597:, but was looking to move back to Qatar. He told them that the Southampton story was "hurtful" to him and his family, but insisted that he was not a liar and that he trained with Southampton for a month and a half, where he impressed before making his debut, despite previous reports that he spent less than a week with Southampton before he made his infamous debut.
565:. Dia said: "I have been portrayed as a con man and a poor player, but I am neither and intend to prove people wrong. Obviously I'm disappointed not to have made it in the Premiership, but I've got faith in my own ability and my only concern now is Gateshead. My contract is just until the end of the season. But if things go well, who knows, I could stay longer."
461:
as well as 13 times for his country and should give him a chance at
Southampton. None of this was true and the phone call to Souness was a hoax. Souness was convinced and, without any due diligence, Dia was signed on a one-month contract. However, it is disputed who made the initial call to Souness.
568:
In the short spell between joining Saints and playing for
Gateshead, he pocketed £3,500 in signing-on fees. Souness later admitted that Southampton paid Dia about £2,000 for his 14 days at the club, while Dia received a £1,500 signing-on fee at Gateshead. Dia was eventually transfer listed by
408:, which led to him signing a one-month contract with Southampton days later. Dia played only one match in his short spell at the club. He came on as a substitute in a league game, but was then himself substituted. He was subsequently released, 14 days into his contract.
462:
Some sources state it was Dia's friend from university, while some say it was Dia's agent, and it has also been suggested that it was Dia himself who made the call. It was later reported that the same stunt had been pulled on
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Dia has regularly featured in lists of bad players or bad transfers. He was named at Number 1 in a list of "The 50 worst footballers" in
524:, before leaving in February 1997. Dia played eight games for the North East outfit, including scoring on his debut in a 5–0 win over
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493:, but the match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch. In the match against Leeds, he came on as a substitute for the injured
1283:
1268:
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886:"Ali Dia: Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier, Graeme Souness, and more on George Weah's cousin – football's most famous phoney"
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650:: Brazilian footballer who feigned injuries to conceal his lack of ability while contracted to professional clubs
528:. A day after his Gateshead debut, his George Weah hoax was revealed in the national media. A 2015 article from
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Dia was released by
Southampton two weeks into his contract. Following his release, he went on trial with
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After a playing career at the lower levels in France and
Germany, and having already failed trials at
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1199:
The Search for Ali Dia
Legendary Football Hoaxster Turned Houdini (Menary, Steve: 15 October 2015)
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249:
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501:) in the 85th minute; Leeds won the match 2–0. Le Tissier said: "He ran around the pitch like
482:
589:
in 2003. After finishing his education, Dia worked in the business sector in Qatar. In 2016,
549:
after the story broke, Dia laughed off the allegations and stated he had recently scored for
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in
Newcastle, graduating in 2001. He received a Master of Business Administration from
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Gateshead after a spell of poor form. After leaving
Gateshead, he had a brief spell at
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561:. However, this claim was not true as Senegal had already been knocked out in the
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Dia played just one game for
Southampton, wearing the number 33 shirt, against
644:: Italian footballer who fraudulently attempted to gain professional contracts
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467:
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656:: Serbian footballer and dentist who hoaxed his way into playing a match for
638:: French footballer who fraudulently attempted to gain professional contracts
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playing once in a reserve game for the latter, Dia joined non-league club
431:, where he made only one substitute appearance – on 9 November 1996 in a
31:
1033:. Unofficial Gateshead Football Club Statistics Database. Archived from
17:
594:
535:
231:
1034:
833:"The Search for Ali Dia, Legendary Football Hoaxster Turned Houdini"
485:
on 23 November 1996; he had originally been scheduled to play in a
502:
83:
457:. "Weah" told Souness that Dia was his cousin and had played for
1161:
619:
788:"'What's this geezer doing? He's hopeless' – the Ali Dia story"
478:, also received the same call but dismissed it as "a wind-up".
534:
stated that Dia had also successfully pulled the same ruse on
446:, after Souness received a phone call purporting to be from
1157:"Ranking the 50 worst Premier League transfers of all time"
1059:"Meet the BBC's guest editor (and other accidental heroes)"
593:
tracked down Dia and it was revealed that he was living in
516:. After no offer from Vale followed, he briefly played for
939:"Five terrible debuts to make Fernando Torres feel better"
604:, is a French football player, born and raised in France.
542:. He left both clubs following poor playing performances.
497:
after 32 minutes, but was later substituted himself (for
914:
In That Number – A post-war chronicle of
Southampton FC
466:, who offered Dia a trial, but was let go by manager
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442:Days later, Dia was signed by Southampton manager
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916:. Hagiology Publishing. pp. 248 & 504.
1339:Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Germany
1329:Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England
857:
855:
8:
1334:Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in France
505:on ice; it was very embarrassing to watch."
43:
745:"The 10 worst foreign signings of all time"
367:*Club domestic league appearances and goals
1098:. Shiny Media. 25 May 2008. Archived from
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732:
681:
679:
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42:
376:(born 20 August 1965), commonly known as
966:"The one-off who played for Southampton"
622:'s ranking of the 50 worst transfers in
512:scoring twice in a reserve game against
1314:Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
1304:Expatriate men's footballers in Finland
1299:Expatriate men's footballers in England
1234:Senegalese expatriate men's footballers
669:
1309:Expatriate men's footballers in France
1072:from the original on 25 September 2008
380:, is a Senegalese former professional
1349:San Francisco State University alumni
7:
1092:"Premiership's Top 10 Foreign Flops"
912:Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003).
781:
779:
131:
1239:Men's association football forwards
715:"Aly Dia Profile, News & Stats"
396:manager, that he was the cousin of
388:. In November 1996, Dia convinced
94:1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
34:. For the Guinean footballer, see
25:
831:Menary, Steve (15 October 2015).
470:who said that Dia was "rubbish".
1344:Alumni of Northumbria University
786:Smith, Alan (22 November 2016).
686:Naqi, Kelly (23 November 2016).
30:For the Iranian footballer, see
1279:Olympique Saint-Quentin players
1031:"Gateshead F.C. Season 1996/97"
937:Gibbs, Thom (7 February 2011).
743:Hills, David (6 August 2000).
587:San Francisco State University
1:
1259:Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players
1155:Barnwell, Bill (5 May 2020).
452:FIFA World Player of the Year
398:FIFA World Player of the Year
1229:Senegalese men's footballers
1121:Murphy, Alex (4 July 2007).
1056:Harris, Nick (17 May 2006).
1365:
1124:"The 50 worst footballers"
29:
884:Moore, Joe (2 May 2020).
563:first round of qualifiers
555:1998 World Cup qualifying
366:
101:
93:
82:
64:
56:
1264:Southampton F.C. players
1244:AS Beauvais Oise players
1135:Times Newspapers Limited
1001:"The Journal of Failure"
581:Dia studied business at
865:BBC Sport. 1 April 2003
433:Northern Premier League
1284:Premier League players
1269:Gateshead F.C. players
1224:Footballers from Dakar
773:at FootballDatabase.eu
583:Northumbria University
448:Liberian international
1324:Confidence tricksters
1294:2. Bundesliga players
1289:Veikkausliiga players
1192:19 April 2016 at the
1187:Premier League Record
1096:Who Ate All the Pies?
1005:The Legend of Ali Dia
27:Senegalese footballer
974:. 22 November 2008.
49:Personal information
1011:on 12 December 2013
944:The Daily Telegraph
658:Paris Saint-Germain
642:Alessandro Zarrelli
518:Conference National
459:Paris Saint-Germain
45:
1274:VfB Lübeck players
474:, then manager of
1249:Dijon FCO players
1037:on 9 October 2011
688:"Finding Ali Dia"
636:Grégoire Akcelrod
571:Spennymoor United
489:friendly against
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340:Spennymoor United
16:(Redirected from
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74:(age 59)
62:Date of birth
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1166:. Retrieved
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1138:. Retrieved
1128:
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1104:. Retrieved
1100:the original
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1074:. Retrieved
1063:
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1039:. Retrieved
1035:the original
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1009:the original
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983:. Retrieved
971:The Guardian
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948:. Retrieved
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895:. Retrieved
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842:. Retrieved
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793:The Guardian
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750:The Observer
748:
719:. Retrieved
709:
697:. Retrieved
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487:reserve team
483:Leeds United
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1214:1965 births
1106:18 December
1076:18 December
950:18 December
869:18 December
756:18 December
721:23 November
699:23 November
654:Živko Lukić
455:George Weah
421:Bournemouth
406:George Weah
402:Ballon d'Or
394:Southampton
304:Southampton
182:La Rochelle
99:Position(s)
1208:Categories
1168:3 December
1133:. London:
1015:3 December
985:3 December
664:References
540:VfB Lübeck
514:Sunderland
499:Ken Monkou
468:Tony Pulis
464:Gillingham
418:Gillingham
382:footballer
268:VfB Lübeck
68:1965-08-20
1319:Impostors
1130:The Times
980:0261-3077
891:Talksport
802:0261-3077
626:history.
615:The Times
602:Simon Dia
600:His son,
557:win over
553:in a 3–1
526:Bath City
522:Gateshead
510:Port Vale
450:and then-
322:Gateshead
317:1996–1997
213:1993–1994
195:1991–1992
177:1990–1991
159:1989–1990
141:1988–1989
86:, Senegal
54:Full name
1190:Archived
1070:Archived
630:See also
146:Beauvais
32:Ali Daei
1140:20 July
1041:23 July
897:11 July
844:16 July
807:16 July
771:Ali Dia
618:and on
551:Senegal
491:Arsenal
404:winner
392:, then
386:striker
378:Ali Dia
374:Aly Dia
103:Striker
57:Aly Dia
44:Ali Dia
18:Aly Dia
978:
920:
800:
608:Legacy
595:London
559:Guinea
536:FinnPa
423:, and
412:Career
232:FinnPa
91:Height
520:side
503:Bambi
350:Total
250:PK-35
164:Dijon
114:Years
84:Dakar
1170:2021
1162:ESPN
1142:2007
1108:2012
1078:2012
1043:2011
1017:2013
987:2013
976:ISSN
952:2012
918:ISBN
899:2022
871:2012
846:2024
809:2024
798:ISSN
758:2012
723:2016
701:2016
620:ESPN
538:and
400:and
361:(4+)
335:1997
299:1996
281:1996
263:1995
245:1995
227:1995
124:Apps
118:Team
356:28+
329:(2)
311:(0)
293:(0)
275:(0)
257:(1)
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207:(0)
189:(0)
171:(0)
153:(0)
132:Gls
1210::
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290:1
272:2
254:3
236:5
204:6
186:1
168:0
150:1
134:)
130:(
66:(
38:.
20:)
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