Born in London on October 19, 1974, Danny Dichio is the son of an English mother, Norma, and Italian father, Gianni. He was raised in Notting Hill with his sister, Lucia. The area Danny grew up in was notorious for a lot of different characters, which contributed to his street-wise and savvy edge.
Danny began his love affair with soccer when his dad took him to a match at the young age of two. With a sparked interest in the game, Danny would look forward to going to the matches on Saturdays. And he remembers running home from primary school, grabbing his soccer ball and playing soccer in the street well into dinnertime.
As he got older, he played for numerous teams, including his school, district and county teams. It was at his Sunday boys' club team, Forest United, where he first came up against David Beckham, whom at the age of nine could already deliver a deadly free kick or corner kick into the danger area.
Danny remembers his childhood to be a strict one as his parents (especially his dad) put him on lots of curfews. This infuriated Danny at the time because all his friends would be out till much later while he was tucked in bed at home. But now looking back, the football star is thankful to his dad's commitment to his career.
Although there was a lot of soccer talent in the area, it was the strong support from his family and then wife-to-be Claire that kept Danny in check to aim for his dreams. No matter how busy his dad was, he always allotted time to make sure Danny got to a game or practice. This helped build determination in Danny that he was not going to let his family down. And through will and hard effort, he signed with QPR professionally after leaving high school - a dream for him since he was two!
In 2000, he got married to his wife Claire, whom he has been with since the age of 14. And the proudest moments of his life came with the births of his three beautiful children, Luca in 1998, Franco in 2001 and princess Alessia in 2005.
Happiest Career Moments