Sheffield Wednesday cult hero Michele Di Piedi reveals ambitious plan to end career with Hillsborough celebration

Fresh from his emotive description of how his arrival in Sheffield as a teenager kickstarted the rest of his life and how his first impressions of the Wednesdayite faithful was like “seeing a lady in the street”, the now 39-year-old described a plan to end his football career at Hillsborough in an exhibition match.

Di Canio, Carbone, Jonk, Walker; Di Piedi wishes to gather them all together for a ‘legends’ style clash. Who knows, maybe as a curtain-raiser for post-coronavirus football?

The enigmatic Italian, whose short but sparkling stint in Sheffield ended in 2003, is still paying as a player-coach for Glacis United in Gibraltar.

But it is in the Steel City, not there, that Di Piedi hopes to kick his last football.

“I had a wonderful relationship with the fans. I loved them and they loved me, we are in love” he said in conversation with The Star.

“I will end my career in my 40th year and I want to play my last game not in Italy, not in Gibraltar, it has to be in Sheffield, that is the biggest love I have in my heart.

“I'd like to invite all the big players for this game. I am friends with Des Walker, Andy Hinchcliffe. I'd like to invite all players who have played for the great club; Di Canio, Carbone. Let's have one last game in Sheffield.”

Paolo Di Canio and co back in Owls colours, just for a bit of fun? It’s a plan that may on paper seem fanciful but wrapped in Di Piedi’s enthusiastic tones simply feels like the obvious thing to do. He speaks in pure poetry and without any glimmer of doubt.

“I had good relationships with Simon Donnelly and especially Wim Jonk,” Di Piedi explains. “Wim spoke Italian from his time at Inter Milan and we were good friends, he helped me very much. We had great players. Gilles De Bilde, Efan Ekoku, Andy Booth. I had many friends there.

“A match like this would be beautiful. It is the only way I can end my life in football. The stadium would be full I am sure. It would be beautiful.”

Di Piedi, who also revealed his talented teenage son has ambitions of playing for Wednesday, admitted he is sad to be planning his departure from football.

He said: “For me now, my head is still good, but my body? It is not so good. In my head, I am like a good wine.

“I play here as a player and coach, the team are very young, a lot of teenagers, and it's about giving them experience. We have players from all over the world and I try to help the young lads with that as I moved to Sheffield when I was young.

“The younger generation is not like us, it's a change in mentality. You have to explain certain things. Now everybody wants to be Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, but football is different. Real football is different. It's not easy.”