Justin Fashanu

Justin Fashanu
Personal information
Full name Justinus Soni Fashanu[1]
Date of birth (1961-02-19)19 February 1961[1]
Place of birth Hackney, London, England[1]
Date of death 2 May 1998(1998-05-02) (aged 37)[1]
Place of death Shoreditch,[1] London, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Norwich City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1981 Norwich City 90 (35)
1980Adelaide City (loan) 5 (3)
1981Adelaide City (loan) 6 (2)
1981–1982 Nottingham Forest 32 (3)
1982Southampton (loan) 9 (3)
1982–1985 Notts County 64 (20)
1985–1987 Brighton & Hove Albion 16 (2)
1988 Los Angeles Heat 12 (5)
1988–1989 Edmonton Brick Men 35 (22)
1989 Manchester City 2 (0)
1989–1990 West Ham United 2 (0)
1990 Leyton Orient 5 (0)
1990–1991 Hamilton Steelers 29 (10)
1991 Southall 6 (1)
1991 Toronto Blizzard 10 (3)
1991 Leatherhead
1991 Newcastle United 0 (0)
1991–1993 Torquay United 41 (15)
1993 Airdrieonians 16 (5)
1993 Trelleborg 1 (0)
1993–1994 Heart of Midlothian 11 (1)
1995–1997 Atlanta Ruckus 7 (1)
1997 Miramar Rangers 18 (12)
Total 417 (133)
International career
1980–1982 England U21 11 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Justinus Soni "Justin" Fashanu (/ˈfæʃən/ FASH-ə-noo; 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, becoming the first professional footballer to be openly gay.[3] He was also one of the first footballers to command a £1 million transfer fee, with his transfer from Norwich City to Nottingham Forest in 1981, and had varying levels of success as a player afterwards, until he retired in 1997.

After moving to the United States, in 1998 he was questioned by police when a seventeen-year-old boy accused him of sexual assault. He was charged,[4][5] and a warrant for his arrest was issued in Howard County, Maryland, on 3 April 1998, but he had already left his flat.[4] According to his suicide note, fearing he would not get a fair trial because of his homosexuality,[5] he fled to England,[5] where he killed himself in London in May 1998.[4][5] His suicide note stated that the sex was consensual.[4][5] In 2020, Fashanu was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame.[6]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Justin Fashanu". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  2. ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. ^ Fashanu, Amal (4 February 2012). "The Sports Charter shines a welcome light on homophobia in football". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Times1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference BBC19980909 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Justin Fashanu Hall of Fame profile". National Football Museum. Retrieved 19 February 2020. His stunning strike against Liverpool in February 1980 – a stunning volley from outside the area – was voted BBC Goal of the Season, and has gone down as one of the greatest goals ever scored at Carrow Road.

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