Paolo Andrea Pietro Vernazza (born 1 November 1979) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played 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 ...

Career

Vernazza started his career at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

but struggled to break into the first team. His development as a player may have been hampered by injuries sustained in an incident with a burglar in his home in 2001, in which Vernazza and fellow Arsenal trainee Andrew Douglas were both stabbed. He made his first-team debut in a League Cup match against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

on 14 October 1997. He only played one league game (against Crystal Palace) as Arsenal won the 1997–98 FA Premier League, meaning he didn't qualify for a winners' medal. His performances in Arsenal's reserves resulted in him gaining a place in the

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 ...

squad for the

1999 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament. Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. :1.Teams tha ...

. He had loan spells at Ipswich Town and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, before leaving Arsenal for

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in December 2000. He played 11 times for Arsenal, scoring one goal, in a 2–1 win over Coventry City on 16 September 2000. Vernazza spent three and a half years at Watford, making 96 league appearances, before moving to Rotherham United in the summer of 2004 on a free. Paolo's time at Rotherham was largely unsuccessful, resulting in him spending a loan spell at Barnet before being released in May 2006. Following a successful trial, Vernazza signed for Dagenham & Redbridge on 14 December 2006. He was part of the squad that helped Dagenham gain promotion to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for the first time in the club's history, winning the

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

in the 2006–07 season. He joined Weymouth on 9 July 2007. Vernazza appeared as a substitute for

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

in a pre-season game against former club Arsenal on 26 July 2008. However, on 6 August 2008 he signed for another Conference club,

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

, following a successful trial. On 4 September 2009, Vernazza signed for

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Chadfields in nearby Tilbury. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former ...

, before leaving in February 2010. He joined Hemel Hempstead Town in March. In September 2010, he joined

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

. He retired from football in 2011. He is now a player agent for various youth players.

Honours

Arsenal *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vernazza, Paolo 1979 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Islington People from Islington (district) English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Arsenal F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Watford F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Woking F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Hemel Hempstead Town F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players