John Fashanu (, born 18 September 1962) is an English television presenter and 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 le ...

. In his former career, he was a

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

from 1978 until 1995, most notably in an eight-year spell at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in which he won the

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 ...

in 1988 and scored over 100 goals in all competitions. He was also capped twice at senior level by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Over his entire playing career, he also played for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

Miramar Rangers Miramar Rangers AFC is an amateur New Zealand association football club in the Wellington suburb of Miramar. The club is one of the most successful in New Zealand having won the Chatham Cup four times and the National League title twice. Over t ...

, Lincoln City,

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 ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. He scored 134 league goals in a career lasting 17 years. Following his football career, he went on to co-host British television show ''

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

'' in the 1990s, and between 2003 and 2004 he managed his own Sunday league football side '' Fash FC'' on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

Early life

Fashanu was born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, London, the son of Pearl Gopal, a nurse from

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

and Patrick Fashanu, a Nigerian

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

living in the UK. When his parents split up he was sent, together with his older brother

Justin Justin may refer to: People * Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin * Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...

, to a

Barnardo's Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...

care home. When he was five, he and his brother were fostered by Alf and Betty Jackson and were subsequently brought up in Shropham near

Attleborough Attleborough is a market town and civil parish located on the A11 between Norwich and Thetford in Norfolk, England. The parish is in the district of Breckland and has an area of . The 2001 Census recorded the town as having a population of 9 ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Football career

Early career

Fashanu's footballing career began at

in 1979, and he turned professional two years later – just as his brother Justin was transferred to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

from the relegated

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. N ...

club. Norwich were promoted straight back to the First Division in 1981–82, but Fashanu managed just five league appearances and scored once. He managed two appearances in the 1982–83 First Division campaign – which would be his last for the club. He was never a regular player at Carrow Road. He had a brief loan spell with

from Norwich. He also played in the English off-season in New Zealand with

, and made an appearance in the final of the local equivalent of the FA Cup, the

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auckland City, who defeated Eastern ...

(he remains the only player to have played in the final of both the English and New Zealand major cup competitions). Having failed to win a regular place in Norwich’s first team, he joined Lincoln City on a free transfer on 23 September 1983, when they were in the Third Division. He scored seven goals from 26 league games that season, and managed four from 10 league games the following campaign before his £55,000 transfer to Third Division promotion challengers

on 30 November 1984. In his first season at

The Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which it ...

Fashanu scored four goals in 25 games helping the Lions reach the FA Cup quarter-finals (where they lost at

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

in a game marred by fans who invaded the pitch) and secure promotion to the Second Division. He managed eight goals from 25 games in 1985–86, before leaving to join

towards the end of the Second Division season.

Wimbledon

Fashanu made a £125,000 move to Second Division promotion contenders

in March 1986, when they were pushing for a third promotion in four seasons as they looked to complete a rapid rise from the Fourth Division to the First. At the time, he was the club's record signing. Fashanu's four goals from the remaining nine league games helped Wimbledon seal the final promotion place and they were a First Division side a mere nine years after being elected to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

- and also became only the second club in

history to be promoted three divisions in four seasons. Fashanu and his colleagues settled well into the First Division, surprising all the observers by finishing sixth in the league (briefly topping the table in early September) and finishing above traditional big clubs including

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. Fashanu was Wimbledon's top scorer with 11 league goals, and would be a regular goalscorer in the top flight for the Dons for a further seven seasons. In 1988, Fashanu helped Wimbledon win the

, beating Liverpool in a final that was billed as a "rags versus riches" affair, although the two clubs were separated by just six places in the First Division - as Liverpool had been the dominant side in English football for some 15 years whereas Wimbledon had played just two seasons in the First Division and only 11 as a Football League club. He performed well in the league again, scoring 14 goals. He also scored Wimbledon's goal as Liverpool defeated them 2–1 in that year's Charity Shield. Fashanu claimed two

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s – against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in a friendly tournament in May 1989, but did not score. During his time at Wimbledon, Fashanu scored 126 goals. His best season was 1990–91, when he was the First Division's second highest scorer with 20 goals as his side finished seventh. He received criticism during the 1993–94 season when a clash with

Gary Mabbutt Gary Vincent Mabbutt (born 23 August 1961) is an English former footballer who made more than 750 professional appearances, first playing for Bristol Rovers and going on to play 619 games for Tottenham Hotspur, despite being diagnosed with type ...

, then Spurs captain, in an aerial challenge left the Spurs defender with a broken skull and eye socket. Fashanu had already established a reputation by that point of being a very aggressive and physical striker, and this was seen as another example of that behaviour. At that time synonymous with Wimbledon's "Crazy Gang" which had built up a reputation for this style of play, also exhibited by the likes of

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer. Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelse ...

and

Dennis Wise Dennis Frank Wise (born 16 December 1966) is an English former professional football player and manager who played as a central midfielder. He is the president of Serie B side Como 1907. He is best known for having spent the majority of his c ...

Aston Villa

On 4 August 1994, just before the start of the 1994–95 season, Fashanu was sold to

for £1.35million. However, injury restricted him to just 13 games and 3 goals for a Villa side who narrowly avoided relegation that season. He managed a goal on his Villa debut when they drew 2–2 at Everton on the opening day of the Premier League season, his other two goals coming in successive games against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and then Nottingham Forest in January. Fashanu's last game was on 4 February 1995 away at

in a Premiership game that they lost 1–0. In a tackle with

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entir ...

he snapped his knee ligaments and was stretchered off. After the end of the season, Fashanu retired as a result of this injury. In 1995, he hit the front pages as well as the back when '' The Sun'' published allegations of

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

against Fashanu, fellow Wimbledon player

Hans Segers Johannes "Hans" Segers (born 30 October 1961) is a Dutch football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. As a player, he notably spent eight years with Wimbledon where he featured in the Premier League. He also played ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

goalkeeper

Bruce Grobbelaar Bruce David Grobbelaar (born 6 October 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most prominently for English team Liverpool between 1981 and 1994, and for the Zimbabwean national team. He is remembered fo ...

. All three players were eventually cleared of the allegations in a subsequent court case in August 1997.

International career

Fashanu represented England at full International level gaining two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

– against

and

in the

1989 Rous Cup The 1989 Rous Cup was the fifth and final staging of the Rous Cup international football competition, based around the England–Scotland football rivalry. As in the previous two years, a South American team was also invited to compete in a tri ...

, due to his good form at club level for his then club

. He was also eligible to play for Nigeria and since retiring he has expressed regret in not being able to do so.

Post-football career

Following retirement from the game through injury, Fashanu became a television presenter. He presented the UK edition of ''

'' alongside

Ulrika Jonsson Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born 16 August 1967) is a Swedish-British television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, moved on to present the ITV show ''Gladiators'', and as a team captain of the BBC Two show '' Shooting S ...

in the 1990s. In 2003, he came second in the second series of '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!''. Later that year he presented ''Fash's Football Challenge'', a reality television show that followed Fashanu managing an amateur football team. Also in 2003, he fronted a six-part series for

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

based on the American format '' Man vs. Beast'', however following protests from animal rights groups, the series was never broadcast. He also released a video "Focus on Fitness with Fash". He is now host of '' Deal or No Deal Nigeria'', airing on M-Net Africa. Since retirement Fashanu has also maintained his sporting connections, becoming involved with the Nigeria Football Association, and as chairman of Welsh football team Barry Town for one year, vacating this post in 2003. In 2000, he also compiled, all with an investigator, a report on corruption in Nigeria in the 1980s and 1990s that came to be known as the Fashanu Report. In 2003, he became the manager of his own Sunday league football team Fash FC as part of a television reality show. In September 2005 Wimbledon Old Players' Association was launched. John is involved in the Wimbledon Old Players' Association, an organisation set up by the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association. He said: "It's going to be great to be back as part of the Wimbledon family. As an ex-Wimbledon player, I know all about the heroics of the likes of Roy Law and

Dickie Guy Richard John Guy (born 6 January 1949) is an English former goalkeeper for Wimbledon during the 1960s and 1970s. Today, Guy is the President of AFC Wimbledon, the supporter-owned club which represents Wimbledon. Playing career Guy made nearly 6 ...

in the old days, as well as what the new boys have been doing at

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

". In 2007, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' named him 22nd out of the 50 worst footballers to have played 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 Foo ...

. In August 2009, Fashanu, who in 2000 accused

Bob Minton Robert Schenk Minton (October 1946 – January 20, 2010) was a banker who helped the country of Nigeria manage its debt and a well-known critic of Scientology. Early life and career Criticism of Scientology Minton became a critic of Scientol ...

and

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...

of stealing money from Nigeria, apologised saying "I can say it again and again, that there was nothing like debt buy-back or any billions stacked away in any account anywhere." Minton said that Fashanu was given false information by the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

to attack him.

Personal life

Fashanu, who was the younger brother of

Justin Fashanu Justinus Soni "Justin" Fashanu ( ; 19 February 1961 – 2 May 1998) was an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997. He was known by his early clubs to be gay, and came out publicly later in his career, beco ...

, disowned his brother after the latter came out as gay, telling ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' that Justin was "an outcast". After Justin took his own life in 1998, Fashanu expressed remorse for abandoning his brother. However, in an interview with TalkSPORT in 2012, John Fashanu claimed his brother was not gay and was merely an attention seeker. Fashanu has two sons, Amir and Akio, and two daughters, Alana and

Amal Amal may refer to: * Amal (given name) * Åmål, a small town in Sweden * Amal Movement, a Lebanese political party ** Amal Militia, Amal Movement's defunct militia * Amal language of Papua New Guinea * Amal (film), ''Amal'' (film), 2007, directed ...

. Fashanu has been married three times, according to a documentary on football culture made by his daughter Amal. He met his first wife, a Spaniard, when they were both 18. That marriage broke up when Amal was two years old. Fashanu holds a black belt in Karate.

In pop culture

* Australian band Magic Lunchbox recorded a song about John Fashanu entitled "Fashanu" on their 2005 album '' Spastique''. * He appeared on Channel 4's '' Come Dine with Me'' for a football special shortly prior to the

2010 FIFA 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 ...

. * The satirical current affairs programme ''

The Day Today ''The Day Today'' is a British comedy television show that parodies television news and current affairs programmes, broadcast in 1994 on BBC2. It was created by Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris and is an adaptation of the radio programme '' ...

'' featured a trailer for a fictional show titled "John Fashanu". The trailer consisted of various clips of Fashanu accompanied by sinister music and a voice-over ( Chris Morris) saying the words "John Fashanu" five times. This was followed by presenter Chris Morris pronouncing the name incorrectly. * Fashanu was voted twice to be part in the BBC's satirical "England's Worst ever football team" TV movie, the first time in 2010 and the second time in 2014.

Honours

Wimbledon *

: 1987–88

References

Notes

#The IMDb page for the TV show ''Football Challenge'' on their website, this is incorrect and the show was actually called ''Fash FC''.

External links

*
Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
*''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', 3 August 2003
Fashanu myth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fashanu, John 1962 births Living people Aston Villa F.C. players Black British sportspeople Black British television personalities Crystal Palace F.C. players English footballers England international footballers English people of Guyanese descent English people of Nigerian descent English people of Yoruba descent English television presenters Yoruba sportspeople Lincoln City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Footballers from Kensington Premier League players Wimbledon F.C. players Association football controversies Miramar Rangers AFC players People from Attleborough Association football forwards English male karateka I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants FA Cup Final players Gladiators (1992 British TV series)