Early years Peschisolido was born in
Scarborough, now part of
Toronto,
Ontario. He began his
professional playing career when still a high-schooler with
Archbishop Denis O'Connor Catholic High School in
Ajax. Peschisolido led the team to
OFSAA finals in his last year then moved on as a trainee with the
Toronto Blizzard of the
Canadian Soccer League, where he was named the "Rookie of the Year" in 1989.
Birmingham City After spending a year with the
Juventus academy, returning homesick saw him offered the opportunity from his former national youth team coach
Tony Taylor to join
Birmingham City for £25,000 in November 1992. He was joint top scorer in each of his two seasons with the club.
Stoke City In August 1994, he moved on to
Stoke City in a £400,000 plus player exchange deal involving
Dave Regis. He was top scorer with 15 goals for the 1994–95 season, and remained at Stoke until March 1996, when he returned to Birmingham until the end of the 1995–96 season, scoring once in nine appearances.
West Bromwich Albion Peschisolido signed for
West Bromwich Albion in a £600,000 deal in July 1996. He made his first appearance for the club in the 3–1 home
League Cup defeat to
Colchester United on 3 September 1996. Four days later, Peschisolido scored just nine minutes into his Albion league debut, as the Midlands side ran out 2–0 winners at
Queens Park Rangers.
Fulham After 51 appearances and 21 goals for West Brom, he dropped down a division to join
Fulham in October 1997, for a £1.1 million transfer fee. He appeared 37 times for 'the Cottagers' in the 1997–98 season, scoring 13 goals, before helping the team win promotion as
Division Two champions the following year. After appearing in two League Cup matches for Fulham in the 2000–01 season, Peschisolido was
loaned to Queens Park Rangers in November 2000. He scored on his QPR debut, playing alongside the much taller
Peter Crouch in a 1–1 draw against Portsmouth. In January 2001, he went on loan again, this time to
Sheffield United, also scoring on his debut for "the Blades", before spending a further loan period at
Norwich City.
Sheffield United He later re-joined Sheffield United in a permanent deal for £250,000, after agreeing to a wage cut. He was a key player in the 2002–03 season, helping the club reach the semi-finals of the 2003
FA Cup and
League Cup and the
Division One play-off final. In the 2003 FA Cup semi-final against
Arsenal, he was denied an equalising goal by goalkeeper
David Seaman, who made a one-handed "claw-back" save from Peschisolido's header which three-time
Best European Goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel later described as "the best stop I've ever seen in the flesh".
Derby County In March 2004, Peschisolido joined
Derby County in a swap deal, with
Izale McLeod moving to United on loan for the rest of the season. Once again he scored on debut, contributing four goals in his first three appearances, including two against local rivals Nottingham Forest, one of which was gifted to him by goalkeeper
Barry Roche, who sliced an attempted clearance after the ball deflected off a plastic coffee cup on the pitch. After Derby avoided relegation in 2004, Peschisolido's "knack for scoring vital goals from the substitutes' bench" helped them reach the playoffs in 2005 and 2007, though he started in the
playoff final against West Bromwich Albion at Wembley Stadium, which Derby won 1–0 to earn promotion to the
Premier League. Peschisolido was released by the club at the end of that season.
Luton Town On 16 July 2007 Peschisolido signed for
Luton Town on a one-year deal. He played just four league matches and one cup match for Luton, scoring once in the
Football League Trophy against
Northampton Town, before an ankle problem kept him out of action from September onwards. After the injury failed to respond to injections it was confirmed in December that he would require an operation, ruling him out for the rest of the season. Luton released Peschisolido at the end of the 2007–08 season, following their relegation to League Two. ==International career==