In 1996 Graeme Souness immortalised himself in football folklore by falling for an amazing scam that resulted in him signing a player who was so bad, that it was literally possibly to find a better player randomly on the street.
The whole situation started when Ali Dia, a desperate 30-year-old nobody, convinced his agent (who presumably was broke too) to phone the then Southampton boss pretending to be World Footballer of the Year, George Weah, recommending ‘his cousin’ (Ali Dia) as the next big thing.
Souness fell for it and Dia was instantly signed up on a month’s loan.
As you can imagine, Souness was eager to see what his new acquisition could do but the proposed reserve game, and Dia’s debut, against Arsenal was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Heaven behold, Souness made the dumbest decision of his life and Dia suddenly found himself on the bench in Southampton’s next game against Leeds.
However, the madness didn't stop here.
Despite Souness never seeing Dia kick a ball, he brought him off the bench. Star striker and captain Le Tissier pulled a hamstring and on 57 minutes, Dia came on for him.
What followed next was nothing short of hilariously insane!
Dia had the touch of an elephant and the whole spectacle was an embarrassment.
He couldn’t control a ball to save his life and after 14 minutes of 'Bambi on ice' the substitute was substituted, and his loan rapidly terminated.
However, according to the team physio, Dia turned up on Monday morning for a treatment on an injury. Afterwards, he just got up and left, never to be seen again.
Oh no, wait! That's not entirely true..
After his embarrassing stint at Southampton , he played for Non league team Gateshead where he scored in his first match! He got transfer listed shortly after only making eight appearances.
He has never been heard of since..
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3 months ago
Thanks for writing this story Salomon. This story is one for the ages. Hilarious!! Could you imagine suiting up for Chelsea or some other team? It must have been a great experience for this bloke.
from 3 months ago
Thanks Marcus..
3 months ago
That was funny!
from 3 months ago
Cheers
3 months ago
lol!!!! Fantastic. That was funny. Would have payed to see him play. Lol.
from 3 months ago
Yeah would have been a laugh....
3 months ago
LMAO! Awesome job mate! nice story! Poor Souness!
from 3 months ago
haha thanks Dev.
3 months ago
hahaha hilarious, good one :)
from 3 months ago
Thanks luv...
3 months ago
Its a cracker that. Ali dia is a legend!
from 3 months ago
A bloody legend he is ;)
3 months ago
Priceless! What can I say, that is classic.
from 3 months ago
haha thanks Jeff..
3 months ago
Haha thanks for that Saloman, was just lokking at clips of him on youtube....truley hilarious!
from 3 months ago
lol thanks Keith, yeah seeing him jumping around like a lunatic is priceless!!
Where have you disappeared off to these days...?
3 months ago
Nice work Saloman. I wish i had seen that game, would be cool to find footage of that performance.
from 3 months ago
Thanks Tim..
There are some clips going around in youtube, you could find some there...
3 months ago
I know mate
3 months ago
I know mate, been off the grid for a long while! May get back to writing! Im in college at the moment so I dont get much of a chance to contribute. See your still writing quality! :)
from 3 months ago
haha thanks..Im still doing my bit around here lol
Well good for you ;)
3 months ago
Absolutely brilliant, Salomon. Can not believe I never heard of this before now!
from 3 months ago
haha you'd never heard of this before..?? Now thats really surprising.... I was told of this story when I first moved to the UK some 11 years or so ago....
Thanks for the pick mate...
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