Joe Paladino - Player Profile

‘Joe’, who failed to make the grade at Everton, was signed from St Helens Town in December 1990, on the advice of his former St Helens team mate Bryan Griffiths, amidst a goalkeeper injury crisis when Nigel Adkins had been injured during a game against Shrewsbury Town at Gay Meadow.

Phil Hughes was also injured at the time and so Joe was signed until the end of the season.

He made his Latics league debut on 23rd December 1990 against Brentford at Griffin Park in a game that the Blues lost 0-1.

He had played four consecutive League games when Latics decided to bring back Tony Pennock from Stockport County, who then promptly made two league appearances before getting injured himself!

Joe played the next league game against Reading at Elm Park before Phil Hughes returned to action.

In total he made seven league appearances before signing for Altrincham at the start of the following season.

He then had a spell with Runcorn and Witton Albion, the latter being during the 1991-92 season when he was a member of the Albion squad that played Colchester United at Wembley in the FA Trophy final.

He later swapped goalkeeping gloves for boxing gloves and reached the British top ten of professional heavyweight boxers before returning to the sport he loves in 1997.