Joel Joshua Frederick Melvin "Jobi" McAnuff (born 9 November 1981) is a former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. He was predominantly a winger but he has also played as an occasional

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Since his retirement he has worked as a Pundit. He began his career at Wimbledon, making over 100 appearances for the club before brief spells at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and Cardiff City. McAnuff joined

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

in 2005, spending two years there before moving again, this time to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

before joining

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

in 2009. He was appointed captain in 2011 and went on to make over 200 appearances in all competition for the Royals. Prior to Reading's promotion to the Premier League in 2011–12 he had spent his entire career playing in England's second tier, amassing over 400 league appearances. He joined Leyton Orient in 2014. Born in London, McAnuff has represented

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, his father's country of birth, at international level. He made his debut in May 2002 although his next appearance did not come until nearly eleven years later in February 2013. He was part of their squads which won the

2014 Caribbean Cup The 2014 Caribbean Cup was the 18th edition of the Caribbean Cup, an international Association football, football competition for national teams of member nations affiliated with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) of the CONCACAF region. The fin ...

and competed at the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, London, McAnuff made his professional debut in the 2001–02 season with First Division side Wimbledon. He played 104 games and scored 15 goals for the club, staying until Wimbledon's last season, 2003–04. In March 2003,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

manager Harry Redknapp agreed a deal to bring McAnuff and teammate

Nigel Reo-Coker Nigel Shola Andre Reo-Coker (born 14 May 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, as well as a football commentator and pundit for CBS Sports. Reo-Coker came through the youth team ranks at Wimbledon, an ...

to the south coast club in preparation for their first Premiership season. Financial problems resulted in the player remaining at Wimbledon despite having already signed contracts with Portsmouth. In the January 2004 transfer window, with Wimbledon now in

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

, West Ham manager Alan Pardew signed McAnuff for

joining fellow former Wimbledon players,

, and

Adam Nowland Adam Christopher Nowland (born 6 July 1981 in Preston) is an English retired footballer. Career Early career: Blackpool and Wimbledon Nowland started his career at Blackpool in 1998 where he made his professional debut at the age of 17. When ...

. He played only 14 games for the club, scoring 1 goal against Crewe. To generate funds for future transfers Pardew was forced to sell McAnuff and on 12 August 2004 he joined Cardiff City for a fee of £250,000 and was a virtual ever-present in his first year at the club. He made his debut against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, scoring his first goal against his former side West Ham United during a 4–1 win. He played 48 games and scored 3 goals and picked up numerous player of the month awards. With Cardiff in financial difficulty, McAnuff left the club at the end of the 2004–05 season to join

for a fee of around £600,000.

Crystal Palace

In his first season at Selhurst Park, McAnuff played 43 games and scored eight goals. His performances in the Championship understandably led to interest from a number of clubs and in the summer of 2006 being linked with moves to

, Bolton Wanderers and

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

, the latter managed by his former boss at Palace

Iain Dowie Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit. He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...

. However, it was announced during the summer 2006 transfer window that he would stay at Crystal Palace, and play for the Eagles under new boss

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...

Watford

After a less successful 2006–07 campaign, McAnuff moved to Watford in June 2007 in a deal worth an initial £1.75 million. Jobi McAnuff (cropped)

McAnuff endured a slow start to his Watford career and found himself out of the side for the early part of the season due to the loan arrival of young

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

winger Adam Johnson. After Johnson's loan ended prematurely in November, McAnuff returned to the side and scored two important goals – the winner away at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

and a last minute long-distance strike to save a point at home to Cardiff City.

Reading

McAnuff joined

on 27 August 2009, then managed by former

boss

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...

, on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut against his former club Watford on 26 September 2009 with his first goal coming a month later in a 3–1 win over

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

on 31 October. He scored the third goal against Cardiff City in the 2011 play-off semi-final with a storming run, sealing a 3–0 victory and sending Reading to

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

for the final against Swansea City. McAnuff started in the final and provided assists for both Reading goals but was unable to prevent them losing the game 4 – 2. Ivar Ingimarsson and

Matt Mills Matthew Claude Mills (born 14 July 1986) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He spent most of his career in the English EFL Championship, in which he played for Leicester City, Reading, Bolton, Nottingham ...

both left the club in the months following the play-off final defeat and on 13 July 2011, days after extending his contract until 2014, McAnuff was named as the new Reading captain. On being named captain he paid tribute to his predecessors and described it as a "massive honour". The 2012–13 season saw McAnuff playing in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for the first time in his twelve-year career. By 27 November he had laid on four goals for his teammates, lying joint third in the league assists table. He had to wait until February for his first goal of the season, scoring in Reading's 2–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fifth round defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford. He left the club at the end of the 2013–14 season. McAnuff gave an exclusive interview to Get Reading saying he is fine over not getting a renewed contract, though he went on to say: ''"My time at Reading has been fantastic. It's been a thoroughly enjoyable chapter of my life, a stable one as well. Five seasons is a large chunk of my career. I've captained the club with massive amounts of pride and enjoyment. I've had many great times, the Championship win obviously, and also some bad ones as well. But it's been a fantastic experience. It's a time of my career I'll never forget."''

Leyton Orient

On 25 July 2014, McAnuff signed a two-year deal with

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

. In May 2016, he was released from Leyton Orient when it was announced that he would not be retained when his contract expired.

Minnesota United FC

McAnuff began trialing with Minnesota United FC of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

in June 2016. McAnuff made an appearance for Minnesota United in an international friendly against Liga MX side

Club León Club León Fútbol Club, also known as León, is a Mexican professional football club based in León, Guanajuato, that competes in the Liga MX, the top flight of Mexican football. León has won the Primera División de México/Liga MX title ...

on 25 June 2016 in the first ever football match at

Target Field Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. The stadium hos ...

Stevenage

On 19 July 2016 McAnuff signed for

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

team Stevenage on a free transfer.

Return to Leyton Orient

On 20 July 2017, it was announced that McAnuff would return to Leyton Orient. He captained the side in the 2018–19 season and went on to win the league title. He later signed a further contract extension and moved into a player/coach role. He was made

interim manager Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change with ...

of Leyton Orient on 28 February 2021 following the sacking of

Ross Embleton Ross Embleton (born 9 November 1981) is an English football coach and former player who was most recently Head of Recruitment at Colchester United. Playing career Embleton played four games in all competitions for Bedford during the 2016–17 s ...

He retired from playing at the end of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season. He was released from his management duties and left the club on 8 May 2021.

International career

Born in England, McAnuff qualifies to play for

through his Jamaican born father. He made his international debut on 18 May 2002 in the 'Unity Cup', an exhibition game against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 55th minute replacing

Omar Daley Omar Daley (born 25 April 1981) is a Jamaican footballer. He plays as a winger. He has also played for the Jamaica national team winning more than 50 caps. Daley was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He has played for Portmore United in his homeland ...

. On 24 January 2013, more than ten years after he won his first cap, McAnuff was called up to the Jamaica squad to face

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on 7 February alongside fellow

players

Adrian Mariappa Adrian Joseph Mariappa (born 3 October 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Salford City. Born in England, he represents the Jamaica national team. He progressed through Watford's youth academy, and started p ...

and

Garath McCleary Garath James McCleary (born 15 May 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Wycombe Wanderers. Born in England, he represented the Jamaica national team. Club career Early career McCleary was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire. ...

. He started the game and helped Jamaica to a 0–0 draw in the

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of Association football, football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of a ...

. McAnuff was in the Jamaican squad which won the

on home soil, scoring in the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

following their goalless draw against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

in the final in Montego Bay. At the 2016 Copa América held in the United States he made appearances in all 3 of Jamaica's group games.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''As of match played 29 March 2016. Jamaica score listed first, score column indicates score after each McAnuff goal.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Reading * Football League Championship: 2011–12 Leyton Orient *

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

: 2018–19 * FA Trophy runner-up: 2018–19 Jamaica *

Caribbean Cup The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...

: 2014 Individual * Sir Tom Finney Award: 2022 *

Team of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

Jobi McAnuff profile
at Reading F.C. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McAnuff, Jobi 1981 births Living people Footballers from Edmonton, London Black British sportspeople English people of Jamaican descent English footballers Jamaican footballers Jamaica international footballers Association football midfielders Wimbledon F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Watford F.C. players Reading F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players 2014 Caribbean Cup players 2015 Copa América players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players Stevenage F.C. players National League (English football) players Leyton Orient F.C. managers Jamaican football managers English football managers English Football League managers