Ali Dia, Graeme Souness, and the call that fooled no one

In November 1996, someone telephoned Southampton Football Club. Who made the call has never been established. The claim was that Ali Dia was the cousin — or nephew, accounts differ — of George Weah, then one of the best players in the world. The real George Weah had no knowledge of any of it.

The caller also claimed Dia had played for Paris Saint-Germain alongside Weah and held 13 caps for Senegal. Both were false. He had never played for PSG. He had never been capped by Senegal. What he actually was: a 31-year-old who had worked his way through the lower leagues of France, Finland and Germany — Beauvais, Dijon, La Rochelle, Saint-Quentin, Chateaubriant, FinnPa, PK-35, VfB Lübeck. At Lübeck he made two substitute appearances. Two weeks before the Leeds match, on 9 November 1996, he had played once for non-league Blyth Spartans.

Southampton gave him a one-month contract. He wore the number 33 shirt.

The version of this story that circulates most often is that Souness was conned — that a phone call dressed up a journeyman as an international and a manager fell for it. Souness rejects that framing directly. 'The story goes that we were kidded and conned by people, but that's not true. We made the decision on him within the first five minutes.' His account of that Monday morning training session is blunt: 'Within the first five minutes on a Monday morning, we said he wasn't for us. He was hopeless.'

So why was Dia in the squad at all for the Premier League home game against Leeds United on 23 November 1996? Souness's answer is straightforward: 'We were playing Leeds United on the Saturday, and Matt was our only fit forward.'

At The Dell, Dia came on in the 32nd minute, replacing Matt Le Tissier, who had pulled a thigh muscle. He had one shot — saved by Leeds goalkeeper Nigel Martyn — and spent the rest of his time on the pitch doing little to suggest the credentials that had been claimed for him. On 85 minutes he was substituted off, replaced by defender Ken Monkou. Southampton lost 0-2, Gary Kelly scoring on 82 minutes and Lee Sharpe on 89.

Le Tissier, the man Dia replaced, was blunt about what he saw. 'He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice; it was very embarrassing to watch.' Le Tissier had formed an impression even earlier, at training: 'I actually thought he'd won a competition to come and train with us.' On being the player substituted to bring Dia on, he was equally direct: 'I was the player that was substituted for possibly the worst player ever to play in the Premier League.'

Dia was released after roughly a fortnight — well short of his one-month deal. He never played for Southampton's first team again and never appeared in the Premier League again.

The story did not end there, though it became quieter. In December 1996 Dia joined Gateshead in the Conference and scored on his debut in a 5-0 win over Bath City, adding a second goal across a handful of appearances. He was transfer-listed in February 1997, then had a brief spell at Spennymoor United.

What became of him after that is reported but unconfirmed. He is said to have taken a business degree and later an MBA, and to have built a career in business. He has stayed out of public view, and those details could not be verified.

What is confirmed: 53 minutes of Premier League football, one shot on goal, and a manager who insists — on the record — that he was never fooled.