Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2013. He scored over 500 tries during his rugby league career, making him the third-highest try scorer (and top try-scoring English player) of all time, and now features in a statue of great rugby league players outside Wembley Stadium. He was a Great Britain and England national representative winger, and due to his running speed he was nicknamed "Chariots" Offiah after the film ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...

'' while playing amateur rugby union at Rosslyn Park. Offiah played for English rugby league clubs

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

and Salford City Reds, and in Australia for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and St. George clubs. It is believed that the England rugby anthem " Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" was first sung at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

while Offiah was playing in the

Middlesex Sevens The Middlesex Sevens was a Rugby Sevens tournament held annually at Twickenham stadium in London, England until 2011. It was first held in 1926, and started by Dr J.A. Russell-Cargill, a London-based Scot.Bath, ''Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p82 T ...

in 1987. Since retiring Offiah has appeared on several reality TV shows. In May 2023, he was appointed official Ambassador of Wigan Warriors.

Background

Offiah was born in Hackney, London, England to Nigerian parents of Igbo origin, and attended Woolverstone Hall School near Ipswich, Suffolk, where he represented the school at fencing and played rugby union and cricket. He played cricket for the Essex 2nd XI but soon realised his main talent was for rugby union. He first played club-level

for Ipswich RFC and Rosslyn Park. After starring on the

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

circuit and for the

Barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

s, there was talk of an England future for Offiah.

Professional playing career

1987–91: Widnes

Inc. 1989 summer stint at Eastern Suburbs & 1991 summer stint at St. George Dragons Offiah was spotted by Widnes coach Doug Laughton playing in the

, and was signed by the club to play rugby league for the 1987–88 season. Alex Murphy had been interested in acquiring Offiah from rugby union, but the board of directors at St. Helens infamously referred to Offiah as an "uncoordinated clown" and the interest was not followed up with action. Within months, he became the most talked-about winger since Billy Boston for his lightning speed and try-scoring; at Widnes he forged a reputation as a devastating winger, helping the team win both the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

and Premiership. He ended his début season with 42 tries, making him the league's top try scorer, also breaking the club record held by Frank Myler for most tries scored in a season. He received the

Man of Steel award The Steve Prescott Man of Steel Awards is an end-of-season awards dinner for the Super League rugby league competition. The event's name is taken from the main award presented, the Man of Steel award for the rugby league footballer of the year. I ...

for his efforts. He was also rewarded with a place in the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour of Australasia, where he played in all three Tests of the Ashes series which was lost to Australia. While on tour with the Lions, Offiah took part in a 100-metre match race at Wentworth Park in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

against Australian flyers Dale Shearer and John Ferguson (Ferguson replaced Greg Alexander who was forced to withdraw through injury). Confirming his standing as the fastest player in rugby league, Offiah easily won the race from Shearer and Ferguson. In the 1988–89 season, Widnes won the Championship and Premiership for the second successive year, and Offiah was once again the league's top try scorer with 58 tries in 41 games. He played in Widnes' 6–12 defeat by Wigan in the 1988–89 John Player Special Trophy final Burnden Park in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

. He then spent the summer in Australia playing for Eastern Suburbs. He scored a try on his NSWRL début against Western Suburbs, and went on to score nine tries in 12 games for the club before returning to Widnes a feat only surpassed by Steven Nolan. During the 1989–90 season, Offiah played for Widnes on the wing in their 1989 World Club Challenge victory against the visiting

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

. Offiah scored a try in Widnes' 24–18 victory over

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

in the 1990 Lancashire Cup final. In 1991, Offiah had a second spell in Australia, this time playing for

St George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...

. He scored 11 tries in 14 games, including a hat trick against his former club, Eastern Suburbs. Over four seasons at Widnes Offiah scored a total of 181 tries in 145 games.

1992–95: Wigan

Inc. 1993 summer stint at Eastern Suburbs Offiah joined

in January 1992 for a world record fee of £440,000 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £900,300 in 2013). This figure remained a record for a total cash transfer until Wigan beat their own record, paying £450,000 for Stuart Fielden from the Bradford Bulls in 2006. Playing in his regular left wing position, Offiah formed a devastating partnership with Gene Miles in his first season at Wigan scoring 30 tries in just 15 games including setting a new club record of ten in a single match against Leeds in the Premiership semi-final in May. Offiah played in Wigan's 5–4 victory over St Helens in the 1992 Lancashire Cup Final at Knowsley Road. He played in a 15–8 victory over Bradford Northern in the 1992–93 Regal Trophy Final at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

, played in the 2–33 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

in the 1993–94 Regal Trophy Final at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

, and scored a try in the 40–10 victory over Warrington in the 1994–95 Regal Trophy Final at Alfred McAlpine Stadium, and played in the 25–16 victory over St Helens in the 1995–96 Regal Trophy Final. He was selected to go on the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. Before the match against the Parramatta Eels, Offiah had a 100-metre race against Eels winger Lee Oudenryn. Offiah appeared to slip slightly at the start and Oudenryn won by half a yard. During the 1992–93 season Offiah played on the wing for defending RFL champions Wigan in the 1992 World Club Challenge against the visiting

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

. A week before the WCC, Offiah had played on the wing for Great Britain in the World Cup final against Australia at Wembley in front of an international rugby league record crowd of 73,631 fans. Offiah played in four

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

wins, five

teams, three Regal Trophy wins and one Lancashire Cup victory. He was twice

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

winning the Lance Todd Trophy at Wembley. His 90-metre solo try in the 1994 Challenge Cup Final win over Leeds is remembered as one of the finest ever seen in a final, but he made a habit of such runs during his career, scoring a similar try just weeks before against Castleford. After the 1993–94 season Offiah travelled with defending champions

to Brisbane, playing on the wing in their 1994 World Club Challenge victory over Australian premiers, the

. In 1995, Offiah's life story, a 30-minute documentary, was produced and directed by Pogus Caesar for Carlton TV UK as part of the ''

Respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or deferential action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also th ...

'' series. Offiah was selected to play for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the 1995 World Cup Final on the wing, but

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

won the match and retained the Cup. Offiah jointly holds the record for the most tries scored in a match for the

England national rugby league team The England national rugby league team represents England in international rugby league since the first international match in 1904. It is controlled by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the governing body for rugby league in England, and part ...

. Offiah made a total of 158 appearances for Wigan with another single appearance as a substitute. He scored more than a try a game, crossing the line 186 times. He also managed a goal and three drop goals, thus scoring a grand total of 749 points for the club. Upon leaving he sent an open letter to the '' Wigan Observer'' thanking fans and the club for his time there.

1996–99: London Broncos

Inc. 1996–97 winter stint at Bedford Blues Following Offiah's departure from Wigan, he return to the capital and signed for

. Following the switch to summer rugby in 1996, Offiah signed for

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a semi-professional rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in the RFU Championship. History Foundation and 19th century Bedford RUFC was founded in 1886 after an amalgamation between Bedford Rove ...

during the Super League off-season He played 14 games for the club, scoring 10 tries, before returning to the Broncos for the 1997 season. He was awarded an MBE in the 1997 New Year Honours. He played for London in their 1999 Challenge Cup Final defeat against Leeds. In total, he scored 24 tries in 48 games for the club.

2000–01: Salford Red Devils

After the London Broncos he moved to Salford City Reds for the 2000 Super League V, staying for two seasons, playing 45 games and scoring 23 tries. He scored his 500th career try in July 2001 in a 37–14 win against his former club London Broncos.

2001–02: Wasps

He finished his career in 2001–02 playing

for London Wasps, who were coached by his former Wigan team-mate Shaun Edwards. He played in eight games for the club, scoring five tries.

Career statistics

Club

Overall

Offiah scored 501 tries during his rugby league career. His try total in British rugby league (481) puts him third in the list of all-time try scorers (behind

Brian Bevan Brian Eyrl Bevan (24 January 1924 – 3 June 1991), also known by the nickname of "Wing Wizard", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He became the only player ever to be inducted int ...

and Billy Boston).

Honours

Club

Widnes * Rugby Football League Championship First Division ** Champion: 1987–88, 1988–89 * Rugby League Premiership ** Champion: 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90 * Lancashire Cup ** Champion: 1990–91 * World Club Challenge ** Champion:

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Wigan * Rugby Football League Championship First Division ** Champion: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95 * Rugby League Premiership ** Champion: 1993–94, 1994–95 *

** Champion: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95 * Lancashire Cup ** Champion: 1992–93 * League Cup ** Champion: 1992–93, 1994–95 * World Club Challenge ** Champion:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

International

England * Rugby League World Cup ** Runners-up:

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Individual

* Man of Steel: 1988 * Lance Todd Trophy: 1992, 1994 * Rugby Football League Hall of Fame: Inducted 2013 * Wigan Warriors Hall of Fame: Inducted 2016

Orders

* MBE: 1997 New Year Honours

Post-playing career

In 2004, Offiah was one of the celebrities who took part in the first series of the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

show ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

'', reaching fourth place with his partner Erin Boag. In 2005, alongside Natasha Kaplinsky, he hosted the one-off special, ''Strictly African Dancing''. In 2006, he appeared on a Reality TV special of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'', winning £10,050 and splitting the winnings with Danniella Westbrook. Offiah won Celebrity Come Dine With Me in 2011 which was a Rugby World Cup special. Offiah beat Victor Ubogo, Kyran Bracken and Gareth Chilcott. Offiah has also appeared on BBC quiz show ''

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestan ...

'', firstly with Chris Kamara in 2012, where they were eliminated in the first round, the second time in 2013 with

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er Philip Tufnell where they won the cash prize by getting a Pointless answer in the final round. Offiah donated his £1,250 prize to the Joining Jack Charity. In 2014, he was a contestant on '' Splash!'', and was the fourth to be eliminated from the competition. In 2015, he appeared with his son Tyler on '' Big Star's Little Star'' where they won £11,000 for charity. Also in 2015, Offiah took part on '' All Star Mr & Mrs'' with his partner Virginia. Offiah worked as a pundit for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

rugby from 2008 until 2013. He was a regular studio guest during the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and presented a weekly

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

round up on Sky Sports News. He has worked as an agent for several rugby players including Richie Myler and Kyle Eastmond. Offiah has also appeared several times on the TV show '' A Question of Sport''. In January 2018, Offiah participated in

And They're Off! ''And They're Off!'' (also known as ''And They're Off!... for Sport Relief'') is a British television programme hosted by Ore Oduba with commentary from Dave Lamb and demonstrations from Daryll Neita and is shown on BBC One, featuring contestants ...

in aid of

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...

. Offiah is part of the Rugby League Monument that sits outside Wembley Stadium, his bronze likeness depicting his try celebration from the 1994 Challenge Cup final. Since 2019, Offiah has been a brand ambassador for the electric vehicle charging infrastructure company Connected Kerb. His passion for electric vehicles began when he received a lift from former England rugby union player and World Cup winner Andy Gomersal in 2016. In December 2021, he facilitated a partnership between Connected Kerb and one of his former clubs

in which the Plough Lane outfit would wear the EV company's logo on their kit throughout 2022.

Personal life

Offiah has two sons, Tyler (born 29 June 2006) and Phoenix (born 24 September 2009) with his wife, model and photographer Virginia Offiah and lives in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, West London. He is the uncle of professional footballer Odel Offiah.

Notes

References

Books

External links

* *(archived by web.archive.org
Martin Offiah Official WebsiteStatistics at wigan.rlfans.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Wasps profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Crooks in trouble
*(archived by web.archive.org
When Britain defeated the Aussies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Offiah, Martin 1965 births Living people Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University Bedford Blues players Black British sportsmen England national rugby league team players English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent English rugby league commentators English rugby league players English rugby union players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Lance Todd Trophy winners London Broncos players Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Hackney Central Rosslyn Park F.C. players Rugby league players from Greater London Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from the London Borough of Hackney Salford Red Devils players St. George Dragons players Sydney Roosters players Wasps RFC players Widnes Vikings players Wigan Warriors players 20th-century English sportsmen