Alessandro Zarrelli

Alessandro Zarrelli

Personal information
Full name	Alessandro Zarrelli
Date of birth	(1984-09-05) 5 September 1984
Place of birth	Rivoli, Italy
Height
Position(s)	Defensive Midfielder
Team information
Current team	St Cuthbert Wanderers
Youth career
2002–2004	A.C.D. Asti
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2005	Lisburn Distillery	5	(0)
2005–2006	AFC Wimbledon	11	(2)
2006–2008	Ardeer Thistle	31	(5)
2008–2009	Queens Park	15	(1)
2009–2010	Irvine Meadow (loan)	9	(0)
2010–2011	Northwich Victoria	16	(0)
2011	Hucknall Town	8	(0)
2012	Lincoln Moorlands Railway	19	(0)
2012–2013	Diss Town	7	(0)
2013	Downham Town (loan)	14	(0)
2013	Long Melford	9	(0)
2014	Erith & Belvedere	17	(0)
2014	Eastbourne Town	6	(0)
2014	Sheppey United	3	(0)
2014–15	Selkirk	26	(0)
2015	Widnes (loan)	7	(0)
2015-16	St Cuthbert Wanderers	21	(100)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2nd May 2016

Alessandro Zarrelli (born 5 September 1984), sometimes referred to as Alex Zarrelli, is an Italian semi-professional footballer and Academy professional football coach, who plays as a Defensive Midfielder for Scottish Semi-Professional side St Cuthbert Wanderers.

He is also known in the United Kingdom as the young Italian player who sent fake faxes to football clubs in Wales and Northern Ireland during the 2004–05 season posing as a make believe Italian football official who was offering a young professional footballer on a cultural exchange from the Italian Football Association. Upon accepting the offer, the player they would receive instead would be Zarrelli, a young footballer who had gone through the youth system at A.C.D. Asti. Having managed to secure a short deal with Lisburn Distillery, he failed to impress both Bangor City and Connah's Quay Nomads despite spending time training with both clubs, and after both clubs sent out an alert over the "mystery Italian football star" in May 2006, he was eventually exposed by the Sky TV documentary "Superfakes".

Since then, Zarrelli has forged a career as a semi-professional footballer in Scotland and England, has graduated in Sport at Leeds Metropolitan University and now coaches youngsters at academy level. He has previously played for Lisburn Distillery, AFC Wimbledon, Ardeer Thistle, Queens Park, Irvine Meadow, Northwich Victoria, Hucknall Town, Lincoln Moorlands Railway, Diss Town, Downham Town, Long Melford, Erith & Belvedere, Eastbourne Town, Sheppey United, Selkirk and Widnes .

Controversy

During the 2004–05 season, Alessandro Zarrelli, a young footballer from Turin in Italy, sent a fake letter and faxes to clubs in Northern Ireland and Wales posing as an up-and-coming young professional footballer, who had been offered to clubs on a cultural exchange by the Italian Football Federation. The letter was sent by an Italian Executive named "Matteo Colobase" when in reality Colobase did not exist. The letter promised the clubs a young Italian footballer who had previously played at youth level for clubs such as Sheffield Wednesday, Rangers and A.C.D. Asti. The first club he contacted was in January 2005, when he approached IFA Premiership side Lisburn Distillery, who eventually signed the player on a short-term deal, he only appeared for a handful of matches before being released later on that season due to a "breach of club rules". He then contacted Welsh Premier League side Bangor City in July 2005, who were unaware of his previous exploits in Northern Ireland, but after staying with the club 10 days, manager Peter Davenport contacted a friend who worked for Zarrelli's former club Sheffield Wednesday. Davenport's friend said that Wednesday only had him at the Club for about a month as a trainee; a few months later, Glasgow Rangers also confirmed that Zarrelli had been at Murray Park for 6–7 weeks in 2001, also as a trainee in their Academy. Most of the problems started during his time at Bangor, when he requested a wage of £200 a week despite initially stating in one of his letters that his wages would be supplied by the FIGC.

Davenport went on to add, "He was only here for about a week to 10 days. In that time, I checked a bit into his background and it didn't add up. He arrived here with a broken nose, so he never actually played for Bangor. He just took part in one warm-up session. He wasn't anything special." Whilst staying with the club, he was put up in the town's Regency Hotel, owned by one of the Club's directors, in which upon his departure, he failed to settle his bill after a contract was not agreed during his stay in North Wales. He was eventually exposed by the Sky TV show "Superfakes" which covered Zarrelli's story. The documentary team were able to track the fax number to a shop in Asti, Italy. The crew then tracked him in London, where they staged a fake meeting posing as football scouts, Zarrelli showed up and began to talk for several minutes, before the crew sprung their surprise upon him. Zarrelli admitted sending the faxes but never taking any money from any club before later phoning the TV's presenters to sarcastically thanking them for making him famous.

Football career

After those events and a brief spell at newly formed AFC Wimbledon Zarrelli moved over the border to Scotland in 2006 mainly due to the lack of English sides willing to sign him. In Scotland he played with Ardeer Thistle and Queens Park, before being loaned out to Irvine Meadow. He then moved back to England in 2010, to play with Northwich Victoria Hucknall Town and Lincoln Moorlands Railway. In September 2012, he signed as a semi-professional footballer for Diss Town and days after his signature, club chairman Dicky Upson said that "he will be judged on his footballing ability", adding, "We are aware of what happened in the past, which was several years ago. [The programme] is still on YouTube and I have seen it. I have met and spoken with Alex and told him he will be judged on his footballing ability and nothing else at our club". In February 2013, he signed on loan for Downham Town.

Downham boss Pete Brassett went on to say about his new signing, "When I first met Alex he was very honest. He told me all about what has happened in the past. We will move forward and it doesn’t really affect me or the Club. The past is the past - without a doubt he’s got his life back on track. Some people would have buried their head in the sand but he’s come through it, picked himself back up again, and I respect him for that." In August 2013, Zarrelli joined Long Melford where after a decent start and some positive performances he managed to earn a starting place in most of the matches played. That solid start earned him a move to Erith & Belvedere in January 2014 until the end of the season, where personal circumstances limited his appearances for the club, which eventually ended up being relegated from the Isthman League. Zarrelli joined Eastbourne Town in June 2014, where he signed a short term deal until September. When the deal expired he moved to Sheppey United, where again injuries depleted the number of games he played. At the time of leaving the Club Zarrelli had made three appearances. In October Zarrelli got a job working in Edinburgh, and was close to join Coldstream, but on October the 24th 2014 he went on to sign for Selkirk FC in the Scottish Lowland League where enjoyed a positive season topped by a few good performances that caught the attention of several Clubs north of the border.

On July the 1st 2015 St Cuthbert Wanderers manager Rab Cameron was pleased to announce his signature on a long term deal after beating the competition of other Lowland League Clubs. In September 2015 after an excellent start, the Scottish Club suddenly announced via their official website that Zarrelli had left on loan by mutual consent; initially, the reasons behind the player's exit were unclear considering the enthusiasm around his signature that transpired from the Scottish Club during the off season, however soon after his departure the local press revealed how a major bust up between the player, the manager and another member of the squad had forced the Scottish Club to "reluctantly" send Zarrelli out on loan in England for 2 months. On his return from the loan St Cuthbert Wanderers placed the player on the transfer list, however in January 2016 a proposed move to Boston Town collapsed after Zarrelli refused to join the English Club citing distance as the main reason behind his choice.

Personal life

Zarrelli now lives in Edinburgh. He graduated in Sport Development at Leeds Metropolitan University and is now doing an MSc in Sports Coaching whilst working at a Professional Football Club, coaching youngsters in their Academy. He has obtained several coaching badges with both the SFA and the FA and currently is a Licensed Coach.

Notes

1. ^ Zarrelli is often incorrectly named in most sources as "Alessandro Zarelli".

External links

• Alessandro Zarrelli on Twitter