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John Fashanu
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John "Fash" Fashanu (born 18 September 1962 in Kensington, London) is a British television presenter and ex-footballer of Nigerian (paternal) & Guyanese (maternal) descent. In his former career, he was a centre-forward.
anu is the son of a Nigerian barrister living in England. When his parents split up he was sent, together with his older brother Justin to a Barnardos home. When he was five, he and his brother were fostered by Alf and Betty Jackson and were brought up in Shropham near Attleborough, Norfolk.
Football career
Fashanu's footballing career began at Norwich City in 1979.
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John "Fash" Fashanu (born 18 September 1962 in Kensington, London) is a British television presenter and ex-footballer of Nigerian (paternal) & Guyanese (maternal) descent. In his former career, he was a centre-forward.
Early Life
Fashanu is the son of a Nigerian barrister living in England. When his parents split up he was sent, together with his older brother Justin to a Barnardos home. When he was five, he and his brother were fostered by Alf and Betty Jackson and were brought up in Shropham near Attleborough, Norfolk.
Football career
Fashanu's footballing career began at Norwich City in 1979. He had brief loan spell with Crystal Palace and also played in the English off-season in New Zealand with Miramar Rangers, before joining Lincoln City and later Millwall. He made his Millwall debut on 15 December 1984. Fashanu played 65 overall games for The Lions, scoring 19 goals. His fame grew considerably from 1986 when he joined Wimbledon, at that time the self-proclaimed "Crazy Gang" which had gained several promotions in rapid succession. In 1988, Fashanu helped Wimbledon win the FA Cup, 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. He also scored Wimbledon's goal as Liverpool defeated them 2-1 in that year's Charity Shield. Fashanu claimed two England caps - against Chile and Scotland in a friendly tournament in May 1989. During his time at Wimbledon, Fashanu scored 126 goals, but he still lags behind Alan Cork, the club's leading goalscorer. Whilst at Wimbledon he almost blinded Gary Mabbutt, then Spurs captain, with the use of his trademark elbow.
In the summer of 1994 Fashanu moved to Aston Villa. In 1995 he hit the front pages as well as the back when The Sun published allegations of match-fixing against Fashanu, fellow Wimbledon player Hans Segers and Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar. Although all three players were eventually cleared of the allegations, they were ordered to pay their own legal costs.
Post-football Career
Following retirement from the game through injury, Fashanu became a television presenter. He presented the UK edition of Gladiators alongside Ulrika Jonsson in the mid-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 based on the American format Man vs. Beast, however following protests from animal rights groups, the series was never broadcast. He is now host of the Nigerian version of the popular game show format Deal or No Deal that airs on M-Net Africa.
Since retirement Fashanu has also maintained his sporting connections, becoming involved with the Nigerian Football Association, and as chairman of Welsh football team Barry Town for a year, vacating this post in 2003.
He also compiled a detailed report on corruption in Nigeria in the 1980s and 1990s that came to be known in the financial and media community as the Fashanu Report.
John is involved in the Wimbledon Old Players' Association, an organisation set up by the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association. On its launch in September 2005 Fashanu said "I am proud to join up with the Wimbledon Old Players’ Association.
"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 in the old days, as well as what the new boys have been doing at AFC Wimbledon".
John is the younger brother of Justin Fashanu, the first openly homosexual professional English footballer. John famously disowned his brother, telling The Voice newspaper: "My gay brother is an outcast".
Justin Fashanu committed suicide in 1998.
In 2007 The Times voted him 22nd out of the 50 worst footballers.
Honours
Wimbledon
Footnotes
See also
External links
- John Fash Personal Website
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