Paolo Pasquale Peschisolido (born 25 May 1971), commonly known as Paul Peschisolido, is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

manager and former player. Peschisolido was manager of English

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

from May 2009 until March 2012. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, Peschisolido began his career 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 ...

with 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 ...

and played in the Major Indoor Soccer League with the Kansas City Comets before moving to England. Over 16 seasons he scored 118 goals from 447 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, playing for nine different clubs:

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. Peschisolido represented his country from U-16 level upwards to the senior level spanning from 1986 to 2004, making his senior debut for the Canadian national team in 1992. He went on to play 53 times for Canada, scoring 10 goals, in a 12-year senior international career. On 1 June 2013, he was inducted into the

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer Ha ...

Club career

Early years

Peschisolido was born in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada suburb of

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

. He began his

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

playing career when still a high-schooler with

Archbishop Denis O'Connor Catholic High School Archbishop Denis O'Connor Catholic High School (abbreviated DO'C) is a Roman Catholic high school located in Ajax, Ontario, Canada, within the Durham Catholic District School Board. It is named for Archbishop Denis T. O'Connor, a priest who was ...

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

. Peschisolido led the team to OFSAA finals in his last year then moved on as a trainee with the

of the

, where he was named the "Rookie of the Year" in 1989. He also played the 1990–91 Major Indoor Soccer League season with the Kansas City Comets, being named the league's 'Newcomer of the Year'.

Birmingham City

After spending a year with the

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

academy, returning homesick saw him offered the opportunity from his former national youth team coach Tony Taylor to join

for £25,000 in November 1992. He was joint top scorer in each of his two seasons with the club.

Stoke City

In August 1994, he moved on to

in a £400,000 plus player exchange deal involving

Dave Regis David Regis (born 3 March 1964) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored 53 goals from 237 appearances in the Football League in the 1990s, notably for Stoke City and Notts County. Playing career Regi ...

. He was top scorer with 15 goals for the 1994–95 season, 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.

West Bromwich Albion

Peschisolido signed for

in a £600,000 deal in July 1996. He made his first appearance for the club in the 3–1 home

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

defeat to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

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 at

. He was joint top League scorer that season for the club.

Fulham

After 51 appearances and 21 goals for West Brom, he dropped down a division to join

in October 1997, for a £1.1 million transfer fee. He appeared 37 times for 'the Cottagers' in the 1997–98 season, scoring 13 goals and helping the team win promotion as Division Two champions. In the next two seasons, he produced 10 goals from 40 appearances and 7 from 36 appearances in all competitions. After appearing in two League Cup matches for Fulham in the 2000–01 season, Peschisolido was loaned to Queens Park Rangers in November 2000. He scored on his QPR debut, playing alongside the much taller

Peter Crouch Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, and ...

in a 1–1 draw against Portsmouth. In January 2001, he went on loan again, this time to

, also scoring on his debut for "the Blades", before spending a further loan period at

Sheffield United

He later re-joined Sheffield United in a permanent deal for £250,000, after agreeing to a wage cut. He was a key player in the 2002–03 season, helping the club reach the semi-finals of the 2003

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and

and the Division One play-off final. In the play-off semi-final against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, Sheffield United came back from a two-goal deficit to take the game into

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. 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. In the 2003 FA Cup semi-final against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, he was denied an equalising goal by goalkeeper

David Seaman David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country's ...

, who made a one-handed "claw-back" save from Peschisolido's header which three-time

Best European Goalkeeper The Best European Goalkeeper award is a football award given annually since 1990 to the most outstanding Goalkeeper in Europe, as voted by the UEFA magazine, in 2009 the ESM become the donor of the award. From 1998 to 2009 the Best European Goa ...

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

later described as "the best stop I’ve ever seen in the flesh".

Derby County

In March 2004, Peschisolido joined

in a swap deal, with

Izale McLeod Izale Michael McLeod (born 15 October 1984) is a retired English professional footballer who played as a forward. He has played in The Football League for Derby County, Milton Keynes Dons, Charlton Athletic, Barnet, Portsmouth, Crawley Town, N ...

moving to United on loan for the rest of the season. 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 goalkeeper Barry Roche, who sliced an attempted clearance after the ball deflected off a plastic coffee cup on the pitch. After Derby avoided relegation in 2004, Peschisolido's "knack for scoring vital goals from the substitutes' bench" helped them reach the playoffs in 2005 and 2007, though he started in the playoff final against West Bromwich Albion at Wembley Stadium, which Derby won 1–0 to earn promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. Peschisolido was released by the club at the end of that season.

Luton Town

On 16 July 2007 Peschisolido signed for

on a one-year deal. He played just four league matches and one cup match for Luton, scoring once in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

, 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. Luton released Peschisolido at the end of the 2007–08 season, following their relegation to League Two. Failing to fully recover from injury, he would subsequently retire and not seek a new club. By this time, he had accumulated 447 Football League appearances and 118 goals over 16 years, predominantly in the second tier of English professional football. He also made 76 cup appearances, scoring 22 goals.

International career

Peschisolido played in all of Canada's three games at the 1987 FIFA U-16 World Championship which were held in Canada. He earned 7 caps at the U-17 level, 6 caps at the U-20 level scoring 2 goals, and 12 caps at the U-23 level scoring 5 goals. He made his senior national team debut for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on 13 June 1992 in a match against

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Varsity Stadium Varsity Stadium is an outdoor collegiate football stadium located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Toronto Varsity Blues, the athletic teams of the University of Toronto. Athletic events have been hosted on the site since 1898; the ...

where he scored his first international goal. Peschisolido formed effective striker partnerships for

with

Alex Bunbury Alexander Bunbury (born 18 June 1967) is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played as a striker. He played mainly for Marítimo in Portugal during a 13-year professional career, and represented the Canadian national team during ...

and

Carlo Corazzin Giancarlo Michele "Carlo" Corazzin (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player who played as a forward for Winnipeg Fury, Vancouver 86ers, Cambridge United, Plymouth Argyle, Northampton Town, Oldham Athletic and Van ...

over their years with the national team. Peschisolido scored the majority of his international goals between 1995 and 1996 at

Commonwealth Stadium Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air, multipurpose stadium located in the McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily used for Canadian fo ...

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. He scored his last international goal on his 50th cap on 13 June 2004 in a World Cup qualification match against

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, 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 with

Tomasz Radzinski Tomasz Radzinski (born 14 December 1973) is a former professional soccer player who played as a striker and winger. He featured for clubs including North York Rockets in Canada, Germinal Ekeren, Anderlecht (where he won the national champions ...

in all-time scoring for Canada. He represented Canada in four

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

campaigns (

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, 1998,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

) in 26

matches He played in the Canadian squad that won the

2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fifth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the 15th overall CONCACAF tournament. It was held in Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego ...

and played in all of Canada's three games at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. His final international cap was on 4 September 2004 at

in a World Cup qualification match against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

Managerial career

On 15 January 2009, he was appointed as Jeff Kenna's assistant manager at League of Ireland club

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

. Both Kenna and Peschisolido registered as players for the 2009 season in case of emergency. On 15 May 2009, he resigned from this post for "personal reasons" with immediate effect. Three days later, on 18 May 2009, he was appointed manager of

taking over from caretaker manager

Roy McFarland Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and former player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England. Playing career Born in Liverpool, McFarland was a player f ...

, who had taken the club to promotion to

after the departure of

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was c ...

. Peschisolido was in charge of Burton for almost 3 years but was relieved of his duties on 17 March 2012, following a winless run of 14 games.

Personal life

In 1995, Peschisolido married

Karren Brady Karren Rita Brady, Baroness Brady, (born 4 April 1969) is a British business executive and television personality. She is a former managing director of Birmingham City F.C. and current vice-chairman of West Ham United F.C., and an aide to Al ...

, who was at the time managing director of Birmingham City F.C. The couple have two children, daughter Sophia and son Paolo. Peschisolido is a cousin of former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) player Mike Ricci.

Career statistics

Club

Source:

International

Source:

International goals

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Club

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

**Winners: 1998-99

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

playoff winners: 2006–07

International

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

: **Winners:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Individual

Rookie of the Year: 1989 *

All-Star Team: 1990 *

All-Star team: 1992 * Major Indoor Soccer League Newcomer of the Year: 1991 *

Canadian Player of the Year The Canada Soccer Player of the Year award celebrates Canada's top male and female soccer players in recognition of their achievements with both the national teams and their respective clubs. Since 2007, voting has been conducted by Canadian coac ...

: 1996 *

: 2013

Notes

:A. Soccerbase's stats for the match between Derby County and Birmingham City on 9 March 2007 fail to include appearances by substitutes for either side, one of whom was Peschisolido. Therefore, until and unless they correct it, he ''should'' have one more appearance for Derby than given on his Soccerbase page.

References

External links

*
A November 2004 ''BBC Derby'' profile of Peschisolido
* / Canada Soccer Hall of Fame
Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peschisolido, Paul 1971 births Living people Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian emigrants to England Soccer players from Toronto Sportspeople from Scarborough, Toronto Association football forwards Canadian soccer players Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Kansas City Comets (original MISL) players Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993) players Birmingham City F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in England Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Major Soccer League players Canadian soccer coaches Burton Albion F.C. managers English Football League managers English Football League players Spouses of life peers Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England