Paolo Ceccarelli (born October 12, 1969) is a Canadian retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He was the 1996

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

Goalkeeper of the Year.

Club

Ceccarelli played for the

Toronto Jets The Toronto Jets was a S.S. Pauline Soccer Club team that played in the Minor Division (MD) of the Canadian National Soccer League, formerly the National Soccer League (N.S.L.) between 1977–1979, and perhaps as early as 1976. The 1976 and 1979 tea ...

during his youth. In September 1987, he signed with Dunfermline Athletic after the coaching staff noticed Ceccarelli when Dunfermline played an exhibition game against the Jets. By 1989, Ceccarelli was back in Canada, playing for the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

. In 1991, he moved to the

North York Rockets The North York Rockets were a professional soccer team based in North York, Toronto, Ontario that competed in the original Canadian Soccer League. They were one of four teams to participate in every season of the CSL. Upon the demise of the CSL, ...

. In twenty-six games, he earned a 1.05

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

which placed him top of the goalkeeper chart and earned him All Star recognition. Ceccarelli was back with the Blizzard in 1993, this time playing in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

. In the fall of 1993, he became a backup goalkeeper with

Dundee F.C. Dundee Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland, founded in 1893. The team are nicknamed "The Dark Blues" or "The Dee". The club plays its home matches at Dens Park. The club was formed after a merg ...

before moving to

Berwick Rangers F.C. Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...

for one game. In the spring of 1994, Ceccarelli moved to the Montreal Impact. In 1996, he was First Team All League and the APSL Goalkeeper of the Year. In addition to playing outdoors with the Impact, Ceccarelli spent the 1996-1997 winter season with the Toronto Shooting Stars of the National Professional Soccer League. He was back with the Impact for the 1997 outdoor season, earning Second Team All League honors. Montreal entered the NPSL the next two winter seasons (1997-1999) and Ceccarelli remained with them for those competitions. In the summer of 1999, the Impact went on hiatus and Ceccarelli spent the summer coaching the Impact's youth clubs. He then lost the entire 2000 outdoor season with a knee injury. He returned to playing that fall with the

Toronto Thunderhawks Toronto ThunderHawks were an indoor soccer team based in Mississauga, Ontario that competed in the defunct NPSL. The team began play in the 2000–2001 season, with home games at the Hershey Centre. The team was owned by businessman Neil Ja ...

of the NPSL. In July 2001, Ceccarelli returned to the Impact for one last outdoor game. In 2001, Ceccarelli signed with the Harrisburg Heat of the second Major Indoor Soccer League. In 2002, Ceccarelli signed with the Brampton Hitmen of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. The signing was announced on April 30, 2002. He recorded his first clean sheet against London City on June 8, 2002. He featured in 19 matches for the Hitmen, but the club failed to reach the postseason by finishing sixth in the standings of the Western Conference. He returned to Brampton the following year and his signing was announced on June 6, 2003. Unfortunately he suffered a leg injury which resulted in him serving as a backup goalkeeper for Roy Blanche, which eventually led to his release midway through the season. In September 2002, the Heat traded Ceccarelli to the Kansas City Comets in exchange for Chris Damico.Heat Adds Veteran Goalkeeper
/ref> Ceccarelli retired at the end of the season.

International

In 1991 and 1992, Ceccarelli played ten games with the Canada men's national under-23 soccer team in its unsuccessful Olympic qualification campaign.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceccarelli, Paolo 1961 births Living people Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Soccer players from Toronto Canadian men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993) players North York Rockets players Dundee F.C. players Berwick Rangers F.C. players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Toronto Shooting Stars players Toronto ThunderHawks players Harrisburg Heat players Brampton Stallions players Kansas City Comets (2001–2005) players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players American Professional Soccer League players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Scottish Football League players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Canadian National Soccer League players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland