title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading town centre is a major shopping centre. In 2007, an independent poll placed Reading 16th in a league table of best performing retail centres in the United Kingdom. The main shopping street is Broad Street, which runs between The Oracle in the east and Broad Street Mall in the west and was pedestrianised in 1995. The smaller Friars Walk in Friar Street is closed and will be demolished if the proposed Station Hill redevelopment project goes ahead. There are three major department stores in Reading: John Lewis & Partners (known as "Heelas" until 2001), Debenhams (now closed down), and House of Fraser. The Broad Street branch of bookseller Waterstone's is a conversion of a nonconformist chapel dating from 1707. Besides the two major shopping malls, Reading has three smaller shopping arcades, the Bristol and West Arcade, Harris Arcade and The Walk, which contain smaller specialist stores. An older form of retail facility is represented by Union Street, popularly known as "Smelly Alley". Reading has no indoor market, but there is a street market in Hosier Street. A farmers' market operates on two Saturdays a month.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Every year Reading hosts the Reading Festival, which has been running since 1971. The festival takes place on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend and is the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom aside from the Glastonbury Festival. Reading Festival takes place at Little Johns Farm in Reading, Richfield Avenue. For some twenty years until 2006, Reading was also known for its WOMAD Festival until it moved to Charlton Park in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. The Reading Beer Festival was first held in 1994 and has now grown to one of the largest beer festivals in the United Kingdom. It is held at King's Meadow for the five days immediately preceding the May Day bank holiday every year. Reading also holds Reading Pride, an annual LGBT festival in Kings Meadow.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The Frank Matcham-designed Royal County Theatre, built in 1895, was located on the south side of Friar Street. It burned down in 1937. Within the town hall is a 700-seat concert hall that houses a Father Willis organ. Reading theatre venues include The Hexagon and South Street Arts Centre. Reading Repetory Theatre is based at Reading College: its Royal Patron is Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Amateur theatre venues in Reading include Progress Theatre, a self-governing, self-funding theatre group and registered charity founded in 1947 that operates and maintains its own 97-seat theatre. The demonym for a person from Reading is "Redingensian", giving the name of the local rugby team Redingensians, based in Sonning, and of former members of Reading School.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Jane Austen attended Reading Ladies Boarding School, based in the Abbey Gateway, in 1784–1786. Mary Russell Mitford lived in Reading for a number of years and then spent the rest of her life just outside the town at Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield. The fictional "Belford Regis" of her eponymous novel, first published in 1835, is largely based on Reading. Described with topographical accuracy, it is still possible to follow the steps of the novel's characters in present-day Reading. Reading also appears in the works of Thomas Hardy where it is called 'Aldbrickham'. It features most heavily in his final novel, Jude the Obscure, as the temporary home of Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in Reading Gaol from 1895 to 1897. While there, he wrote his letter "De Profundis". After his release, he lived in exile in France and wrote "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", based on his experience of the execution of Charles Wooldridge, carried out in Reading Gaol whilst he was imprisoned there. Ricky Gervais, who is from Reading, made the film "Cemetery Junction", which, although filmed elsewhere in the United Kingdom, is set in 1970s Reading and is named after a busy junction in East Reading. Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crimes Division novels, "The Big Over Easy" and "The Fourth Bear", are also placed in Reading. The BBC Two sitcom "Beautiful People", based on the memoirs of Simon Doonan, is set in Reading in the late 1990s.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The "Maiwand Lion" in Forbury Gardens, an unofficial symbol of Reading, commemorates the 328 officers of the Royal Berkshire Regiment who died in the Battle of Maiwand in 1880. There are a number of other works of public art in Reading. The Blade, a fourteen-storey building completed in 2009, is tall and can be seen from the surrounding area. Jacksons Corner with its prominent sign, former home of Jacksons department store, occupies the corner of Kings Road and High Street, just south of the Market Place. Reading has six Grade I listed buildings, 22 Grade II* and 853 Grade II buildings, in a wide variety of architectural styles that range from the medieval to the 21st century. The Grade I listed buildings are Reading Abbey, the Abbey Gateway, Greyfriars Church, St Laurence's Church, Reading Minster, and the barn at Chazey Farmhouse on the Warren.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading has a local newspaper, the "Reading Chronicle", published on Thursdays. The town's other local newspaper, the "Reading Post", ceased publication on paper in December 2014, in order to transition to an online only format under the title "getreading". As of 2018, "getreading" joined the InYourArea local news network. A local publishing company, the Two Rivers Press, has published over 70 book titles, many on the topic of local history and art. Two local radio stations broadcast from Reading: BBC Radio Berkshire and Heart South. Other local radio stations, such as Capital Mid-Counties and Basingstoke's Greatest Hits Radio Berkshire & North Hampshire, can also be received. Reading has one local television station, That's Thames Valley, which broadcasts local news throughout the Greater Reading area. Local television news programmes are the BBC's South Today and ITV's Meridian Tonight are available on BBC One and ITV.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading has over 100 parks and playgrounds, including of riverside paths. In the town centre is Forbury Gardens, a public park built on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey. The largest public park in Reading is Prospect Park, an estate in west Reading previously owned by Frances Kendrick but acquired by Reading Corporation in 1901. This is complemented by Palmer Park, a purpose built public park in east Reading gifted to the town by the proprietors of Huntley & Palmers in 1889.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: A string of open spaces stretch along one or other side of the River Thames throughout its passage through Reading. From west to east these are Thameside Promenade, Caversham Court, Christchurch Meadows, Hills Meadow, View Island and King's Meadow. Reading also has five local nature reserves: Clayfield Copse in Caversham, with the other four McIlroy Park, Blundells Copse, Lousehill Copse and Round Copse all in Tilehurst


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The principal National Health Service (NHS) hospital in Reading is the Royal Berkshire Hospital, founded in 1839 and much enlarged and rebuilt since. A second major NHS general hospital, the Battle Hospital, closed in 2005. Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust runs a NHS hospital, Prospect Park Hospital, which specialises in the provision of care for people with mental health and learning disabilities. Reading has three private hospitals: the Berkshire Independent Hospital in Coley Park, the Dunedin Hospital situated on the main A4 Bath Road, and the Circle Hospital at Kennet Island.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Mains water and sewerage services are provided by Thames Water Utilities Limited, a private sector water supply company, whilst water abstraction and disposal is regulated by the Environment Agency. Reading's water supply is largely derived from underground aquifers, and as a consequence the water is hard.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The commercial energy supplier for electricity and gas is at the consumer's choice. Southern Electric runs the local electricity distribution network, while SGN runs the gas distribution network. A notable part of the local energy infrastructure is the presence of a 2 megawatt (peak) Enercon wind turbine at Green Park Business Park, with the potential to produce 2.7 million kWh of electricity a year, enough to power over a thousand homes. Additionally, Reading Hydro runs a micro hydroelectric power station on the Thames. Reading had its own power station in Vastern Road from 1895 to the 1960s. The power station was initially owned and operated by the Reading Electric Supply Company Limited, then from 1933 by the Reading Corporation until the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The dialling code for fixed-line telephones in Reading is 0118. BT provides fixed-line telephone coverage throughout the town and ADSL broadband internet connection to most areas. Parts of Reading are cabled by Virgin Media, supplying cable television, telephone and broadband internet connections. Hyperoptic also has a presence in the town, supplying Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband internet connections at speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading School, founded in 1125, is the 16th oldest school in England. There are six other state secondary schools and 38 state primary schools within the borough, together with a number of private and independent schools and nurseries. Alfred Sutton Boys' School closed in the mid-1980s. Reading College has provided further education in Reading since 1955, with over 8,500 local learners on over 900 courses. English language schools in Reading include Gateway Languages, the English Language Centre, ELC London Street and Eurospeak Language School.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The University of Reading was established in 1892 as an affiliate of Oxford University. It moved to its London Road Campus in 1904 and to its new Whiteknights Campus in 1947. It took over the Bulmershe College of Higher Education, a teacher training college, in 1989, becoming Bulmershe Court Campus. The Henley Management College, situated in Buckinghamshire and about from Reading, was taken over in 2008, becoming Greenlands Campus. The University of West London maintains a presence in the town for its higher education students, principally in nursing, but has now divested itself of its previous ownership of Reading College and its further education students.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The Reading Borough Libraries service dates back to 1877. Initially housed in Reading Town Hall, the central branch of the library was relocated to a new building on King's Road in 1985.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The Reading Museum opened in 1883 in the town's municipal buildings. It contains galleries relating to the history of Reading and to the excavations of Calleva Atrebatum, together with a full-size replica of the Bayeux Tapestry, an art collection, and galleries relating to Huntley and Palmers. The Museum of English Rural Life, in East Reading, is a museum dedicated to recording the changing face of farming and the countryside in England. It houses designated collections of national importance. It is owned and run by the University of Reading, as are the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, the Cole Museum of Zoology and the Harris Botanic Gardens, all of which can be found on the university's Whiteknights Campus. The small Riverside Museum at Blake's Lock tells the story of Reading's two rivers. The Museum of Berkshire Aviation has a collection of aircraft and other artefacts relating to the aircraft industry in the town.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading's location in the Thames Valley to the west of London has made the town a significant element in the nation's transport system.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The town grew up as a river port at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Kennet. Both of these rivers are navigable, and Caversham Lock, Blake's Lock, County Lock, Fobney Lock and Southcote Lock are all within the borough. Today, navigation is predominantly for purposes of leisure: private and hire boats dominate traffic, while scheduled boat services operate on the Thames from wharves on the Reading side of the river near Caversham Bridge.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading was a major staging point on the old Bath Road (A4) from London to Avonmouth near Bristol. This road still carries local traffic, but has now been replaced for long-distance traffic by the M4 motorway, which closely skirts the borough and serves it with three junctions, J10-J12. Other main roads serving Reading include the A33, A327, A329, A4074 and A4155. Within Reading there is the Inner Distribution Road (IDR), a ring road for local traffic. The IDR is linked with the M4 by the A33 relief road. National Express Coaches run out of Mereoak Park and Ride, at Junction 11 of the M4. The Thames is crossed by both Reading and Caversham road bridges, while several road bridges cross the Kennet, the oldest surviving one of which is High Bridge.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading is a major junction point of the National Rail system, and hence Reading station is an important transfer point and terminus. In a project that finished in 2015, Reading station was redeveloped at a cost of £850m, with grade separation of some conflicting traffic flows, and extra platforms, to relieve severe congestion at this station. Railway lines link Reading to both Paddington and Waterloo stations in London. Other stations in the Reading area are Reading West, Tilehurst and Earley. Reading Green Park railway station is planned on the Reading to Basingstoke Line to serve Green Park Business Park.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading is a western terminus of the Elizabeth line, which provides stopping services to London Paddington, and means Reading is featured on the London Tube map. When the Crossrail project is fully delivered in mid-2023, cross-London connections will be possible from Reading to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east; passengers desiring through service are currently required to change trains at Paddington.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: There have been two airfields in or near Reading, one at Coley Park and one at Woodley, but they have both closed. The nearest airport is London Heathrow, away by road. An express bus service named RailAir links Reading with Heathrow, or the airport can be accessed by rail by taking the Paddington train and changing to the TfL Rail service at Hayes & Harlington. In addition, Birmingham Airport, Gatwick Airport and Southampton Airport can all be accessed via direct trains from Reading station.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Today local public transport is largely by road, which is often affected by peak hour congestion in the borough. A frequent local bus network within the borough, and a less frequent network in the surrounding area, are provided by Reading Buses - one of the few remaining municipal bus companies in the country - and its subsidiaries Newbury & District and Thames Valley Buses. Other bus operators serving Reading include Arriva Shires & Essex, Thames Travel and Oxford Bus Company. ReadiBus provides an on-demand transport service for people with restricted mobility in the area.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: In March 2011, Reading Borough Council approved a bike sharing scheme similar to London Cycle Hire Scheme, with 1,000 bicycles available at up to 150 docking stations across Reading. However this scheme came to an end in March 2019, with the operator unable to cover the operational costs or find a sponsor to do so.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading Minster (the Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin) is Reading's oldest ecclesiastical foundation, known to have been founded by the 9th century and possibly earlier. Although eclipsed in importance by the later abbey, Reading Minster has regained its importance since the destruction of the abbey. Reading Abbey was founded by Henry I in 1121. He was buried there, as were parts of his daughter Empress Matilda, William of Poitiers, Constance of York, and Princess Isabella of Cornwall, among others. The abbey was one of the pilgrimage centres of medieval England; it held over 230 relics including the hand of St. James. Today all that remains of the abbey are the inner rubble cores of the walls of many of the major buildings of the abbey, together with a much restored inner gateway and the intact hospitium.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The medieval borough of Reading was served by three parish churches: Reading Minster, St Giles' Church, and St Laurence's Church. All are still in use by the Church of England. The Franciscan friars built a friary in the town in 1311. After the friars were expelled in 1538, the building was used as a hospital, a poorhouse, and a jail, before being restored as the Church of England parish church of Greyfriars Church in 1863. The Bishop of Reading is a suffragan bishop within the Church of England's Diocese of Oxford. The bishop is based in Reading, and is responsible for the archdeaconry of Berkshire. There are a total of 18 Church of England parish churches in Reading.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: St James's Church was built on a portion of the site of the abbey between 1837 and 1840, and marked the return of the Roman Catholic faith to Reading. Reading was also the site of the death of Blessed Dominic Barberi, the Catholic missionary to England in the 19th century who received John Henry Newman into the Catholic faith. There are now eight Roman Catholic parish churches in Reading. Kings Road Baptist Church was founded in Reading in 1640 or 1641. In addition to Catholicism and the Church of England, the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination is also represented in the town, particularly by Reading West SDA Church on Loverock Road, Reading Central SDA Church on Tilehurst Road, and various other churches around Reading.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading has had an organised Jewish community since 1886. At least one Jewish family living in the area has been traced back as far as 1842. The group grew to 13 families, who in 1886 declared themselves a community and commenced building a synagogue. On 31 October 1900, Reading Hebrew Congregation officially opened in a solemn public ceremony, packed to capacity with dignitaries, led by the Chief Rabbi Hermann Adler. Reading Hebrew Congregation, which still stands on its original site at the junction of Goldsmid Road and Clifton Street near the town centre, is a Grade II-listed building, built to a traditional design in the Moorish style. The community is affiliated with the Orthodox United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. Reading also has a Liberal Jewish community which convenes in the Reading Quaker Meeting House, a Modern Orthodox Judaism community, an active Jewish Society for students at the university, as well as being served by a Reform Jewish community which convenes in nearby Maidenhead Synagogue.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: There is presently three mosques in Reading, initially just having the Central Reading Mosque on Waylen Street. The £3–4m Abu Bakr Islamic Centre, on Oxford Road in West Reading, was granted planning permission in 2002. The community-funded project began construction in 2007, and opened its doors in July 2013 - the holy month of Ramadan for this year. A second Islamic centre in eastern Reading has also been granted planning permission. This £4m project has garnered some controversy. Reading also has places of worship of other religions: the Shantideva Mahayana Buddhist centre, a Hindu temple, a Sikh gurdwara, a Salvation Army citadel, a Quaker meeting house, and a Christadelphian Hall.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading is the home of Reading Football Club, an association football club nicknamed "The Royals", formed in 1871. Formerly nicknamed 'The Biscuitmen' and based at Elm Park, the club plays at the 24,161 capacity Madejski Stadium, named after chairman Sir John Madejski, and which opened in 1998. After winning the 2005–06 Football League Championship with a record of 106 points, Reading spent two seasons in the Premier League before being relegated to The Championship. For the 2012–2013 season, the club again competed in the Premier League, after securing first place in the Championship in the 2011–2012 season, but were relegated back down to the Championship at season's end. Reading Town Football Club, formed in 1966, played at Scours Lane and were playing in the Hellenic League Premier Division but were dissolved in 2016, while fellow non-league football club Reading City Football Club now play at Scours Lane after moving from Palmer Park Stadium at the end of the 2015–16 season. Scours Lane was also renamed to Rivermoor Stadium in 2016.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Reading is home to three senior semi-professional rugby clubs: Reading Abbey RFC, Rams RFC and Reading RFC. The Reading Rockets are the town's semi-professional basketball team. They compete in the second tier English Basketball League Division 1, though they have tried several times in recent years to move up to the top tier British Basketball League. They play home games at the Rivermead Leisure Complex, and are coached by Manuel Peña Garces. In 2016–17 the club embarked on an 18-game winning streak. The town hosts Australian Rules football team Reading Kangaroos and American football team Berkshire Renegades. Palmer Park Stadium has a velodrome and athletics track. It is used by Reading Athletic Club and the Berkshire Renegades for training. Reading Hockey Club enter teams in both the Men's and Women's England Hockey Leagues.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Rowing is pursued by the Reading Rowing Club and the Reading University Boat Club, both next to Caversham Bridge, whilst Reading Blue Coat School trains at Sonning adjacent to the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake in Caversham, which provides training facilities for the Great Britain National Squad. However, almost all club rowing is done on the River Thames. The annual Reading Town Regatta takes place near Thames Valley Park, with the Reading Amateur Regatta taking place in June, usually two weeks before the Henley Royal Regatta. The town was home to a motorcycle speedway team, Reading Racers. Speedway came to Reading in 1968 at Tilehurst Stadium, until the team moved to Smallmead Stadium in Whitley, which was demolished at the end of 2008. The team is inactive pending the building of a new stadium, which was once hoped to be completed in 2012. The Reading Racers reformed in 2016 and joined the new Southern Developmental League upon its formation in 2017 winning its inaugural season undefeated. The team started back up in Eastbourne and currently races in Swindon awaiting return to a track in Reading.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: The Reading Half Marathon is held on the streets of Reading in March of each year, with 16,000 competitors from elite to fun runners. It was first run in 1983 and has taken place in every subsequent year except 2001, when it was cancelled because of concerns over that year's outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, 2018, when it was cancelled on the morning of the race due to heavy overnight snowfall, and 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The British Triathlon Association was formed at the town's former "Mall" health club on 11 December 1982. Britain's first ever triathlon took place just outside Reading at Kirtons's Farm in Pingewood in 1983 and was revived 10 years' later by Banana Leisure with one of the original organisers as Event Director. Thames Valley Triathletes, based in the town, is Britain's oldest triathlon club, having its origins in the 1984 event at nearby Heckfield, when a relay team raced under the name "Reading Triathlon Club". The Hexagon was home to snooker's Grand Prix tournament, one of the sport's "Big Four", from 1984 to 1994.


title: Reading, Berkshire

text: Though not twinned with Reading, two suburbs of the New Zealand city of Dunedin — Caversham and Forbury — were named after places in and around Reading by early New Zealand settler and Reading native William Henry Valpy.


title: Prince of Persia

text: Prince of Persia is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is built around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia.


title: Prince of Persia

text: The first two games in the series, "Prince of Persia" (1989) and "" (1993), were published by Broderbund. "Prince of Persia 3D" (1999), named for being the first installment to use 3D computer graphics, was developed by Red Orb Entertainment and published by The Learning Company on PC; The Dreamcast version was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Mattel Interactive. Ubisoft bought the rights to the franchise in 2001 and rebooted it with "" (2003). Ubisoft has since developed and published four additional entries in the series: "" (2004), "" (2006), "Prince of Persia" (2008), and "" (2010), as well as a number of spin-offs and games for mobile devices.


title: Prince of Persia

text: Outside of the games, the franchise also includes a based on "The Sands of Time", written in part by Mechner, and released by Walt Disney Pictures in 2010; a graphic novel; and the "Lego Prince of Persia" toyline. Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed" franchise is considered to be the spiritual successor to the series.


title: Prince of Persia

text: The first game in the series was created by Jordan Mechner after the success of "Karateka". Drawing from multiple general sources of inspiration, including the "One Thousand and One Nights" stories, and films like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood", the protagonist's character animation was created using a technique called rotoscoping, with Mechner using his brother as the model for the titular prince. The original "Prince of Persia", with its more than 20 platform ports, is one of the most ported games in video game history.


title: Prince of Persia

text: Mechner enrolled in New York University's film department, producing an award-winning short film during his time there, before returning to design and direct a sequel to the original game. The sequel, "Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame", was developed internally at Broderbund with Mechner's supervision. The game, like its predecessor, received critical acclaim and high sales. Broderbund was subsequently purchased by The Learning Company, which was later acquired by US game company Mattel Interactive. In 1999, "Prince of Persia 3D" was developed and released under Broderbund's Red Orb label. Released for PC and the Dreamcast only, it was criticized by many users as being buggy, and was a commercial disappointment. The Broderbund/Learning Company's games division, the assets of which included the "Prince of Persia" franchise, was subsequently sold to Ubisoft.


title: Prince of Persia

text: Mechner, who owned the "Prince of Persia" intellectual property, was brought in to work with Ubisoft on a reboot of the franchise, titled "", although he was originally wary after the failure of "Prince of Persia 3D". The team they worked with was also working on "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell": their aim with the game was to "breathe new life into the action-adventure genre".


title: Prince of Persia

text: Mechner did not take part in the production of the next game, "", and he commented on finding the dark atmosphere and heightened level of violence unappealing. The changes also provoked mixed reactions from critics, but sales were strong and a third game, eventually titled "", went into production. For "The Two Thrones", the developers and artists tried to strike a balance between the light, cartoon-like tones of "The Sands of Time", and the grittier mediums of "Warrior Within".


title: Prince of Persia

text: In November 2008, Ubisoft revealed that it was working on a new entry in the franchise, which was later revealed to be "". The Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game filled in some of the narrative gap between "The Sands of Time" and "Warrior Within"; whereas the PSP, Wii, and the DS versions each feature their own alternative storylines. The game was released in May 2010, timed to tie in with film adaptation.


title: Prince of Persia

text: The "Prince of Persia Trilogy" (known as "Prince of Persia Trilogy 3D" on the remastered collection's title screen) is a collection of "The Sands of Time" trilogy released on the PlayStation 2 and subsequently on the PlayStation 3 as part of the Classics HD range. The collection includes "The Sands of Time", "Warrior Within" and "The Two Thrones", all previously released on the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. The games were remastered in high-definition for the PlayStation 3 with 3D and PlayStation Network Trophy support on one Blu-ray Disc. The PlayStation 2 collection was released on October 27, 2006, in Europe, while the remastered collection was released on November 19, 2010, on Blu-ray in PAL regions. The release marks the first Classics HD title to not be published by Sony Computer Entertainment.


title: Prince of Persia

text: In North America, the three games were originally released separately as downloadable-only titles on the PlayStation Store. The first, "The Sands of Time", was released on November 16, 2010, while the other two games followed in December. The Blu-ray version was to be released in North America on March 22, 2011 but the collection ended up being delayed until April 19.


title: Prince of Persia

text: The first spin-off of the series was developed alongside and released in the same year as "The Two Thrones" for the Nintendo DS. "Battles of Prince of Persia" is a real-time strategy game set between "The Sands of Time" and "Warrior Within". It received mediocre reviews from critics.


title: Prince of Persia

text: In 2006, concept designs surfaced hinting at another entry in the franchise. The game, titled simply "Prince of Persia", was unveiled in 2008, with Ubisoft marketing it as a second reboot of the franchise, with its level and combat design harking back to the original 1989 game. The game was released in December 2008, receiving positive reviews from most video game outlets and decent sales. Alongside the main game, Ubisoft's Casablanca branch developed a direct sequel and spin-off for the Nintendo DS, titled "", which received fair reviews.


title: Prince of Persia

text: In 2007, Gameloft and Ubisoft released "Prince of Persia Classic", an enhanced remake of the original "Prince of Persia" for Java ME, Android, iOS, Xbox 360 (XBLA), and PlayStation 3 (PSN). The visual style was upgraded to resemble "", and the Prince himself was given some additional moves, such as the ability to roll, backflip, wall jump and stop time briefly during combat. However, the core gameplay remains the same as the original – the player must defeat Jaffar within one hour while watching out for the many traps and defeating the guards they encounter.


title: Prince of Persia

text: There have been a number of mobile games for Java ME-based phones developed by Gameloft, some based on older PC or console titles with 2D graphics and others loosely based on contemporary games but with 2D graphics and different gameplay due to technology constraints. Gameloft has also developed some ports for both the iPhone and the iPad. The first spin-off by Gameloft was titled "Prince of Persia: Harem Adventures", released for Java phones in 2003. Specifically, the company has developed HD remakes of the original "Prince of Persia" in 2007, and its sequel "The Shadow and the Flame" in July 2013.


title: Prince of Persia

text: In 2018, Ubisoft under the banner of its entity Ketchapp released "Prince of Persia: Escape", a mobile game for Android and iOS. It is a "runner" game made up of different levels, and the player can customize the protagonist with outfits from past games. Reviewing for "Pocket Gamer", Cameron Bald called "Prince of Persia: Escape" a "mundane game crushed under the weight of excessive greed".


title: Prince of Persia

text: In 2012, leaked images from a project entitled "Osiris" were assumed to be the next "Prince of Persia" title. Jordan Mechner even commented on his Twitter account that the images were not from a "Prince of Persia" game. A year later, Yannis Mallat, CEO of Ubisoft Montreal, said that the franchise was being "paused", saying that "as soon as we have something to show, we will". In the following months, Ubisoft confirmed that it was either planning or considering next-generation entries in multiple franchises, including "Prince of Persia". A video uploaded by a Ubisoft Montreal artist in 2012 but only discovered in 2020 showed a gameplay trailer for "Prince of Persia Redemption" which would have been released for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. According to Jonathan Cooper, a former Ubisoft animator at the time, the trailer was a mockup of the planned gameplay for the title created by Khai Nguyen, used to pitch the game concept. The game never developed beyond that point, though the work on the pitch trailer was used to prepare a similar trailer for "Assassin's Creed III" for Ubisoft.


title: Prince of Persia

text: A remake of the "Sands of Time", formally announced at Ubisoft Forward 2020, was originally scheduled for release on January 21, 2021, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but Ubisoft delayed the remake indefinitely. In its quarterly financial report, Ubisoft stated the remake is expected to be out sometime during its 2022–23 fiscal year. The remake's development was moved to Ubisoft Montréal, a change from Ubisoft Mumbai and Ubisoft Pune. The company said the 2023 fiscal year release target was no longer being targeted.


title: Prince of Persia

text: Jordan Mechner finished writing the story for a graphic novel in 2007. The novel was written by A.B. Sina, and illustrated by Alex Puvilland and LeUyen Pham. It was released by First Second Books in autumn 2008. The story follows two Princes, jumping between the 9th and 13th centuries. Although it belongs to the franchise the plot is not related to any of the game continuities or that of the 2010 film.


title: Prince of Persia

text: In 2010, a film adaptation of "" was released by Walt Disney Pictures. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan, it would go on to receive mixed reception, but still gross $336 million in theaters. Besides "The Sands of Time", the film also incorporated elements from "" and "", the two other titles from the "Sands of Time" trilogy of the "Prince of Persia" video game franchise.


title: Prince of Persia

text: Upon the film's release, it was accompanied by "Before the Sandstorm", a 2010 one-shot comic book published by Disney Publishing Worldwide. This comic serves as both a direct prequel and sequel to the feature film, and explains the motives and backgrounds of some characters. It was written by Jordan Mechner and featured illustrations by Todd McFarlane, Niko Henrichon, David Lopez and Bernard Chang.


title: Prince of Persia

text: Lego Prince of Persia was released by The Lego Group in 2010, as part of the company's strategy to produce sets based on Disney properties. Based on the feature film, Lego released six sets within the theme, as well as a short animated movie, before discontinuing it.


title: Prince of Persia

text: The success of the "Prince of Persia" series resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series 6 world records in the "Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008". These records include First Motion-Capture Animation in a Video Game and Highest Rated Platformer on PS2 and Xbox.


title: Prince of Persia

text: South Korean singer-songwriter Kim Kwang-Jin released the song "Magic Castle", with lyrics inspired from the storyline of the original "Prince of Persia".


title: Prince of Persia

text: In 1992, Russian author Victor Pelevin wrote a book called "A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia and Other Stories", in which there is a short story called "Prince of Gosplan". The story is greatly influenced by the game; the main hero of the story lives in a mixed reality of the real world and video games and identifies himself as Prince of Persia. He tries to understand if his life is real or if he is just seeing it on a computer display.


title: Prince of Persia

text: The feel of the gameplay in "Tomb Raider" was intended to evoke that of the original "Prince of Persia".


title: Prince of Persia

text: The "Assassin's Creed" series originated out of ideas for a sequel for "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time". Its critical and financial success led Ubisoft to request Ubisoft Montreal to develop a sequel, aiming for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The Ubisoft Montreal team decided on taking the gameplay from "The Sands of Time" into an open world approach, taking advantage of the improved processing power to render larger spaces and crowds. Narratively, the team wanted to move away from the Prince being someone next in line for the throne but to have to work for it; combined with research into secret societies led them to focus on the Assassins, heavily borrowing from the novel "Alamut". They developed a narrative where the player would control an Assassin that served as a bodyguard for a non-playable Prince, leading them to call this game "Prince of Persia: Assassin". The "Animus" device allowed them to explain certain facets of gameplay, such as accounting when the player fails a mission, in the same way they had done in "The Sands of Time".


title: Patrick Star

text: Patrick Star is a fictional character in the American animated television series "SpongeBob SquarePants". He is voiced by actor Bill Fagerbakke and was created and designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. He first appeared in the series' pilot episode "Help Wanted" on May 1, 1999. In addition to his supporting role on "SpongeBob SquarePants", Patrick also serves as the main protagonist of "The Patrick Star Show", which premiered in 2021.


title: Patrick Star

text: An obese pink starfish, Patrick lives underneath a rock in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom next door to Squidward Tentacles' moai. His most significant character trait is his low intelligence, which often gets him and his best friend, SpongeBob SquarePants, into trouble. Patrick is unemployed and a self-proclaimed expert in the "art of doing nothing".


title: Patrick Star

text: The character has received positive reactions from critics and fans alike. Patrick has been included in various "SpongeBob SquarePants"-related merchandise, including trading cards, video games, plush toys, and comic books. He is a leading character in "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" (2004), "" (2015), and "" (2020).


title: Patrick Star

text: Patrick is the ignorant but humorous best friend of SpongeBob SquarePants. He is portrayed as being an overweight pink starfish, who serves as the village idiot of the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. Patrick gets dumber throughout the series and has been shown to make many ludicrous mistakes. Despite this, he has occasionally been portrayed as a savant, with articulate observance to certain subjects in specific detail. However, he always reverts quickly back to his usual, unintelligent self after displaying a moment of wisdom. He holds no form of occupation except for several very brief stints working at the Krusty Krab and at the Chum Bucket in a variety of positions, and mostly spends his time either clowning around with SpongeBob, catching jellyfish with him, or lounging beneath the rock under which he resides.


title: Patrick Star

text: At home, Patrick is usually depicted either sleeping, watching TV, or engaged in the "art of doing nothing", at which he is an expert. All the furnishings in the space under his rock are made of sand, and Patrick can simply opt to quickly build up furniture as needed; even so, his living space is sparse and contains only the barest essentials. Aside from his best friend SpongeBob, who is often impressed by Patrick's capacity to come up with naïve yet genius plans or solutions, Patrick frequently irritates those around him and is confounded by the simplest of questions or subjects. The characters of Mr. Krabs and Squidward have no patience for Patrick's stupidity, and the former does not pay him much regard; Clancy Brown, who provides Mr. Krabs' voice, said, "The only person that he [Mr. Krabs] doesn't hire is Patrick because Patrick is just too stupid to work for nothing." Sandy often gets annoyed by Patrick, but still sees him as a friend.


title: Patrick Star

text: Stephen Hillenburg first became fascinated with the ocean and began developing his artistic abilities as a child. During college, he majored in marine biology and minored in art. He planned to return to college eventually to pursue a master's degree in art. After graduating in 1984, he joined the Ocean Institute, an organization dedicated to educating the public about marine science and maritime history. While he was there, he initially had the idea that would lead to the creation of "SpongeBob SquarePants": a comic book titled "The Intertidal Zone". In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue a career in animation.


title: Patrick Star

text: A few years after studying experimental animation at the California Institute of the Arts, Hillenburg met Joe Murray, creator of the Nickelodeon series "Rocko's Modern Life", at an animation festival, and was offered a job as a director of the show. Martin Olson, one of the writers for "Rocko's Modern Life", read "The Intertidal Zone" and encouraged Hillenburg to create a television series with a similar concept. At that point, Hillenburg had not even considered creating his own series. However, he realized that if he ever did, this would be the best approach. Production on "Rocko's Modern Life" ended in 1996. Shortly afterwards, Hillenburg began working on "SpongeBob SquarePants".


title: Patrick Star

text: For the show's characters, Hillenburg started to draw and used character designs from his comic book—including starfish, crab, and sponge. He described Patrick as "probably the dumbest guy in town". The character was conceived as a starfish to embody the animal's nature; according to Hillenburg, starfish look "dumb and slow", but they are "very active and aggressive" in reality, like Patrick. Hillenburg incorporated character comedy rather than topical humor on the show to emphasize "things that are more about humorous situations and about characters and their flaws." He designed Patrick and SpongeBob as such because "they're whipping themselves up into situations—that's always where the humor comes from. The rule is: Follow the innocence and avoid topical humor."


title: Patrick Star

text: In spite of being depicted as having a good temperament or state of mind, Patrick has been shown in some episodes to have a tantrum. Patrick's emotional outbreak was originally written only for the first season episode "Valentine's Day", where SpongeBob and Sandy try to give Patrick a Valentine's Day gift, and "was supposed to be a one-time thing". However, according to episode writer Jay Lender, "when that show came back it felt so right that his dark side started popping up everywhere. You can plan ahead all you want, but the characters eventually tell you who they are."


title: Patrick Star

text: Every main character in the show has its own unique footstep sound. The sound of Patrick's footsteps is recorded by the show's Foley crew, with a Foley talent wearing a slip-on shoe. Jeff Hutchins, show's sound designer said, "[Going] barefoot makes it tough to have much presence, so we decided that Patrick would be performed with shoes on."


title: Patrick Star

text: Patrick's voice is provided by actor Bill Fagerbakke, who also does the voices of numerous other characters on "SpongeBob SquarePants". While creating the show and writing its pilot episode in 1997, Hillenburg and Derek Drymon, the show's then-creative director, were also conducting auditions to find voices for the show's characters. Fagerbakke auditioned for the role of Patrick after Tom Kenny, SpongeBob's voice actor, had been cast. Fagerbakke said, "Steve is such a lovely guy, and I had absolutely no feeling for the material whatsoever." He described his experience in the audition, saying "I was just going in for another audition, and I had no idea what was in store there in terms of the remarkable visual wit and really the kind of endearing child-like humanity in the show. I couldn't pick that up from the audition material at all. I was just kind of perfunctorially trying to give the guy what he wanted."


title: Patrick Star

text: Fagerbakke referred to Patrick as "AquaDauber" (a reference to his role as Michael "Dauber" Dybinski on the 1990s sitcom "Coach") in the first few years of working on the show. Patrick is "enormously entertaining to portray" because, according to Fagerbakke, "when I'm performing Patrick, there are many secrets that I could never divulge". Fagerbakke's approach in voicing Patrick is "much the same way I would do [to] any kind of character." "I'm always looking for opportunities to explore that freewheeling imagination and insanity of children. To be able to plug in to that and let that carry you in to a performance is such a gas, I have so much fun with that. I love kids; I raised two girls and I love being a parent," he said. The cast members record as a whole cast. Fagerbakke says that the situation improves his performance as a voice actor because "there is something remarkable that happens when people are working together that is unique to that." Fagerbakke modeled his performance whenever Patrick is angry after that of American actress Shelley Winters.


title: Patrick Star

text: Fagerbakke has been compared to Patrick's character, which he concurs with. Kenny said that "Bill [Fagerbakke] is a big guy. The world is almost too small for him. He's a force of nature, like Patrick." Writer Jay Lender said, describing Fagerbakke in the recording studio, "Bill Fagerbakke is the most thoughtful performer I've ever seen in the booth—he was always asking questions and really trying to get into the mindset, such as it is, of Patrick." Writer Kent Osborne said of Fagerbakke, "He is this big guy, and he plays Patrick so well. He's just this big guy, and he lumbers around." Fagerbakke said, "I'm clumsy. I'm goofy. I make mistakes all the time" and agreed that "I guess I'm a lot of Patrick."


title: Patrick Star

text: Critical reception for the character from both professionals and fans has been positive. In his DVD review for "DVD Verdict", Bill Treadway called Patrick "the village idiot, who sometimes gives SpongeBob some really bad advice, but he is a loyal friend and that's something we don't see much of these days." He said, "Patrick is the definition of stupid and his antics will have you laughing out loud." In a review published in 2007, Peter Keepnews of "The New York Times" said, "Patrick is a popular character, and the new episodes illustrate why: He is unfailingly enthusiastic, touchingly loyal and absolutely undeterred by his intellectual limitations. Hilariously voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, he is not just an endearing comic creation but a role model for idiots everywhere."


title: Patrick Star

text: Nancy Basile of About.com called Patrick "one of the silliest characters on "SpongeBob SquarePants"". In her DVD review of "SpongeBob and Friends: Patrick SquarePants", a Patrick-themed "SpongeBob SquarePants" home video release, Basile said, "The episodes included [...] are hilarious. They're not only some of Patrick's best episodes, but also some of the show's classic episodes." She ranked "That's No Lady" as Patrick's best episode and said, "I was remiss not to include this episode in my top ten ["SpongeBob SquarePants" episodes] list." She cited her favorite scene from the episode, where "Patrick can't read the number on Mr. Krabs' table, saying, 'Ford knee.' Mr. Krabs replies, 'That's a seven, Patricia.'" The Kids' Choice Awards, an annual awards show presented by Nickelodeon, added several new categories, including "Favorite Animated Animal Sidekick", in its 2014 ceremony. Patrick received the Kids' Choice Award Blimp for the category, winning to Perry the Platypus ("Phineas and Ferb"), Sparky ("The Fairly OddParents") and Waddles ("Gravity Falls").


title: Patrick Star

text: In 2002, the show's popularity among the gay community grew, and it was reported that they had embraced the show, according to BBC Online. "The Wall Street Journal" also raised questions about SpongeBob and Patrick in a recent article that pointed out the show's popularity in the gay community. Tom Kenny, in response to the article, said "[I] felt the insinuation was a stretch." "I had heard that gay viewers enjoy the show in the same way that lots of people—college students, parents and children—like the show [...] I thought it was rather silly to hang an entire article on that. I don't think it's a case of it being a gay-friendly show—It's a human-being-friendly show. They're all welcome," Kenny said.


title: Patrick Star

text: In 2005, a promotional video that involves SpongeBob promoting diversity and tolerance was criticized by two U.S. Christian evangelical groups, most notably Focus on the Family, because they saw the character was being used as an advocate for homosexuality though the video contained "no reference to sex, sexual lifestyle or sexual identity." The incident led to questions as to whether or not SpongeBob, his best friend Patrick, and the rest of the series' characters are homosexual characters. After this speculation and comments, Hillenburg repeated his assertion that sexual preference was never considered during the creation of the show. He clarified the issue and said "We never intended them to be gay. I consider them to be almost asexual. We're just trying to be funny and this has got nothing to do with the show." Tom Kenny and other production members were shocked and surprised that such an issue had arisen. Derek Drymon, the show's creative director until 2004, said, "If SpongeBob holds hands with Patrick it's because he's his best friend and he loves him. I think the whole thing is a part of a larger agenda to stigmatize gay people." Focus on the Family founder James Dobson later stated that his comments were taken out of context and that his original complaints were not with SpongeBob or any of the characters in the video but with the organization that sponsored the video, the We Are Family Foundation. Dobson noted that the foundation had posted pro-homosexual material on its website, but later removed it.


title: Patrick Star

text: Queer theorist Jeffrey P. Dennis, author of the journal article "The Same Thing We Do Every Night: Signifying Same-Sex Desire in Television Cartoons," argued that SpongeBob and Sandy are not romantically in love, while adding that he believed that SpongeBob and Patrick "are paired with arguably erotic intensity." Dennis noted the two are "not consistently coded as romantic partners," since they live in separate residences, and have distinct groups of friends, but claimed that in the series, "the possibility of same-sex desire is never excluded." Martin Goodman of "Animation World Magazine" described Dennis's comments regarding SpongeBob and Patrick as "interesting."


title: Patrick Star

text: Patrick has appeared in other "SpongeBob SquarePants"-related media, including board games, comic books, keychains, plush toys, trading cards and video games. Patrick has a major role in "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie", the first feature-length film adaptation of the show. The film was released on November 19, 2004 and has been a financial success, grossing over $140 million worldwide. He has also appeared in , which was released in theaters on February 6, 2015. In the second film, Patrick (along with SpongeBob, Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and Plankton) is rendered in 3D (using CGI) in the live action scenes. The group becomes an ""Avengers"-type team"; Patrick transforms to Mr. Superawesomeness.


title: Patrick Star

text: In 2009, actor John Fricker portrayed Patrick in the musical adaptation of the third season episode "The Sponge Who Could Fly". Fricker and the musical itself were well received by most critics. Gordon Barr and Roger Domeneghetti of the "Evening Chronicle" described the musical as "a silly riot of colour [...] as you'd have to expect from an adaptation of a cartoon TV show", while Viv Hardwick of "The Northern Echo" said that Fricker and Martin Johnston (Mr. Krabs) "win the biggest costume contest." A critic from the "Chichester Observer" wrote, "John Fricker is in his element as the simple but lovable Patrick Star".


title: Patrick Star

text: The character of Patrick has become viral in the Internet in the forms of memes or image macros. A still from "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie", which displays Patrick in a drop-jawed look, inspired a YouTube user to create a presentation of Patrick's expression using a number of different filters. Following this, a YouTube user uploaded another video featuring Patrick reacting to Canadian singer Justin Bieber's 2010 single, "Baby". The meme called "Surprised Patrick" started to disseminate, with one of the first images was posted to Reddit by SeannyOC, and then reblogged onto I Can Has Cheezburger?'s Memebase. Comedy websites—including BiteTV, CollegeHumor, Mashable and Smosh—have published their own "Best of" lists and compilations, covering the "Surprised Patrick" meme's popularity. Mashable's Nena Prakash said, "For years, Patrick Star helped hold down Bikini Bottom while SpongeBob was flippin' burgers at [t]he Krusty Krab. But now it's time for Patrick to come out from under that rock and take a seat upon his royal meme throne, because he's an Internet star(fish)." Another popular meme based on the character is the "Push It Somewhere Else Patrick" image macro, which was taken from the second season episode "Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm", based on a scene where Patrick suggests that the town should relocate itself in order to deal with an Alaskan Bull Worm.


title: Patrick Star

text: On August 10, 2020, it was reported that a Patrick Star talk show titled "The Patrick Star Show" was in development with a 13-episode order. The show, which will feature Patrick hosting an imaginary talk show in his parents' house, was officially announced by Nickelodeon on March 4, 2021, with a premiere on the network later in the summer.


title: Patrick Star

text: In 2020, a new species of starfish from northwest Pacific seamounts was named "Astrolirus patricki" in honor of Patrick Star. All known specimens of "A. patricki" were found closely associated with hexactinellid sponges, and the species was thus named after the character Patrick Star as a reference to his friendship with SpongeBob.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Alessandro Del Piero (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a deep-lying forward, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia. A technically gifted and creative supporting forward who was also a free-kick specialist, Del Piero is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation and as one of the best Italian players of all time. He won the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year award in 1998 and 2008 and received multiple nominations for the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: A prolific goal-scorer, he is currently the second highest all-time Italian top-scorer in all competitions, with 346 goals, behind only Silvio Piola, with 390 goals; he is also the joint ninth highest goalscorer in Serie A history, with 188 goals, alongside Giuseppe Signori and Alberto Gilardino. After beginning his career with Italian club Padova in Serie B in 1991, he moved to Juventus in 1993, where he played for 19 seasons (11 as captain), and holds the club records for most goals (290) and appearances (705). During his time at the club, he won six Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia, four Supercoppa Italiana titles, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Intertoto Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup. After leaving the club in 2012, he also spent two seasons with Australian side Sydney FC; he retired in 2014, after a season with Delhi Dynamos FC in the Indian Super League.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero has scored in every competition in which he has participated. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. In the same year, he was also voted into the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, a list of the 50 best European players of the past 50 years. Along with six awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct, he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality as well as playing ability.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: At international level, Del Piero has also represented the Italian national team at three FIFA World Cups and four UEFA European Football Championships, most notably winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and reaching the final of UEFA Euro 2000 with Italy. He is the joint fourth highest scorer for the Italian national team, with 27 goals, alongside Roberto Baggio, and behind only Silvio Piola with 30 goals, Giuseppe Meazza with 33 goals, and Luigi Riva with 35 goals; with 91 appearances for Italy between 1995 and 2008, he is also his nation's eleventh-most capped player of all-time. In his career Del Piero scored 462 goals.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero was born in Conegliano, Veneto, the son of Gino, an electrician, and Bruna, a housekeeper. He regularly played football in the backyard with two friends, Nelso and Pierpaolo, as a child. All three dreamed of becoming footballers but only Del Piero would eventually manage to do so. His older brother, Stefano, briefly played professional football for Sampdoria before an injury curtailed his career; he later worked as his younger brother's agent. The family lived in the hamlet of Saccon, a rural home in San Vendemiano. While growing up, Del Piero's family did not have much money for travelling abroad, so he considered being a lorry driver in order to see the world.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: While playing for the local youth team of San Vendemiano, Del Piero used to feature as a goalkeeper in order to gain more playing time. His mother thought it would be better for him to play in this role, as he would not sweat, and the possibility of him getting injured was less likely. His brother Stefano commented to their mother that, due to his skill, the younger Del Piero was more suited to playing in a more offensive position, and he switched to a forward role.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero began his rise to professional football in 1981, in the ranks of San Vendemiano. In 1988, Del Piero was first spotted by scouts, and he left home at the young age of 13 to play with the youth side of Padova. He joined the senior side during the 1991–92 season, at the age of 16, and at the age of 17, he made his debut in Serie B against Messina, under manager Mauro Sandreani, on 15 March 1992, coming on as a substitute for Roberto Putelli. The following season, on 22 November 1992, he scored his first professional goal in a 5–0 victory over Ternana. In 1993, thanks to Giampiero Boniperti, Del Piero was bought by Juventus for five billion lire, with an overlap of 150 million lire per season.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: In 1993, Del Piero transferred to Juventus and played for the Torinese club for 19 seasons until being released in the summer of 2012. Although manager Giovanni Trapattoni insisted that he trained with the senior team, he initially played with the Primavera squad, which was coached by Antonello Cuccureddu, helping the Juventus Youth team to win both the 1994 Torneo di Viareggio, and the 1994 U-20 championship. Del Piero made his Serie A debut against Foggia on 12 September 1993 under Trapattoni, as a substitute, and he scored his first goal in his next game against Reggiana on 19 September, after coming off the bench once again. On his full debut for Juventus, he netted a hat-trick against Parma. After his promising performances, Del Piero began to be deployed with more continuity, and he managed 14 appearances for Juventus that season between youth matches, league matches, the Coppa Italia, and the UEFA Cup, scoring 5 goals, which all came in Serie A, as Juventus finished the season in second place in the league.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: The 1994–95 Serie A season saw Marcello Lippi take over as Juventus manager, as well as the introduction of a new team of directors, made up of Giraudo, Roberto Bettega, and Luciano Moggi; Del Piero played a more prominent role for the club that season following Roberto Baggio's injury in November against Padova. Del Piero temporarily took his place in the first team alongside Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli, flourishing at the opportunity given to him, and Juventus went on to claim their first "scudetto" in nine years. Del Piero scored 8 goals in Serie A that season, including a match-winning chipped volley against Fiorentina. Del Piero was also able to achieve a rare double, and he captured the 1994–95 Coppa Italia with Juventus, defeating their season rivals Parma in the final, although they were defeated by Parma in the 1995 UEFA Cup Final. During this time, Del Piero earned the nickname "Pinturicchio" due to the similarity between his own technical and tactical characteristics, and Baggio's creative style of play. This nickname arose when former president Gianni Agnelli compared the emerging talent Del Piero to the renaissance artist Pinturicchio, who was the student of the great Italian renaissance artist Raphael ("Raffaello"), a nickname he had used to describe Baggio, to emphasise his elegance on the ball. Del Piero placed fourth in the 1995 Ballon d'Or for his performances throughout the season. With the Turin club, Del Piero won the Serie A eight times, although the 2005 and 2006 titles were revoked due to Juventus's involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: For the 1995–96 season, Del Piero was awarded Baggio's No. 10 squad number, which had also previously belonged to Michel Platini, following his departure to A.C. Milan. Del Piero scored 6 goals and provided 10 assists in Serie A, although Juventus finished the season in second place behind Milan. Del Piero did manage to capture the Supercoppa Italiana in 1995, over Parma, setting up Vialli's only goal of the match. He also played a key role in helping Juventus to win the 1995–96 UEFA Champions League, scoring 6 goals in the competition, and finishing as the second highest scorer of the tournament.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: The following season, Del Piero followed these victories up with the 1996 UEFA Super Cup and the 1996 Intercontinental Cup, scoring goals in both finals, and being named Man of the Match in the latter final; he also won the Bravo Award (as the best U-23 player in European Competitions), and placed 4th in the 1996 Ballon d'Or for the second consecutive year. Del Piero also captured his second Serie A title with Juventus that season, and helped lead Juventus to their second consecutive Champions League final, although he was unable to start the match due to injury. During the group stage, en route to the final, he helped Juventus to qualify for the quarter-finals a match early, scoring a goal in Juventus's 1–0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, on 20 November 1996; this was the first time that an Italian team had defeated Manchester United at their home ground. In the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final, he came off the bench to score a goal with a back-heel, which was unable to prevent Juventus from losing 3–1 to Borussia Dortmund. Due to his performances throughout the calendar year, Del Piero received nominations for both the 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year, finishing sixth and the 1997 Ballon d'Or.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero began the following campaign strongly by winning the 1997 Supercoppa Italiana, forming a strong offensive unit with Juventus teammates Zinedine Zidane in midfield, and newcomer Filippo Inzaghi upfront. The 1997–98 Serie A campaign was his best season yet, as he scored a joint career best of 21 goals in Serie A, and finished top scorer in the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League with 10 goals, one of which included a freekick and a hat-trick against Monaco in the semi-finals. With these goals, he helped Juventus to reach their third consecutive Champions League final, although Del Piero was not fully fit for the match, and Juventus were once again defeated, falling 1–0 to Real Madrid from a strike by Predrag Mijatović on 20 May. Domestic success, however, was achieved that season, after a tight battle with Inter Milan, as Juventus celebrated its 25th Serie A title over their Italian rivals, with Del Piero scoring a memorable and decisive individual match-winning goal during the controversial Derby d'Italia match. Del Piero also managed a goal in the 1997–98 Coppa Italia that season, helping Juventus to the semi-finals, and finishing the season with a career best of 32 goals in all competitions. Del Piero was awarded the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year award for his performances, and he was also nominated for the 1998 Ballon d'Or. During this time, he was nicknamed by the fans as "Il Fenomeno Vero" ("The Real Phenomenon"), in comparison with the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who was nicknamed "Il Fenomeno" ("The Phenom") by supporters of rivals Inter Milan.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Juventus began the 1998–99 Serie A with a 2–1 defeat in the 1998 Supercoppa Italiana at the hands of Lazio, although Del Piero was able to score from a penalty. On 8 November 1998, Del Piero picked up a serious knee injury in the final minutes of a 2–2 draw with Udinese; this kept him out of action for the remainder of the season, as he managed only 2 goals. The club struggled without him, finishing the league season in a disappointing sixth place. Juventus did manage to reach the semi-finals of the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, losing out to eventual champions Manchester United. Following his serious injury, Del Piero underwent a muscle strengthening regime in order to adapt to the increasingly more physical and athletic demands of twenty-first century football, which allowed him to compensate for the loss of some of his pace and agility. Due to his dramatic weight gain and physical development during this period, as well as the club's success during the mid to late 90s, Del Piero, along with several other Juventus players and staff members, was claimed of being involved in illegal performance-enhancing drug abuse; after a lengthy investigation, the club's staff members incriminated were eventually cleared of all doping allegations in 2005.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: During the next season under new manager Carlo Ancelotti, Del Piero primarily served as an assist-man, providing 14 assists in Serie A, the most in the league that season, and 20 in all competitions.<ref name="Serie A 1999/2000"></ref> He faced criticism, however, for his inability to score in open play following his injury the previous season, as only one of his 9 Serie A goals that season was in open play (a header against Parma), with the rest coming from penalties. Furthermore, towards the end of the season, his once excellent attacking partnership with Inzaghi became less effective, due to Inzaghi's individualism, as well as the pair's lack of understanding and strained relationship both on and off the pitch. Del Piero helped Juventus to capture the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup that season, which allowed Juventus to qualify for the UEFA Cup; overall, he scored 12 goals in all competitions, as Juventus narrowly missed out on the Serie A title. In 2000, Del Piero was the world's best-paid football player from salaries, bonuses, and advertising revenue.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: The following season saw Juventus suffer another disappointing defeat losing out on the 2000–01 Serie A title once again, this time to Roma. Juventus and Del Piero began the season strongly, and Del Piero scored the winner on his season debut against Napoli on 30 September, although he later suffered another injury and fell out of form, failing to score. On 18 February 2001, Del Piero broke his goal drought, scoring in an away win over Bari. Del Piero celebrated the goal by dedicating it to his father, who had recently died. Del Piero refound his form towards the end of the season, although he was unable to help Juventus capture the Serie A title, despite scoring a goal in a 2–2 draw against Roma.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero was named Juventus captain upon Lippi's return to Juventus, and he formed a formidable offensive partnership with French striker David Trezeguet, who joined in 2000, and Czech playmaker Pavel Nedvěd, who arrived in 2001. Del Piero scored 16 goals and provided several assists, as Juventus were crowned Serie A champions for a 26th time on 5 May 2002, the last match day of the season; Juventus won the title over Roma and Inter Milan by a single point, after a 2–0 away victory over Udinese, with goals from top-scorer Trezeguet and Del Piero. Del Piero managed 21 goals in all competitions, also scoring his 100th and 101st goals for Juventus that season, against Venezia, on 26 August 2001. Del Piero also helped Juventus reach the Coppa Italia final that season, although Juventus were defeated by Parma.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Juventus's title success in 2002 enabled the club to automatically qualify for the UEFA Champions League the following season. Juventus began the 2002–03 season by winning the 2002 Supercoppa Italiana over Parma, with Del Piero scoring two goals, and Juventus were also able to successfully defend their Serie A title. Del Piero scored his 100th goal in Serie A in a 2–1 win over Brescia on 27 April 2003. In the UEFA Champions League, Juventus were placed in Group E alongside Newcastle United, Dynamo Kyiv, and Feyenoord. Del Piero opened up his account in European competitions that season when he scored his side's second goal in a 5–0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv on 24 September, after combining with Nedvěd and Mauro Camoranesi.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On the next matchday, Juventus played host to Newcastle on 1 October and Del Piero hit a brace to help his club maintain the top spot in their group. Juventus advanced to the second group stage where the club managed to progress, along with Manchester United, on goal differential over FC Basel and Deportivo de La Coruña. Juventus then saw off Barcelona in the quarter-finals through an extra time goal by Marcelo Zalayeta, and faced Spanish opposition again in the likes of defending champions Real Madrid in the semi-finals. The triumvirate attacking partnership proved wonders for Juventus, as the team overturned a 2–1 first leg deficit to record a 4–3 aggregate win as all three attacking stars netted in a 3–1 home win in the second leg. Juventus faced Italian rivals AC Milan in the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final in Manchester on 28 May. After a goalless 120 minutes, the tie went to a penalty shoot-out, where Del Piero finished his spot-kick, but it wasn't enough, as Juventus fell 3–2 in the shoot-out.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: The following season saw Juventus start strongly, winning the 2003 Supercoppa Italiana over Milan on penalties, although Juventus were knocked out in the round of 16 in the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League, and finished the 2003–04 Serie A season in a disappointing third place. The club did manage to reach the 2004 Coppa Italia Final, only to be defeated by Lazio. Lippi left Juventus at the end of the season to take charge of the Italian national team.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: After Euro 2004, Juventus manager Marcello Lippi was replaced by Fabio Capello. Capello was not convinced of Del Piero's fitness levels, and frequently benched him in favour of the younger, new offensive signing Zlatan Ibrahimović. Despite his limited playing time, Del Piero still managed to score 14 goals, as Juventus won their 28th league title, due to his overhead assist to teammate David Trezeguet, which proved decisive in a match against Milan at the San Siro. Del Piero also helped Juventus to reach the quarter finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, only losing out to eventual champions Liverpool.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Several journalists and coaches believed that Del Piero was back to his best form in the 2005–06 Serie A, as he managed 12 goals in Serie A, and 20 goals in all competitions, helping Juventus to defend the Serie A title. His role at Juventus changed during his second season under Capello, who preferred to use him as an immediate-impact substitute. Due to his lack of playing time, Del Piero's relationship with Capello was often strained.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 10 January 2006, Del Piero became the all-time leading goalscorer for Juventus when he scored three times in a Coppa Italia match against Fiorentina, taking his total goal tally for the club to 185. The previous record holder was Giampiero Boniperti, with 182 goals. Del Piero also finished the season as the top scorer of the Coppa Italia, with 5 goals. Del Piero equalled José Altafini's Serie A record of six goals as a substitute after scoring in the final minute of Juventus' final game of the 2005–06 season, before Juventus were forcibly relegated due to the "Calciopoli" scandal, also having their two most recent Serie A titles revoked.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: After Juventus were demoted to Serie B and their two most recent "scudetti" were revoked, Del Piero pledged that he would stay to captain the team. He underlined that players should remain with the team, explaining that "The Agnelli family deserve this, as do the fans and the new directors." While many key players such as Fabio Cannavaro, Emerson, Gianluca Zambrotta, Patrick Vieira, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and Lilian Thuram left, Del Piero chose to stay and help the club gain promotion.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero's first appearance after the 2006 FIFA World Cup triumph was in a Coppa Italia match against Cesena on 23 August 2006. As Juventus played in the Serie B for the 2006–07 season, the Coppa Italia campaign became increasingly important for the club in order to achieve a UEFA Cup spot. Having been on vacation beforehand, Del Piero started on the bench. Juventus and Cesena were locked on 1–1 when Del Piero entered in the 74th minute and after nine seconds, he scored the winning goal for Juventus.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero then came on as a substitute in the 61st minute during Juventus's next Coppa Italia match on 27 August, against Napoli. Once again Juventus came from behind, as Del Piero scored twice to give his team the lead. The match eventually went to penalties; although Del Piero scored his spot-kick, Napoli won 5–4 in the penalty shoot-out. Despite starting the season with a nine-point penalty from the match-fixing scandal, Juventus gained promotion to Serie A as Serie B champions; Del Piero finished the league campaign as the top scorer of the 2006–07 Serie B season, with 20 goals. During the season, Del Piero also managed his 200th goal with Juventus on 21 October 2006, in a 1–0 league victory over Frosinone.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Following Juventus's return to Serie A, Del Piero was locked in months of fractious negotiations over the signing of a new contract with Juventus' new management. After successfully negotiating a new contract till 30 June 2010, he was greeted with news of the birth of his first child, Tobias Del Piero. This was quite a staggering turnaround in his fortunes, as only two weeks earlier, he was dropped by Claudio Ranieri for the Serie A match with Fiorentina, and was then axed from Roberto Donadoni's Italy squad for the games with Georgia and South Africa.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 15 December 2007, Del Piero scored two goals away at Lazio and was named to two consecutive Serie A teams of the week. In February 2008, he scored the winning goal for Juventus from a free-kick in a 1–0 Serie A home victory over Roma. On 6 April 2008, he set a new appearance record for Juventus, overtaking Gaetano Scirea's previous tally of 552 matches in all competitions. In April, he registered seven goals in five Serie A matches, including a hat-trick in a 0–4 away win over Atalanta.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On the final weekend of the 2007–08 season, Del Piero scored a brace against Sampdoria in a 3–3 draw. These two goals were crucial, as it took him to 21 goals for the season, thus winning him the "Capocannonieri" prize in Serie A for the first time in his illustrious career, beating the likes of teammate David Trezeguet (20 goals) and Marco Borriello (19 goals), also matching his highest seasonal tally in Serie A since the 1997–98 season. He became only the second Italian ever to win consecutive "Capocannoniere" titles in two different leagues – former Juventus and 1982 World Cup hero Paolo Rossi being the other. (Coincidentally, Rossi also won the "Capocannoniere" titles like Del Piero – first in Serie B and then in Serie A). On 26 July, Del Piero was awarded the Scirea Award. Juventus finished the 2007–08 Serie A season in third place, which allowed them to qualify for the UEFA Champions League the following season.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Before the season, Juventus manager Claudio Ranieri remarked that Del Piero would have as good a season, or an even better one, than the previous term. In August 2008, Del Piero announced that he would try to keep playing professional football with Juventus until he turned 40. Juventus were drawn into the same Champions League group as Real Madrid, and UEFA Cup winners Zenit Saint Petersburg. Del Piero marked Juventus's return to the competition with a match-winning free kick to seal a home win against Zenit. On 21 October, Del Piero netted a notable goal as Juventus defeated Real Madrid 2–1 in Turin, scoring with a first-time, curling strike from distance, in the fifth minute of play.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 5 November 2008, Juventus and Real Madrid squared off at Santiago Bernabéu in the Champions League. The Italians won 0–2, their first away win against Madrid since 1962, and Del Piero was a key performer, scoring both goals, and drawing praise from Ranieri, as well as Real Madrid's coach Bernd Schuster. As he left the pitch after being substituted, fans from both sides gave him a standing ovation. Juventus's Champions League campaign ended in disappointment, as they were eliminated by Chelsea in the second round. Despite converting a penalty in the second leg in Turin, Del Piero was unable to prevent Juventus from losing 3–2 on aggregate.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 29 November 2008, Del Piero scored his 250th goal for Juventus from a penalty, in a 4–0 home win over Reggina. In the league, Juventus were mostly challenging Milan for second place and an automatic Champions League spot. Most notably, Del Piero inspired Juventus to a 3–0 win over Siena in their penultimate game of the season, scoring a brace and setting up Claudio Marchisio for the youngster's third goal of the season to end their run of seven winless matches in Serie A. Juventus then went on to defeat Lazio 2–0 and clinch the second place spot in Serie A over Milan, determined by their head-to-head record.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 17 July 2009, Del Piero extended his contract with Juventus by one more year until 30 June 2011 in Pinzolo while training for pre-season, thus practically ensuring that he would retire at the club with which he started his professional career. During his renewal, he said: "I am happy at Juventus and we are competitive. I want to keep playing for as long as I can and I'm certain that for at least two more years I will be at the top level." On 14 February 2010, Del Piero marked his 445th Serie A appearance, breaking the all-time club record previously held by Boniperti, with a brace in a 3–2 win against Genoa. Del Piero finished the season as the all-time top scorer for Juventus, having scored over 250 goals in all competitions with the club, and having also made over 600 appearances in official matches for Juventus, breaking Scirea's appearance record.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 14 March 2010, Del Piero recorded his 300th and 301st career goals during a 3–3 draw with Siena, with the first two goals coming in the second and seventh minutes. On 30 October 2010, he recorded his 179th Serie A goal, helping his side to a 2–1 win at Milan, breaking the record of club legend Giampiero Boniperti as Juventus's top scorer in Serie A, and further cementing his status as the most prolific goalscorer in Juventus history.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 5 February 2011, with his substitution against Cagliari, Alessandro Del Piero became the most capped Juventus player, edging out former Juventus legend Giampiero Boniperti. Del Piero was the third most capped active player in the Serie A at the time, behind Javier Zanetti and Francesco Totti, respectively. On 5 May 2011, he signed a new one-year contract to stay at the Juventus Arena. His previous deal was due to expire on 30 June 2011. On 24 May 2011, Del Piero and Juventus played against Manchester United at Old Trafford in a friendly match being former England defender Gary Neville's testimonial match. Del Piero was substituted after 65 minutes to a standing ovation from the United supporters.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Juventus confirmed on 18 October 2011 that the 2011–12 Serie A would be Del Piero's last season with the club. The 2011–12 season under new manager Antonio Conte, his former Juventus teammate, saw Del Piero being used sparingly, and mainly as a substitute, because of the summer arrival of forward Mirko Vučinić from Roma. In the club's opening match of the season against Parma on 11 September, he assisted Simone Pepe's goal in an eventual 4–1 home win. Del Piero scored his first goal in the new Juventus Stadium on 24 January 2012, in a 3–0 win over Roma in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia. Later in the season, Del Piero stated that he was surprised at Juventus president Andrea Agnelli's announcement regarding the club's decision not to offer him a new contract.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: In the second leg of Juventus's clash with Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Del Piero finished off a brilliant move by Juventus as they secured a 2–2 draw to progress to the final with a 4–3 aggregate win. On 25 March, Del Piero helped Juventus defeat Inter Milan by scoring the second goal of the match in a 2–0 victory, his first goal of the Serie A season. In Juventus' match against Lazio on 11 April, Del Piero replaced Vučinić in the second half, making his 700th appearance for Juventus, and then went on to score from a free kick to earn his side a 2–1 victory; the result also enabled Juventus to return to the top of the Serie A table.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 13 May, Del Piero started Juventus's final league game of the season against Atalanta, marking the occasion and the victory of their 28th Serie A title by scoring a goal. Twenty-seven minutes into the match, Del Piero picked the ball up at the edge of the penalty box and placed a shot past Giorgio Frezzolini to make the score 2–0, helping Juventus to go undefeated in Serie A that season. He was substituted off after 59 minutes to an emotional response from both sets of players and supporters, as he made a lap of honour around the pitch. This was Alessandro Del Piero's final Serie A appearance for Juventus.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero's final match for Juventus was in the Coppa Italia Final on 20 May against Napoli, which ended in a 2–0 victory to the Neapolitans. Del Piero was substituted in the 67th minute for Vučinić as his Juventus career came to an end; he received a standing ovation from both the Juventus and Napoli fans. Following the game, he confirmed that after his 19-year spell with Juventus, he did not plan to retire. He then left the club and became a free agent. In total, Del Piero made a club record of 705 appearances for Juventus across all competitions, scoring a record 290 goals, and providing 134 assists in all competitions throughout his career with the club; he also scored 188 goals and provided 105 assists in 478 Serie A appearances with the Turin club. In addition to these records, Del Piero is also Juventus's top scorer and second highest appearance holder in the UEFA Champions League, behind only Buffon, with 44 goals in 92 appearances; he is also the top scorer and appearance holder for Juventus in European Competitions, with 50 goals in 125 appearances, in International competitions, with 54 goals in 131 appearances, and in the Supercoppa Italiana, with 3 goals in 6 appearances. He is the club's top-scorer in Serie B, with 21 goals, and the club's second highest scorer in the Coppa Italia, with 25 goals, behind Pietro Anastasi. Alongside Giuseppe Signori and Alberto Gilardino, Del Piero is also the ninth highest all-time goalscorer in Serie A, and he is currently the joint all-time top scorer in the Supercoppa Italiana, alongside Samuel Eto'o, Andriy Shevchenko, and Carlos Tevez. As of May 2016, he is the thirteenth highest UEFA Champions League all-time goalscorer, with 41 goals.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero refused the board's offer to retire the No. 10 shirt in his honour, saying: "I've really had so much that I would never want it to be retired, this way, every child can dream one day of wearing it." On 30 June, Del Piero wrote an open letter to the Juventus fans thanking them for almost two decades of support, stating: "Above all what remains is the fans, you who are Juventus. That jersey that I loved and will always love, that I desired and respected ... From tomorrow I will no longer be a Juventus player, but I will always be one of you. Now a new adventure begins and I am as fired up as I was 19 summers ago."


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 5 September 2012, Del Piero signed a two-year deal with Sydney FC. He was paid approximately AU$3.5 million for each of his first two seasons, and therefore became the highest-paid footballer to ever play in Australia. Del Piero had been linked to Liverpool prior to signing for Sydney, but later revealed due to his memories of Heysel he would not have been able to move to the club.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Upon signing for Sydney FC, Del Piero said: "It's a special day for me. I am happy to announce that I just signed for two years for Sydney FC. This is a very big moment for me because I want to continue my career in a new part of the world where I can make a major contribution and help grow the game I love." After the announcement of the transfer to Sydney FC, Juventus wished good luck to their former captain. Francesco Totti and Filippo Inzaghi said they were saddened by his departure.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Sydney FC chairman Scott Barlow said: "The signing of Alessandro Del Piero is a big moment for this club and, we believe, a historic moment for football in Australia, I wouldn't like to go into the details of the contract, but this does represent the largest professional sporting contract in Australian history and the numbers that have been discussed aren't too far off the mark."


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley said that this signing would be crucial for the growth of Australian Football, both economically and technically. Ian Crook, manager of Sydney FC, said he would build the forward set-up around the Italian, who would be given licence to pull the strings, adding: "We're not going to reinvent the wheel here. He's played 19 years for one of the biggest four or five clubs in the world, as a No. 10 or a No. 9. We're not going to change that." FIFA President Sepp Blatter sent his best wishes to Del Piero and his new club.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 6 October 2012, Del Piero made his A-League debut with Sydney FC in a 2–0 away loss against Wellington Phoenix. Del Piero scored his first goal for the club from a free-kick in 3–2 loss to Newcastle Jets on 13 October, in his first home game for Sydney. The match against Newcastle featured hero-cam, which allowed the viewer to track Del Piero's movements with one camera throughout the game. On 20 October, Del Piero scored the winning goal against Western Sydney Wanderers FC (1–0), making history with the first goal in the first Sydney Derby.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 19 January 2013, Del Piero scored four goals and also provided one assist in Sydney's 7–1 win against Wellington Phoenix; this was the first time he had scored more than three goals in a single match, and after being substituted, the fans gave him a standing ovation. On 10 February, Del Piero broke the club's record for most goals in a single season, scoring his eleventh goal of the season in a 2–1 home win over Brisbane Roar. Despite his record-breaking tally of 14 goals in 24 appearances, Del Piero was unable to help Sydney qualify for the play-offs at the end of the season. On 21 February, Del Piero renewed his contract until 2014.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero was named Sydney's captain for their 2013–14 season. On 11 October 2013, Del Piero scored the opening goal of the 2013–14 A-League season, the game-winner in a 2–0 victory over Newcastle Jets, also setting up Joel Chianese's goal. Alessandro went on to score 10 goals in total for Sydney FC in the 2013–14 season, which earned him the Sydney FC Golden Boot; he helped the club qualify for the finals series, setting up both of his team's goals in the final match of the regular season on 13 April 2014, a 2–1 home win over Perth Glory, before being released of his contract at Sydney FC. His final match with Sydney came in a 2–1 loss to Melbourne Victory in an Elimination final at Docklands Stadium on 18 April, courtesy of Gui Finkler's injury time winner.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On Sunday 10 August 2014, Del Piero captained the Hyundai A-League All Stars against his club of almost 20 years, Juventus, in Sydney, in front of over 55,000 people at ANZ Stadium. Del Piero was substituted off at the 63rd minute of the match for David Williams, to a standing ovation.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: In April 2015, Del Piero was named to Sydney FC's team of the decade and to the AFC team of the decade.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: On 23 August 2014, it was reported that Delhi Dynamos, an Indian side that was set to play in the inaugural Indian Super League season, was in talks with Del Piero. His brother, Stefano Del Piero said, "During the last (few) weeks, we have received inquiries from several teams, not only from India but also from other countries. There is a lot of interest in Alessandro." On 28 August 2014, he officially signed for the Delhi-based outfit, signing a four-month deal. He reportedly is the highest paid player in the history of Indian football.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero made his debut for the Delhi Dynamos on 14 October in a 0–0 draw against Pune City, a side which featured his former Juventus teammate David Trezeguet. On 9 December, Del Piero scored his first and only Delhi Dynamos goal, netting directly from a free kick, in a 2–2 draw against Chennaiyin. Del Piero made 10 appearances throughout the season as Delhi finished in fifth place, failing to reach the play-offs by a single point.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: In October 2015, after almost a year without a club, Del Piero officially communicated his retirement from professional football, also stating his intention to pursue a coaching career.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero is currently Italy's joint fourth all-time leading scorer, along with Roberto Baggio, with 27 goals in 91 appearances, with 2 goals for Italy coming in 12 World Cup matches and 1 goal in 13 European Championship matches; alongside Enrico Chiesa, he also holds the unique record for the most goals scored by an Italian international as a substitute (5). Del Piero initially played for the Italian U-21 side on 12 occasions, scoring 3 goals, and was a member of the team that qualified for and later won the 1996 European Under-21 Championship, appearing in the quarter-finals. Del Piero made his senior debut under Arrigo Sacchi at the age of 20, on 25 March 1995, in a 4–1 win over Estonia in a Euro 1996 qualifying match. Del Piero scored his first goal for Italy on 15 November 1995, in a 4–0 win over Lithuania in a Euro 1996 qualifying match. His tournament debut was at UEFA Euro 1996, where he made his only appearance in the first half of the team's 2–1 win in the opening group match against Russia, playing as a left-winger in midfield, wearing the number 14 shirt, before being substituted at half-time by Roberto Donadoni.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: The next year, Del Piero was part of the Italy team that took part in the friendly "Tournoi de France" tournament from 3 to 11 June 1997 under Cesare Maldini. Del Piero scored two goals in a 3–3 draw against Brazil, and scored from a penalty against France in the 90th minute, finishing the tournament as top-scorer with 3 goals, although Italy finished in last place.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero competed with fan favourite Roberto Baggio for an attacking spot in the starting 11 during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, while struggling to recover from an injury suffered during the 1998 Champions League final with Juventus; Del Piero missed out on Italy's 2–2 opening draw against Chile, and was temporarily replaced by Baggio. He made his first World Cup appearance in the second group match, a 3–0 defeat of Cameroon, coming on for Baggio in the second half, wearing the number 10 shirt, and contributing to Christian Vieri's final goal. In the final group game against Austria, Del Piero won his first start, setting up Vieri's opening goal of the match from a free-kick as Italy won 2–1 to top their group and seal a passage into the next round, avoiding reigning champions Brazil; he was substituted by Baggio in the second half. Italy reached the quarter-finals after defeating Norway 1–0, as Del Piero started the match alongside Vieri once again, coming off for Enrico Chiesa in the 77th minute. Italy eventually fell to hosts and eventual champions France on penalty kicks, following a 0–0 draw; Del Piero was criticised for his performance and was substituted in the second half by Baggio once again.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero was part of Dino Zoff's Italy's squad that reached the final of UEFA Euro 2000. Although he was primarily used as a substitute for either Francesco Totti or Stefano Fiore, Del Piero appeared in every match of the tournament, and he wore the number 10 shirt. On 11 June, Del Piero came on as a substitute for Fiore in the 30th minute in Italy's opening Group B 2–1 win against Turkey, hitting the cross-bar from a free-kick. In the final group game, Del Piero started the match and scored the winner with a notable goal against Sweden, taking it past two players before curling the ball into the top corner from outside the area with a left-footed strike; Del Piero also set up Luigi Di Biagio's opener from a corner. Del Piero made his second start of the tournament for Italy in their semi-final against co-hosts, Netherlands, which Italy won on penalties following a 0–0 draw after extra-time. In the final, he come on as a substitute in the second half and missed two gilt-edged chances in Italy's 2–1 loss to France in extra time, and was criticised by the Italian press.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero returned to the international scene in the 2002 FIFA World Cup under Giovanni Trapattoni after winning the "scudetto" with Juventus. He scored the decisive goal against Hungary, which sealed Italy's qualification for the finals. Del Piero appeared as a substitute in Italy's opening win against Ecuador, wearing the captain's armband for part of the match. He instantly scored with a header against Mexico, after coming on as a substitute, an equalising goal which saved Italy from the ignominy of a first round exit in their final group match. The goal sent Italy through to the second round, where they were eliminated by a golden goal in a controversial match against co-hosts South Korea, a match during which Del Piero started alongside Totti and Vieri.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero took part in 6 of Italy's 2004 European Qualifying matches, scoring 5 goals, and was called up for the Italy squad that would participate in UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal. Del Piero started all three matches, wearing the captain's armband in Italy's final win over Bulgaria, and was involved in Cassano's injury time match-winning goal, although Italy were eliminated in the first round on direct encounters, following a three-way five point tie with Sweden and Denmark.


title: Alessandro Del Piero

text: Del Piero took part in the 2006 FIFA World Cup under manager Marcello Lippi, appearing in five matches, and two out of the three group stage matches; he made his first start of the competition in a 1–0 round of 16 win over Australia on 26 June. On 4 July, Del Piero entered as a substitute near the end of regulation and scored Italy's second goal in a 2–0 semi-final win over host Germany. In the final against France, which ended 1–1 after extra time, Del Piero scored a penalty in the shootout as Italy won the tournament for the fourth time. He admitted afterwards that winning the World Cup was his childhood dream.