Pinkie Brown
Wir Sind das Volk
Today marks the silver anniversary of the greatest blag in Premier League history, the cameo debut for Southampton of the legend, Ali Dia. A player who claimed to be George Weah's cousin, despite coming from Senegal, a country 2000 miles away from Weah's home country of Liberia. 'George Weah' had phoned around many clubs in an attempt to get his 'cousin' a trial. Most saw through the con. Graeme Souness didn't and brought him on as a sub for the injured Matt Le Tissier against Leeds despite having never seen him play. Dia was so hopeless, he was subbed off again 53 minutes later.
Dia claimed to have previously played with George Weah at PSG plus played in Bundesliga 2 the previous season. Weah, the Senegal FA and PSG had never heard of him. Dia's previous playing time had been one game for Blyth Spartans in the Northern Premier League. To Souness' eternal embarrassment, the story never gets old. He persistently claims to anyone who will listen to him, he wasn't conned. Nobody believes him. Given today's date, Souness has probably turned his phone off and hiding under the covers.
Also of note, a young midfielder by the name of Graham Potter played for Southampton that day. He didn't make many PL appearances, but he played in one of the most remembered and famous thanks to the hero blagger that was Ali Dia.
[Tweet]1463047425011113984[/Tweet]
Dia claimed to have previously played with George Weah at PSG plus played in Bundesliga 2 the previous season. Weah, the Senegal FA and PSG had never heard of him. Dia's previous playing time had been one game for Blyth Spartans in the Northern Premier League. To Souness' eternal embarrassment, the story never gets old. He persistently claims to anyone who will listen to him, he wasn't conned. Nobody believes him. Given today's date, Souness has probably turned his phone off and hiding under the covers.
Also of note, a young midfielder by the name of Graham Potter played for Southampton that day. He didn't make many PL appearances, but he played in one of the most remembered and famous thanks to the hero blagger that was Ali Dia.
[Tweet]1463047425011113984[/Tweet]