 Dichio in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniele Salvatore Ernest Dichio[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1974-10-19)19 October 1974 (age 51)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Notting Hill, London, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991–1993 | Queens Park Rangers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1997 | Queens Park Rangers | 75 | (20) |
| 1993 | →Welling United (loan) | 3 | (8) |
| 1994 | →Barnet (loan) | 9 | (2) |
| 1997–1998 | Sampdoria | 2 | (2) |
| 1997 | →Lecce (loan) | 10 | (2) |
| 1998–2001 | Sunderland | 76 | (17) |
| 2001 | →West Bromwich Albion (loan) | 3 | (4) |
| 2001–2004 | West Bromwich Albion | 63 | (16) |
| 2003 | →Derby County (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2004 | →Millwall (loan) | 5 | (5) |
| 2004–2005 | Millwall | 41 | (12) |
| 2005–2007 | Preston North End | 63 | (9) |
| 2007–2009 | Toronto FC | 59 | (14) |
| Total | 415 | (112) | |
| International career | |||
| 1995 | England U21 | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2010 | Toronto FC (assistant) | ||
| 2010–2020 | Toronto FC III | ||
| 2021 | Toronto FC II (assistant) | ||
| 2022–2023 | Sacramento Republic (assistant) | ||
| 2024– | Detroit City FC | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Daniele Salvatore Ernest Dichio (Italian:Daniele Salvatore Ernesto Dichio; born 19 October 1974) is an English retired professionalfootballer and the manager ofDetroit City FC.
Dichio scored the first goal inToronto FC history against theChicago Fire on 12 May 2007. Later in that same game he became the first player in club history to bered-carded.
After retiring from playing, Dichio coached at various levels of the Toronto FC organization, followed by a stint as an assistant atSacramento Republic FC, before moving into his current role.
Born inHammersmith, London,[1] to an English mother and an Italian father,[2][3] Dichio began his career atQueens Park Rangers, joining as an apprentice in June 1991 and turning professional in May 1993.[4] The sale ofLes Ferdinand toNewcastle United in the summer of 1995 provided Dichio with the opportunity to break into QPR's first team in the 1995–96Premier League season. He scored on his league debut for QPR againstAston Villa, and forged a strike partnership withKevin Gallen throughout the remainder of the season. Prior to his QPR debut, he played on loan atBarnet andWelling United. Dichio moved to Italy'sSerie A withSampdoria in the close season of 1996/97, and soon after had a loan spell atLecce. He returned to England to joinSunderland in January 1998, helping them win promotion to the Premiership as Division One champions with 105 points in his first full season (1998–99), and finish seventh in the Premiership in the next two seasons.
While at Sunderland, Dichio went on loan toWest Bromwich Albion at the start of the 2001–02 season. The spell was a successful one, with Dichio scoring on his debut away atSheffield Wednesday on 25 August 2001 and again on his home debut in a 1–0 win againstGillingham two days later. He joined the Midlands side permanently in November 2001 in a £1.25 million deal,[5] and helped them to achieve promotion. In Albion's first Premiership campaign the following season, Dichio was their joint top scorer in the league (withScott Dobie), though with just five Premiership goals, not enough to prevent relegation. He finished as top scorer overall by virtue of hisFA Cup hat-trick againstBradford City. The following season saw Dichio move himself and his family up to the Midlands, having previously commuted from London.[6] Despite settling in the area, however, he failed to regain a starting place in the team and in October 2003, he joinedDerby on loan,[7] scoring once against Ipswich Town.[8] He then had another loan spell, this time atMillwall,[9] whom he later joined on a permanent deal.[10]
Dichio was unable to play in the2004 FA Cup final for Millwall, due to suspension.[11] He scored 10 goals in 27 starts for Millwall in the2004–05 season. In the summer of 2005, he moved toPreston North End,[12] but did not score in the league in hisfirst season.
In the summer of 2006, he was the subject of a bid fromBrighton. Although a fee was agreed, Dichio chose to stay at Preston and fight for his place.[13] On 14 October 2006, he scored his first league goal for Preston in a 4–1 win overSunderland. Dichio, despite a difficult start to his Preston career, won over the fans atDeepdale causing many to be greatly upset as the news broke that his move to Toronto was to be finalised.
In April 2007, Dichio was released from his contract to let him join the newly created MLS clubToronto FC.[14]
Over the next three seasons, Dichio made 59 league appearances for Toronto in theMLS,Canadian Championship andCONCACAF Champions League games. He scored 14 goals, including the club's first ever goal and the club's last goal of its inaugural season. He managed five goals in five shots on target to start the2008 Major League Soccer season. That same year, Dichio also cemented his association with the Thornhill Soccer Club, a non-profit club that organises soccer leagues for age groups 4 and up, including adult leagues.On 18 March 2009, he announced his intention to retire after the2009 Major League Soccer season and to continue living inToronto while also pursuing coaching opportunities.[15] However, on 9 September 2009, Dichio officially announced his retirement with six games remaining on Toronto FC's season schedule. His new role with the team was Toronto FC Team Ambassador, participating in local community appearances, and Academy Coach, where he was assigned to "assist coaches on all three Toronto FC teams while beginning to learn about the nuances of MLS".[16] He remains much beloved of Toronto fans, who sing a song in his honour in the 24th minute of each game, commemorating his inaugural goal for the franchise (scored at 23:13 on 12 May 2007 vs. Chicago Fire).[17]
He became apermanent resident of Canada in April 2009. In mid-2009, he began working with theToronto FC Academy.
Following the firing of head coachPreki in September 2010,Nick Dasovic was named interim head coach, and Dichio became an assistant coach. With new management put in place during the off-season in 2011,Aron Winter as head coach andBob de Klerk as his assistant named Dichio as the new head coach of theTFC Academy U-18 team that competed in theCanadian Soccer League's first division.[18] Dichio replaced former coachJason Bent, who was with the academy for three years before being promoted as Winter's second assistant.[19] After the conclusion of the 2012 season, he was nominated for thedivision's coach of the year.[20]
In 2021, he served as an assistant coach withToronto FC II and was also named to the coaching staff for theCanada national team.[21] He announced his departure from the Toronto FC organization after the 2021 season.[22]
In 2022, he joined the coaching staff ofMark Briggs as an assistant coach for theSacramento Republic in theUSL Championship.[23]
On November 29, 2023, Dichio was officially appointed as the new manager for USL Championship clubDetroit City, replacingTrevor James, who remained with the club as the sporting director.[24][25]
Sunderland
