Julian Paolo Uccello (born October 30, 1986) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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.

Career

Youth

From the age of 5 to 15, Julian had played with youth clubs in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, including Richmond Hill Soccer Club, Thornhill Soccer Club, Kleinburg Nobleton Soccer Club and Woodbridge Soccer Club, before moving overseas. Julian secured a trial with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

for six months, playing a league game with the U-17 team, scoring a goal in his only game for the club. Julian then went on to trial with the

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

a year later. Following these trials in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Uccello found a home to continue his footballing development in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, first being brought over by

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, but in the end signing on with

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

Professional

After

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

's youth team, Julian was put on loan with

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

in 2004, scoring 19 goals in his first year one shy of all time record held by Panucci. At the end of his loan deal with Savona, he was released by Milan, at which point he signed with

AC Sansovino Associazione Calcio Sansovino is an Italian association football club, based in Monte San Savino, Tuscany. Sansovino currently plays in Eccellenza. History Foundation The club was founded in 1929. From Serie C2 to Serie D From the 2003 ...

on a transfer. He quickly earned the golden boot scoring title in 2007, finishing third overall in Serie D, where he netted 24 goals during the run of play, until the summer of 2009, when he signed a one-year deal with

FC Crotone Football Club Crotone S.r.l., commonly referred to as Crotone, is an Italian football club based in Crotone, Calabria. They play in the third division of Italian football, the Serie C. Founded on 20 September 1910, it holds its home games at Sta ...

. He was then put on loan to Bellaria in C2 where he netted 10 goals in 30 games, before returning to re-sign a three-year deal with

. In June 2009, Uccello began to be noticed by

fans when he played the first half and scored a goal at

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed on the former Exhibition Stadium site and first opened in 2007, it is the home field of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Toronto Ar ...

in a

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; ; ''Zineddin Lyazid Zidan''; ; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as an attacking midfi ...

charity game, called "Zidane & Friends All Star Match," in which world soccer veterans took on the Canadian All-Stars. The game finished in a 3–3 draw, with Uccello having scored the opening goal for the Canadian All-Stars with a memorable celebration in front of the South Stand in front of his grandfather Paolo Uccello. He finally debuted for Crotone on September 4, 2010 in a 1–1 away draw versus former

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

team

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. In January 2011, Uccello was loaned to

A.S. Casale Calcio ASD Casale Foot Ball Club (formerly AS Casale Calcio) is an Italian football club, based in Casale Monferrato, Piedmont. The club plays in Serie D. The team's nickname ''nerostellati'' ("the starred-blacks") refers to the team's colours of blac ...

, with whom he had spent the 2008–09 season. In an interview he said "Both Crotone and Casale have agreed and have assured me that I'm there for one role only and that is to be their first line striker for the next six months." Uccello made his return appearance for Casale on January 15, 2011 in a 5–0 loss to Pro Patria and was elected as the Captain of Casale for the balance of the year. He returned to Crotone after his loan from Casale and remained until January 2012, when he negotiated a release from the team with a year and a half remaining on his contract. Uccello has been the top goal scorer for five of the seven teams he has played for in Italy. Uccello, with 128 goals in Italy, has a scoring average of one goal every 59 minutes played (total 19,490 minutes), up to the end of his 2012 season. In 2012, he returned to Canada to play 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 ...

. In 2014, he played in

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

Woodbridge Strikers Woodbridge Strikers Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Woodbridge, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014. The team plays home g ...

International

Uccello first represented

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

with the under-20 team at the 2005 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament, in which Canada won Group B, going undefeated winning all three games. Julian was not a part of the Canada national team plans until early In October, 2010, senior national team coach Stephen Hart named him in the 18 man

squad to play a friendly on October 8 versus

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He failed to make an appearance in the 2–2 away draw versus Ukraine, with goals for Canada from

Atiba Hutchinson Atiba Hutchinson (born 8 February 1983) is a former Canadian professional Association football, soccer player. Considered an iconic figure of North American soccer and a Canada soccer legend, with 105 international appearances in the span of 20 ...

and

Simeon Jackson Simeon Alexander Jackson (born March 28, 1987) is a Canadian semi-professional soccer player who plays as a forward for A.F.C. Sudbury. He has spent the majority of his career playing in England, relocating from Mississauga, Ontario, to South ...

Personal life

Julian has two younger brothers who are twins,

Luca Luca or LUCA may refer to: People * Luca (masculine given name), including a list of people * Luca (feminine given name), including a list of people * Luca (surname), including a list of people Places * The ancient name of Lucca, an Etruscan ...

and Michael Uccello. Luca is currently with

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that competes in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as we ...

and the Canada national team. Michael, is now attending the Toronto film school to follow his dream of becoming a film director/producer. He also has an older sister Melissa. Julian was diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

in 2011, which caused him to retire from professional soccer. He is now a V.P. of Housing for Stateview Homes and is currently coaching U-15 Woodbridge Strikers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uccello, Julian 1986 births Living people Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Serie B players Savona FBC players FC Crotone players York Region Shooters players Soccer players from Toronto Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Men's association football forwards Woodbridge Strikers players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen