Joseph William Anthony Di Chiara (born January 30, 1992) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Early career

Di Chiara played youth soccer with Spartacus soccer club. In 2010, he began his career with the

York Region Shooters York Region Shooters is a Canadian association football, soccer team, that plays in the Canadian Soccer League. The Shooters played their home games at the St. Joan of Arc Turf Field in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The team's colours were blue ...

in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

, and in 2011 was signed by

Krylia Sovetov Samara PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara () is a Russian professional football club based in Samara that plays in the Russian Premier League. In 2004, they finished third in the Russian Premier League. History Krylia Sovetov was founded in Kuybyshev (now Sama ...

, who became interested in him through a connection with his youth coach at Spartacus, Yuri Studin.

Krylia Sovetov

Di Chiara made his

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

debut for Krylia Sovetov Samara on 18 June 2011 in a game against

Terek Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat (; ), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, and formerly as Terek Grozny from 1958 to 2017, is a Russian professional football club based in Grozny that plays in the Russian Premier League. History The club was foun ...

Kecskemeti

Di Chiara then moved to Hungary, joining Kecskemeti, but his stint was marred by injury.

Torpedo Moscow

Di Chiara returned to Russia, joining

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. The club will return to the Russian Premier League in the 2025–26 season. Their c ...

in the second tier.

Vaughan Azzurri

Di Chiara returned to North America in 2014 to play in the newly formed

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

with

Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan Azzurri is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Vaughan, Ontario, that currently competes in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The semi-professional team was founded in 2014 by the Vaughan Soccer Club, which ...

. He was named L1O Cup MVP during the season, after Vaughan captured the cup, defeating

Sigma FC Sigma Sports is a Canadian youth soccer development academy and player management company based in Mississauga, Ontario. They also operate a senior academy soccer team that currently competes in League1 Ontario, as Sigma FC. Over 140 Sigma playe ...

in the final.

Okzhetpes

In February 2015 Di Chiara signed with

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...

side Okzhetpes. He made his debut against

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

on March 7. Di Chiara left Okzhetpes on 1 July 2015.

Second spell at Vaughan

Di Chiara returned once again to Vaughan Azzurri for the 2016 and 2017

seasons. With the Azzurri, Di Chiara won the 2016 League Cup and 2016 League, as well as Finals MVP, in the championship match against

FC London FC London is a Canadian semi-professional association football, soccer club based in London, Ontario, London, Ontario that plays in the men's and women's divisions of League1 Ontario Premier in the Canadian third tier. The team was founded in ...

where he helped contribute to all four of his team's goals.

Unionville Milliken

For the

2018 League1 Ontario season The 2018 Men's League1 Ontario season was the fifth season of play for League1 Ontario, a Division 3 men's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the highest level of soccer based in the Canadian province of Ontario. Vaughan Azzurri ...

, Di Chiara joined

Unionville Milliken SC Unionville Milliken Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Unionville, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its women's and men's semi-professional teams in League1 Ontario in 2017 and ...

Jonava

In June 2018, Di Chiara signed with

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) (). History The first football league was established in Lithuania in 1924, and in various forms existed until 1939. ...

club

FK Jonava Football Club Jonava, previously (1996–2016) known as Football Club Lietava, is a Lithuanian professional association football, football club based in Jonava. The club gained promotion to the A lyga as champions of the I Lyga in 2015 LFF I lyga ...

. He made his debut on June 20 in a 2–0 loss to Sūduva. With the club set to be relegated, he reached an agreement with the club to release him early from his contract, allowing him to join the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

York9

In January 2019, Di Chiara signed with

club

York9 FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histor ...

. He made his debut for York9 in their inaugural match against

Forge FC Forge FC, also known as Forge Football Club, Forge FC Hamilton, or Hamilton Forge FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadia ...

on April 27, 2019. Di Chiara scored his first goal for York9 on October 12 against Forge, netting a penalty to open the scoring in an eventual 4–0 victory. In October 2020 York9 announced Di Chiara was leaving the club per his own request.

Cavalry FC

On November 20, 2020, Di Chiara signed a multi-year contract with

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches ...

. In January 2022, it was announced Di Chiara would return for the 2022 season, his second with the club. Cavalry would announce that Di Chiara would leave the club upon completion of the 2022 season.

International career

Di Chiara was called up to the Canadian senior team on September 26, 2011 for Canada's games in the second round of CONCACAF 2014 World Cup Qualification, but did not appear in either match.

Minifootball career

In 2023, Di Chiara played with Sports Leagues Canada FC at

The Soccer Tournament The Soccer Tournament (TST) is a seven-a-side association football tournament played in the United States, established by TBT Enterprises, creator of The Basketball Tournament (TBT). TST was announced on October 11, 2022 to feature 32 teams with ...

, finishing in second place.

Career statistics

Honours

;Vaughan Azzurri *

First Team All Star:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

External links

*
RFPL profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Chiara, Joseph 1992 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Toronto Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan York Region Shooters players PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara players Kecskeméti TE players FC Torpedo Moscow players FC Okzhetpes players FK Jonava players York United FC players Cavalry FC players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Russian Premier League players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players League1 Ontario players Kazakhstan Premier League players A Lyga players Canadian Premier League players Vaughan Azzurri players Unionville Milliken SC players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen