You might not remember when an Italian striker called Marcello Trotta was set to be the next big thing out of Fulham’s academy.
Trotta’s arrival from Manchester City in September 2009 was a big deal. He scored goals in what was then the Premier League Southern Reserve League and found the net eight times in eight league appearances on loan at Wycombe Wanderers. A brief loan spell at Watford followed before he moved to local rivals Brentford. Uwe Rossler’s side were competing for promotion from League One at the time and Trotta made a good early impressive, scoring in a 2-2 FA Cup draw against Chelsea.
The striker will always be remembered, however, for seizing the ball from regular penalty taker Kevin O’Connor in the last minute of Brentford’s final game of the season against promotion rivals Doncaster Rovers – which they had to win to secure automatic promotion to the Championship. Not only did Trotta smash the crossbar with the spot-kick, Donny went down the other end to score a winner.
‘Agent Trotta’ as he was quickly dubbed did return to Griffin Park the following season, scoring thirteen goals as the Bees went up. The forward, now aiming for promotion from Serie C in his homeland with Avellino, has spoken to Sky Sports about his time with the Bees ahead of the derby at Craven Cottage on Saturday. It’s well worth a read.
