34 Facts About Justin Fashanu

Justinus Soni "Justin" Fashanu was an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997.

Justin Fashanu was known by his early clubs to be gay, and came out publicly later in his career, becoming the first professional footballer to be openly gay.

Justin Fashanu was charged, and a warrant for his arrest was issued in Howard County, Maryland, on 3 April 1998, but he had already left his flat.

In 2020, Fashanu was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame.

Justin Fashanu was the son of a Nigerian barrister living in the UK and a Guyanese nurse named Pearl.

Justin Fashanu excelled at boxing as a youth, and was rumoured at one time to be pursuing a professional boxing career instead of his footballing career.

Justin Fashanu attended Attleborough High School in the 1970s where his talent for football developed, and was scouted by Norwich City scout John Sainty in a school match against Thetford Grammar School in 1974.

Justin Fashanu began his career as an apprentice with Norwich City, turning professional in December 1978.

Justin Fashanu made his league debut on 13 January 1979, against West Bromwich Albion, and settled into the Norwich side, scoring regularly and occasionally spectacularly.

Justin Fashanu managed a total of 103 senior appearances for Norwich, scoring 40 goals.

Justin Fashanu's career stalled as his professional relationship with manager Brian Clough deteriorated; Clough, it would appear, was disturbed by the rumours of Fashanu's visits to gay nightclubs and bars.

At The Dell, Justin Fashanu settled in well and his promising form helped the "Saints" overcome the sudden departure of Kevin Keegan; manager Lawrie McMenemy would have liked to make the move permanent, but was prevented from doing so by a lack of funds.

Justin Fashanu went to the United States for surgery and began playing again, firstly with Los Angeles Heat and then to Canada with the Edmonton Brick Men and with the Hamilton Steelers.

Justin Fashanu returned to England in 1989 and tried to resurrect his top level playing career, joining Manchester City on 23 October 1989, and played twice in the First Division, but on 20 November, barely a month after joining the club, he moved to West Ham United, later having a trial with Ipswich Town.

Justin Fashanu joined Leyton Orient in March 1990 and subsequently joined non-league Southall as player-coach, before spending the summer of 1991 back in North America with Toronto Blizzard.

Justin Fashanu began a trial with Newcastle United on 24 October 1991, making one first-team appearance as a sub against Peterborough United.

Justin Fashanu signed for Torquay United in the Third Division on 23 November 1991.

Justin Fashanu was the centre of fan and media attention while at Plainmoor: in particular, his relationship with Coronation Street actress Julie Goodyear featured in tabloid newspapers; but he still managed to impress on the pitch, playing 21 league games that season and scoring 10 goals, though he was unable to save Torquay from suffering relegation from the Third Division.

When Ivan Golac was appointed the manager of Torquay in February 1992, Justin Fashanu was given the role of assistant manager and maintained this position at the end of the season when Golac was replaced by new manager Paul Compton.

In February 1993, with Torquay battling against a second successive relegation, from the new Division Three to the Football Conference, Justin Fashanu applied for the vacant post of manager following Compton's departure, but was turned down in favour of Neil Warnock.

Justin Fashanu left Torquay, having scored 15 goals in 41 games for the Gulls.

Justin Fashanu went on to play for Airdrieonians soon after but was unable to save them from suffering relegation from the Scottish Premier Division.

Justin Fashanu left Airdrieonians in 1993, playing in Sweden with Trelleborg, before returning to Scotland, joining Heart of Midlothian in July 1993, but then had his contract terminated in February 1994 for "unprofessional conduct", and returned to the United States to coach youth football in Georgia.

Justin Fashanu later moved to Atlanta Ruckus but was suspended for the playoffs for failure to comply with the terms of his contract, before joining Miramar Rangers in New Zealand in 1997.

Justin Fashanu then moved to Ellicott City, Maryland, to coach the Maryland Mania, a new professional team in the second division USL A-League, following his officially announced retirement from the professional game.

Justin Fashanu agreed to an exclusive with The Sun tabloid newspaper to come out as gay.

Justin Fashanu claimed to have had an affair with a married Conservative MP, whom he first met in a London gay bar.

In 1992, he agreed to front Loud'n'proud, a new national radio series aimed at young lesbians and gay men, but the pilot with Justin Fashanu presenting was turned down by BBC Radio 5; it was later commissioned, with a female presenter, for BBC Radio 1.

Justin Fashanu was the subject of an early internet meme in 1996 when the BBC opened their poll for the Sports Personality of the Year award to e-mail votes for the first time.

Justin Fashanu's remains were cremated and a small ceremony was held at City of London Cemetery and Crematorium.

John Justin Fashanu later expressed regret for some of the comments he made when his brother came out.

Justin Fashanu was listed at number 99 in the Top 500 Lesbian and Gay Heroes in The Pink Paper.

In March 2009, a football team, The Justin Fashanu All-stars, was named at a special event in Brighton, supported by the FA.

The team, named in his honour, was created by the Justin Fashanu Campaign, which is a campaign against homophobia in football and promotes the inclusion of openly gay players in football.