53 Minutes

Against all odds, Ali Dia has now become a Premier League footballer, if only for a fleeting moment. Questions are being asked about who he is and where he’s come from, and this is where the myth of Ali as 'a hoaxer or a prankster' implodes.

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It’s one thing to blag your way into a football club for a trial. It’s something else entirely to find yourself stepping onto the pitch during an actual Premier League match. So what exactly happened in the run-up to Ali Dia making his infamous appearance for Southampton against Leeds in November 1996? Josh and Dara investigate the run-up to matchday.

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The mid-90s were a wild time in football. Regulations were loose, players could still be seen in your local boozer and clubs themselves were easier to access. Josh and Dara explore how these were the perfect conditions for someone purporting to be footballing legend George Weah to phone Southampton and offer them their “cousin” – Ali Dia.

If you like what you hear, please do leave a rating and a review. Don't forget, you can listen on Global Player. Download it from the App Store, or head to globalplayer.com

Ali Dia is the Premier League’s most mysterious and misunderstood footballer. But what’s the truth about his infamous appearance for Southampton in November 1996? More than 25 years on, does he deserve his reputation as “the worst Premier League player of all time”? Josh Widdicombe and Dara Ó Briain unpick the truth from the myth.

If you like what you hear, please do leave a rating and a review. Don't forget, you can listen on Global Player. Download it from the App Store, or head to globalplayer.com

Ali Dia - it's a name synonymous with footballing failure. How did a below average footballer find his way onto the sport's most elite stage, the Premier League?

Josh Widdicombe and Dara Ó Briain preview their new 6-part podcast series, in which they unearth the weird and wonderful truth behind the biggest mystery in football history.

The series kicks off on Tuesday 19th March.