Ali Dia was not born to play football but how did he manage to get into the very competitive English premier league? Well, the story goes that Southampton manager Graeme Souness was convinced over the phone by former FIFA Player of the Year George Weah to sign his cousin Dia.
As it turned out, Dia is no relation to Weah whatsoever and it was the Senegalese “footballer” impersonating the former Chelsea forward. Somehow Dia managed to evade suspicion in training and was sprung onto the bench for the Saints’ league game against Leeds in November 1996.
Dia played just one game for Southampton, wearing the number 33 shirt, against Leeds United on 23 November 1996; he had originally been scheduled to play in a reserve team friendly against Arsenal, but the match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch.
In the match against Leeds, he came on as a substitute for Matthew Le Tissier after 32 minutes, but was later substituted himself (for Ken Monkou) in the 53rd minute; Leeds won the match 2–0. Le Tissier said: “He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice; it was very embarrassing to watch.”
Dia was released by Southampton two weeks into his contract. He briefly played for non-league Gateshead, before leaving in February 1997. Dia only played eight games for the North East outfit, including scoring on his debut in a 5–0 win over Bath City.
He went on to study business at Northumbria University in Newcastle, graduating in 2001.
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