John Paintsil (born 15 June 1981) is a
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
ian former professional
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 ...
who was an assistant coach at
Kaizer Chiefs in the South African
Premier Soccer League
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
. He played club football for
Berekum Arsenal
Berekum Arsenal Football Club is a Ghanaian football club based in Berekum in the Bono region of Ghana, about 30 minutes drive west from Sunyani. Founded in 1995, They are currently members of the Division One League.
CAF Cup
In 2006, the c ...
,
Liberty Professionals
Liberty Professionals Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Dansoman, Accra.
History
Liberty Professionals, was founded in 1996 by Accra-based businessmen Felix Ansong and Alhaji Sly Tetteh. The club was one of the earl ...
,
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...
,
Hapoel Tel Aviv,
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 ...
,
Fulham,
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
,
Santos and
Maritzburg United
Maritzburg United is a South African football club based in the city of Pietermaritzburg that currently plays in the Premier Soccer League.
Honours
*First Division Coastal Stream champions: 2007–08
*First Division Championship Play-offs: 2 ...
as well as internationally for
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
.
His family name is Paintsil but at birth it was registered as Pantsil in error. This then subsequently appeared on his
passport and his registration with 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 ...
.
Club career
Early career
A player comfortable at right back or in midfield, Paintsil had stints in his native Ghana with
Berekum Arsenal
Berekum Arsenal Football Club is a Ghanaian football club based in Berekum in the Bono region of Ghana, about 30 minutes drive west from Sunyani. Founded in 1995, They are currently members of the Division One League.
CAF Cup
In 2006, the c ...
and
Liberty Professionals
Liberty Professionals Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Dansoman, Accra.
History
Liberty Professionals, was founded in 1996 by Accra-based businessmen Felix Ansong and Alhaji Sly Tetteh. The club was one of the earl ...
and a brief spell with Polish side
Widzew Łódź
RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-white-reds).
Histor ...
before moving to Israeli club
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...
in 2002.
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Pantsil joined Israeli club
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...
in 2002, where he was a member of the team that won both the Israeli title and reached the Cup semi-final.
[Player Profile: John Pantsil]
Ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 22 June 2007. He made 46 league appearances
[Soccerbase: John Pantsil]
, Racing Post. Retrieved 22 June 2007. and five appearances in the
Champions League.
Hapoel Tel Aviv
In December 2004, he transferred to rivals
Hapoel Tel Aviv[Player Profiles: John Pantsil]
, West Ham United Official site. Retrieved 22 June 2007. helping them to second place in the league in 2006
and to win the Israeli State Cup in May 2006. He made 42 appearances for Hapoel, scoring three goals.
West Ham United
After the 2006 World Cup, Israeli international
Yossi Benayoun
Yossi Shai Benayoun ( he, יוסי שי בניון; born 5 May 1980) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in England and captained the Israel national team. Born in Dimona, he is ...
recommended Paintsil to
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 ...
manager
Alan Pardew as the Premier League club was in need of a right-back.
Pardew took Pantsil with the rest of the squad on their pre-season tour of Sweden. Impressive performances by Paintsil during West Ham's Swedish tour allowed him to gain favour with Pardew. In August 2006, West Ham completed the signing of Paintsil after a work permit was granted. Paintsil was given the number 14 shirt at West Ham and competed for a place in the side with
Tyrone Mears
Tyrone Robert Mears (born 18 February 1983) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a right-back. His clubs include Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End F.C., Preston North End, West ...
and
Jonathan Spector.
He made only five appearances for West Ham during the 2006–07 season and in the summer of 2007 was weighing up his options in order to ensure his place in the Ghana national team for the
2008 Africa Cup of Nations. However, the defender remained at West Ham and in July 2008, with the majority of his 24 games for West Ham being substitute appearances, Paintsil was given permission to speak to
Fulham with a view to a move.
Fulham
On 15 July 2008, Paintsil and teammate
Bobby Zamora completed their moves to
Fulham for a combined transfer fee of £6.3 million.
He became a first team regular during the 2008–09 season, helping the ''Cottagers'' to a record seventh-place finish. His performances improved as the season progressed and he retained a regular starting place in the 2009–10 season. In June 2011 new Fulham manager
Martin Jol announced that Pantsil had played his last game for Fulham and that he would not be returning for the 2011–12 season.
He was released by Fulham in June 2011.
Leicester City
On 21 July 2011, Paintsil joined Leicester City on a free transfer.
He became manager
Sven-Göran Eriksson's eighth signing of the summer. Paintsil was released by Leicester in May 2012 having made seven appearances in all competitions. He had made no appearances since the appointment of new Leicester manager,
Nigel Pearson
Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, currently the manager of Championship club Bristol City. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, Shef ...
in November 2011 and had not played for Leicester since October 2011.
Hapoel Tel Aviv
On 12 August 2012, Paintsil returned to Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
by signing at Hapoel Tel Aviv for one season.
Santos
Paintsil joined Santos in the National First Division
The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club football after the South African Premier Division. Both the NFD and South Afr ...
on 10 October 2013 after failing to agree terms with Premier Soccer League
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
team Polokwane City.
Maritzburg United
On 8 July 2014, Paintsil joined Maritzburg United
Maritzburg United is a South African football club based in the city of Pietermaritzburg that currently plays in the Premier Soccer League.
Honours
*First Division Coastal Stream champions: 2007–08
*First Division Championship Play-offs: 2 ...
. On 29 January 2016 he was released by Maritzburg United, following a falling out with manager Ernst Middendorp on disciplinary grounds together with teammate Ashley Hartog.
On 24 June 2016, Paintsil retired from football.
International career
Paintsil was a member of the Ghana Under 21 team who were runner-up in the FIFA World Youth Championship
The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...
in Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in 2001 and played for the senior team in the African Cup of Nations in Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
in 2002 and Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
in 2006. He was also a member of the Ghana 2004 Olympics football team who exited in the first round in Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
, having finished in third place in Group B. Paintsil played in all the matches of Ghana's national team in the 2006 World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
finals, where Ghana were beaten by Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
in the second round.
Following the first and second goals in Ghana's 2–0 victory over the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
on 17 June 2006, he celebrated by waving an Israeli flag
The flag of Israel ( he, דגל ישראל '; ar, علم إسرائيل ') was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the establishment of the State of Israel. It depicts a blue hexagram on a white background, between two horizontal b ...
, he also waved as the final whistle blew. This action provoked some protests in his native country Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
and the Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
world. Afterwards the Ghanaian Football Association issued an apology, and said of Pantsil "He was naive".
He was a member of the Ghanaian 2010 World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
team that reached the quarter-finals in South Africa before losing to Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
. He played in all five games. On 13 June 2010, in a World Cup group-stage match against Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
, another variation of his name appeared on his jersey, Panstil.
Managerial career
Kaizer Chiefs
On 27 June 2016, Paintsil became the new assistant manager at Kaizer Chiefs.
Personal life
Paintsil's family reportedly received repeated death threats in Ghana. His younger brother Mark fled to Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
on a tourist visa. His visa expired and he was jailed whilst applying for political asylum
The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...
pending immigration status decisions. According to Mark, the rest of the family is in Britain and cannot go back to Ghana. He was quoted as saying "I cannot return to Ghana because I truly fear for my life. My sister, after returning to Ghana, joined my brother and parents in London immediately, and now I am in prison and there is nothing I can do." John is also famous for his lap of honor at home matches, he sometimes only wears one sleeve on his left arm in the winter, leaving his right arm bare by simply cutting off the other sleeve. During an interview with The West Ham Way, Paintsil revealed that a dream where he played particularly well with one long and one short sleeve led to him adopting this unusual habit.
Career statistics
International appearances
Honours
Player
Maccabi Tel Aviv
*Israeli Premier League
The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...
: 2002–03
Hapoel Tel Aviv
* Israel State Cup: 2006
Fulham
*UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
runner up: 2009–10
Ghana
* Africa Cup of Nations Bronze Medal: 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
Individual
* CAF Team of the Year
The CAF Team of the Year is an annual football award given by the Confederation of African Football during the CAF Awards.
In 2007, the CAF did not choose the team of the year, but rather the best ten players of the last fifty years. The ten pla ...
: 2009
References
External links
*
*
*
Ghana Football Association
nbsp;– official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paintsil, John
1981 births
2002 African Cup of Nations players
2006 Africa Cup of Nations players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
2008 Africa Cup of Nations players
2010 FIFA World Cup players
2012 Africa Cup of Nations players
2013 Africa Cup of Nations players
Association football fullbacks
Association football midfielders
Berekum Arsenal players
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in Israel
Expatriate soccer players in South Africa
Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Fulham F.C. players
Ghana international footballers
Ghana under-20 international footballers
Ghanaian expatriate footballers
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Israel
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Poland
Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in England
Ghanaian footballers
Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players
Israeli Premier League players
Leicester City F.C. players
Liberty Professionals F.C. players
Living people
Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players
Maritzburg United F.C. players
Olympic footballers of Ghana
People from Berekum
Premier League players
Santos F.C. (South Africa) players
West Ham United F.C. players