Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Syteanric

Justin Fashanu

Recommended Posts

would have been 53 today...

Scored perhaps the best goal ever seen at Carrow Road...

Became a hero on the pitch, and 16 years after his death, a hero off it too... for everyone who wants to see an end to ALL types of discrimination in football.

Justin had left Norwich before I was even born... but older fans all speak fondly of him... Norwich fans never saw Justin for what he was, they saw him for WHO he was.... Brian Clough could have protected him and changed peoples views radically.. he didn''t and Justin''s end was sad...

He died the same day we played Reading away, the last ever game at Elm park, and the same day the guy who played Tosh on the bill died... i can remember travelling to Elm Park on club Cabbage and the fans all talking about... the chants for Justin before kick off were humbling...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8lUe59EP84 this was on TV not long after... what a disgrace John Fashanu is!...

R I P Justin.... lets have a chant for him on Sunday...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just shows how different people can be even when they are brothers, John treated his brother appallingly , his tackle that ended John O`Neill`s career on his debut for us should have seen John banned, and his business dealings in Nigeria are usually dodgy in every way, alas we lost the wrong Fashanu.

Rip Justin

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
Probably the best goal I was lucky enough to witness at Carrow rd. And still have a little watch every now and then.http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RuMPeoRkog8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DRuMPeoRkog8

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
Interestingly us fans haven''t changed much either, listen for the chants...lol

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
people often talk of a statue outside Carrow Road... for a positive statement as a stand against racism, homophobia and abuse perhaps a statue of Justin is fitting...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="jas the barclay king"]people often talk of a statue outside Carrow Road... for a positive statement as a stand against racism, homophobia and abuse perhaps a statue of Justin is fitting...[/quote]
I wouldn''t be against that.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What a great OP jas, so well put!

It really was one of the all time great goals, I was lucky enough to be at the match and will now go and look at the goal again. It really was sad the way his life came to an end and also sad that things havnt changed in the game regarding sexuality, really sad.

The statue idea is actually a good one, I also feel that his life story would make a great movie and its the time for movies about people who had a difficult or interesting life........ 

 

  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was at that game too, and although we lost, it was one of the most entertaining games I have ever seen at Carrow Road.  Strangely, I shouldn''t have been there, as I had given my ticket to someone else as I had a Judo grading that day!  The grading was cancelled in the morning, so I ended up buying another ticket for the game.So glad I went - it was a great game with that fantastic goal!Never met Justin, but we saw him quite a few times at the traffic lights in Thetford when we were on the school bus. He always waved.Shame football has hardly moved forward on these issues since.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Sorry but the idea of a statue of Justin Fashanu is ridiculous, he was a terrible role model and a habitual liar. Let us not forget that he didn''t commit suicide because of alleged bullying from his brother or abuse from terraces but because he was afraid of facing trial for an alleged crime in the United States.

He sold his story to a tabloid newspaper which he ''beefed'' up with an allegation about an affair with a married Tory MP, he did that for cash to maintain his party lifestyle. People claim that coming out destroyed his career (it didn''t, injury did), but he was tarnish that persons legacy (they had recently died).

A few years later he tried to sell a story claiming to have had gay affairs with two other married Tory cabinet ministers for £300k to two tabloid newspapers, both of who quickly realised that he was making them up for money, willing to wreck the life of two strangers for cash. Then he admitted to a journalist that he had made up the first story (which was printed), about the deceased MP who couldn''t defend himself (nice for that mans wife and kids!).

Julie Goodyear his former friend and not one to shy away from publicity or being forward with her sexual exploits simply stated after his suicide that Fashanu had made up the affair and that they had fallen out about it, Fashanu had made up the story for cash. Wrecking a friendship in the process. Quote: "He ran out of lies".

And let us not forget that whether he carried out a sexual assault or not (he absconded remember), he did admit to plying a group of 16 and 17 year old boys with alcohol and marijuana in his home, that he initially lied about his sexuality to the American police, lied about not having intercourse, and later admitted having intercourse. Illegal intercourse (would have been illegal here and illegal there). That was a man employed as a boys football coach.

His brother may not be the most pleasant of individuals but it was on record that before Justin came out he would aggressively defend him against abuse and allegations, and that he offered him money not to sell his story because he feared that he was only doing it for the money (and he was only doing it for the money).

I couldn''t give a monkeys what sexuality somebody is, but we should all possess a modicum of morality. He was sacked by two teams I think after coming out, not because he was gay (they would have known that before his signing) but because of his unprofessionalism and lifestyle.

Justin Fashanu went on to play football for some time after coming out, really didn''t get much stick from fans, got on well with teammates at his various clubs, and it was on record that he got far more hate mail when quoted in The Guardian as telling people to vote Conservative. He was quoted several times in his career after coming out that he was very happy.

He was clearly a troubled man, but that had far more to do with his upbringing and the conflicts that existed between his sexuality and his religious beliefs and his troubled childhood than it did to do with John Fashanu, Brian Clough or football fans.

Read this:

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/profile-the-striker-who-didnt-score-justin-fashanu-dribbling-round-westminster-1393543.html

Read this (all 4 pages including the comments):

http://briandeer.com/justin-fashanu-1.htm

Buy this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Justin-Fashanu-Biography-Jim-Read/dp/1780910142

He probably deserves a lot of sympathy for his difficult upbringing and his complexities, and some admiration for his obvious early talent, but talk of a statue for this man is way out there.

But to dismiss John Fashanu''s flaws as that of a corrupt evil bigot and Justin Fashanu''s flaws as that of a deeply troubled and complex mind is deeply unfair, both of them had a very difficult upbringing. The adulation that Justin gets and the disdain that John Fashanu is held in are both far too extreme in equal measure.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I had the pleasure (although it didn''t seem much like it at the time) of playing against Justin in one of the local Sunday leagues. He must have been around 15, and I think he may also have been a junior heavyweight champion at the time.

He was very good at repeatedly skinning our left back (me) and inadvertently winding up one of our midfield players. The latter eventually squared up to Justin and tried several times to hit him, but Justin just bobbed, weaved and couldn''t be hit :-)

So although we really had nothing in common, it was always a bit special watching someone you played against become an emerging star for City.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
[quote user="Le Juge"]Sorry but the idea of a statue of Justin Fashanu is ridiculous, he was a terrible role model and a habitual liar. Let us not forget that he didn''t commit suicide because of alleged bullying from his brother or abuse from terraces but because he was afraid of facing trial for an alleged crime in the United States.

He sold his story to a tabloid newspaper which he ''beefed'' up with an allegation about an affair with a married Tory MP, he did that for cash to maintain his party lifestyle. People claim that coming out destroyed his career (it didn''t, injury did), but he was tarnish that persons legacy (they had recently died).

A few years later he tried to sell a story claiming to have had gay affairs with two other married Tory cabinet ministers for £300k to two tabloid newspapers, both of who quickly realised that he was making them up for money, willing to wreck the life of two strangers for cash. Then he admitted to a journalist that he had made up the first story (which was printed), about the deceased MP who couldn''t defend himself (nice for that mans wife and kids!).

Julie Goodyear his former friend and not one to shy away from publicity or being forward with her sexual exploits simply stated after his suicide that Fashanu had made up the affair and that they had fallen out about it, Fashanu had made up the story for cash. Wrecking a friendship in the process. Quote: "He ran out of lies".

And let us not forget that whether he carried out a sexual assault or not (he absconded remember), he did admit to plying a group of 16 and 17 year old boys with alcohol and marijuana in his home, that he initially lied about his sexuality to the American police, lied about not having intercourse, and later admitted having intercourse. Illegal intercourse (would have been illegal here and illegal there). That was a man employed as a boys football coach.

His brother may not be the most pleasant of individuals but it was on record that before Justin came out he would aggressively defend him against abuse and allegations, and that he offered him money not to sell his story because he feared that he was only doing it for the money (and he was only doing it for the money).

I couldn''t give a monkeys what sexuality somebody is, but we should all possess a modicum of morality. He was sacked by two teams I think after coming out, not because he was gay (they would have known that before his signing) but because of his unprofessionalism and lifestyle.

Justin Fashanu went on to play football for some time after coming out, really didn''t get much stick from fans, got on well with teammates at his various clubs, and it was on record that he got far more hate mail when quoted in The Guardian as telling people to vote Conservative. He was quoted several times in his career after coming out that he was very happy.

He was clearly a troubled man, but that had far more to do with his upbringing and the conflicts that existed between his sexuality and his religious beliefs and his troubled childhood than it did to do with John Fashanu, Brian Clough or football fans.

Read this:

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/profile-the-striker-who-didnt-score-justin-fashanu-dribbling-round-westminster-1393543.html

Read this (all 4 pages including the comments):

http://briandeer.com/justin-fashanu-1.htm

Buy this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Justin-Fashanu-Biography-Jim-Read/dp/1780910142

He probably deserves a lot of sympathy for his difficult upbringing and his complexities, and some admiration for his obvious early talent, but talk of a statue for this man is way out there.

But to dismiss John Fashanu''s flaws as that of a corrupt evil bigot and Justin Fashanu''s flaws as that of a deeply troubled and complex mind is deeply unfair, both of them had a very difficult upbringing. The adulation that Justin gets and the disdain that John Fashanu is held in are both far too extreme in equal measure.[/quote]
I wish I hadn''t now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Well said OP. I was stood in the Barclay that day, it felt like the ball was heading straight towards me from almost the halfway line at the time. A stunning goal from a great player for us. Class ''celebration'' too.

The next time we played Liverpool at home, he was injured, and watched the game standing in the Barclay behind the goal too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the time spent on providing a balanced post Le Juge, certainly helped me remenber some of the stories,and I now agree that a statue probably isnt the best idea. That said, throughout this, it is hard to tell what story is true and which one''s are made up or embellished and that includes those from his brother to a certain degree too, plus anything involving the horrible Julie Goodyear I would take with a large pinch of salt. 

That all said, yes, he didnt exactly do himself any favours after he left Norwich City.....still all very sad... 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Le Juge wrote a fantastically researched and evidenced point of view. Fair play.

I certainly wouldn''t want a statue of Justin outside Carrow Road, for reasons Le Juge has explained.

But hey, Fulham got one of Wacko Jacko ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...