team win promotion asDivision Two champions the following year.[6] In the next two seasons, he produced 10 goals from 40 appearances and 7 from 36 appearances in all competitions.[15][16]
After appearing in two League Cup matches for Fulham in the 2000–01 season, Peschisolido wasloaned to Queens Park Rangers in November 2000.[17] He scored on his QPR debut, playing alongside the much tallerPeter Crouch in a 1–1 draw against Portsmouth.[18][19] In January 2001, he went on loan again, this time toSheffield United,[20] also scoring on his debut for "the Blades", before spending a further loan period atNorwich City.[21]
He later re-joined Sheffield United in a permanent deal for £250,000, after agreeing to a wage cut.[22] He was a key player in the 2002–03 season, helping the club reach the semi-finals of the 2003FA Cup andLeague Cup and theDivision One play-off final.[6] In the play-off semi-final againstNottingham Forest, Sheffield United came back from a two-goal deficit to take the game intoextra time. Peschisolido came off the substitutes' bench at the midpoint of added time to score the goal that took the lead, which is remembered not just for its impact on the game but also for the player's frantic celebrations afterwards.[23][24] In the 2003 FA Cup semi-final againstArsenal, he was denied an equalising goal by goalkeeperDavid Seaman, who made a one-handed "claw-back" save from Peschisolido's header which three-timeBest European GoalkeeperPeter Schmeichel later described as "the best stop I've ever seen in the flesh".[25][26]
In March 2004, Peschisolido joinedDerby County in a swap deal, withIzale McLeod moving to United on loan for the rest of the season.[27] Once again he scored on debut, contributing four goals in his first three appearances, including two against local rivals Nottingham Forest, one of which was gifted to him by goalkeeperBarry Roche, who sliced an attempted clearance after the ball deflected off a plastic coffee cup on the pitch.[28][29] After Derby avoided relegation in 2004, Peschisolido's "knack for scoring vital goals from the substitutes' bench"[30] helped them reach the playoffs in 2005 and 2007, though he started in theplayoff final against West Bromwich Albion at Wembley Stadium, which Derby won 1–0 to earn promotion to thePremier League.[31] Peschisolido was released by the club at the end of that season.[32]
On 16 July 2007 Peschisolido signed forLuton Town on a one-year deal.[33] He played just four league matches and one cup match for Luton, scoring once in theFootball League Trophy againstNorthampton Town,[34] before an ankle problem kept him out of action from September onwards. After the injury failed to respond to injections it was confirmed in December that he would require an operation, ruling him out for the rest of the season.[35] Luton released Peschisolido at the end of the 2007–08 season, following their relegation to League Two.[36] Failing to fully recover from injury, he would subsequently retire and not seek a new club.[citation needed]By this time, he had accumulated 447 Football League appearances and 118 goals over 16 years, predominantly in the second tier of English professional soccer. He also made 76 cup appearances, scoring 22 goals.[10][37]
Peschisolido played in all of Canada's three games at the1987 FIFA U-16 World Championship which were held in Canada. He earned seven caps at the U-17 level, six caps at the U-20 level scoring two goals, and 12 caps at the U-23 level scoring five goals.
He made his senior national team debut forCanada on 13 June 1992 in a match againstHong Kong atVarsity Stadium where he scored his first international goal. Peschisolido formed effective striker partnerships forCanada withAlex Bunbury andCarlo Corazzin over their years with the national team. Peschisolido scored the majority of his international goals between 1995 and 1996 atCommonwealth Stadium that included a number of World Cup qualification matches which led to the venue becoming lovingly nicknamed St. Paul's Cathedral amongst the Canadian fans and press.[38][39]He scored his last international goal on his 50th cap on 13 June 2004 in a World Cup qualification match againstBelize, exactly 12 years to the day from his first international goal and first cap. He earned a total of 53 caps from 1992 to 2004, and scored 10 goals making him tied 9th withTomasz Radzinski in all-time scoring for Canada.[40] He represented Canada in fourFIFA World Cup qualification campaigns (1994,1998,2002, and2006) in 26FIFA World Cup qualification matches[41] He played in the Canadian squad that won the2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup and played in all of Canada's three games at the2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. His final international cap was on 4 September 2004 atCommonwealth Stadium in a World Cup qualification match againstHonduras.
On 15 January 2009, he was appointed asJeff Kenna's assistant coach at League of Ireland clubSt Patrick's Athletic.[42] Both Kenna and Peschisolido registered as players for the 2009 season in case of emergency.[43] On 15 May 2009, he resigned from this post for "personal reasons" with immediate effect.[44]
Three days later, on 18 May 2009, he was appointed head coach ofBurton Albion taking over from caretaker coachRoy McFarland, who had taken the club to promotion toLeague Two after the departure ofNigel Clough.[45] Peschisolido was in charge of Burton for almost three years but was relieved of his duties on 17 March 2012, following a winless run of 14 games.[46]
In 1995, Peschisolido marriedKarren Brady, who was at the time managing director ofBirmingham City F.C. The couple have two children, daughter Sophia and son Paolo.[47] Peschisolido is a cousin of formerNational Hockey League (NHL) playerMike Ricci.[48]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Toronto Blizzard | 1989 | Canadian Soccer League | 26 | 10 | — | — | 2[a] | 0 | 28 | 10 | ||
| 1990 | Canadian Soccer League | 21 | 13 | — | — | 2[a] | 1 | 23 | 14 | |||
| 1991 | Canadian Soccer League | 12 | 5 | — | — | 3[a] | 1 | 15 | 6 | |||
| 1992 | Canadian Soccer League | 13 | 4 | — | — | — | 13 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 72 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 79 | 34 | ||
| Kansas City Comets (indoor) | 1990–91 | Major Indoor Soccer League | 43 | 24 | — | — | 5[b] | 1 | 48 | 25 | ||
| Birmingham City | 1992–93 | First Division | 19 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 22 | 7 |
| 1993–94 | First Division | 24 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 10 | |
| Total | 43 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 17 | ||
| Stoke City | 1994–95 | First Division | 40 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4[c] | 0 | 49 | 15 |
| 1995–96 | First Division | 26 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2[c] | 2 | 32 | 9 | |
| Total | 66 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 81 | 24 | ||
| Birmingham City | 1995–96 | First Division | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 1996–97 | First Division | 37 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 15 |
| 1997–98 | First Division | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 6 | |
| Total | 45 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 21 | ||
| Fulham | 1997–98 | Second Division | 32 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 37 | 13 |
| 1998–99 | Second Division | 33 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 10 | |
| 1999–2000 | First Division | 30 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 7 | |
| 2000–01 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 95 | 24 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 115 | 30 | ||
| Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 2000–01 | First Division | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Sheffield United (loan) | 2000–01 | First Division | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Norwich City (loan) | 2000–01 | First Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Sheffield United | 2001–02 | First Division | 29 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 6 |
| 2002–03 | First Division | 23 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2[e] | 1 | 34 | 7 | |
| 2003–04 | First Division | 27 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 9 | |
| Total | 79 | 17 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 97 | 22 | ||
| Derby County | 2003–04 | First Division | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
| 2004–05 | Championship | 32 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2[f] | 0 | 36 | 9 | |
| 2005–06 | Championship | 34 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 7 | |
| 2006–07 | Championship | 14 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 4 | |
| Total | 91 | 20 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 103 | 24 | ||
| Luton Town | 2007–08 | League One | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[g] | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Career Total | 562 | 174 | 28 | 8 | 33 | 13 | 28 | 7 | 651 | 202 | ||
Source:[51]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 1992 | 4 | 1 |
| 1993 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 6 | 4 | |
| 1996 | 5 | 3 | |
| 1997 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 12 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 5 | 1 | |
| Total | 53 | 10 | |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 June 1992 | Varsity Stadium,Toronto, Canada |  Hong Kong | 1–0 | 3–1 | Columbus 500 Cup |
| 2 | 22 May 1995 | Commonwealth Stadium,Edmonton, Canada |  Northern Ireland | 1–0 | 2–0 | Canada Cup |
| 3 | 22 May 1995 | Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada | Northern Ireland | 2–0 | 2–0 | Canada Cup |
| 4 | 28 May 1995 | Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada |  Chile | 1–0 | 1–2 | Canada Cup |
| 5 | 3 August 1995 | Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada |  Trinidad and Tobago | 3–0 | 3–1 | Caribana Cup |
| 6 | 30 August 1996 | Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada |  Panama | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7 | 10 October 1996 | Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada |  Cuba | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 8 | 13 October 1996 | Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada | Cuba | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9 | 30 May 2000 | Winnipeg Soccer Complex,Winnipeg, Canada |  Honduras | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 10 | 13 June 2004 | Richardson Memorial Stadium,Kingston, Canada |  Belize | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Burton Albion |  England | 18 May 2009 | 17 March 2012 | 141 | 44 | 36 | 61 | 031.21 |
Fulham
Derby County
Canada
Canada squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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