Justin to be honoured

[Feral Fox]

Ex Notts forward Justin Fashanu, is to be inducted into the footballing Hall of Fame.

He played for us from 1982-85.

He was a gentleman and an excellent forward. Great movement and skill.

Sadly, committed suicide in 1998. He took his own life after struggling to balance the fame of being the first openly gay footballer and his life after the game.

He should be remembered as the First Black Million pound player. Signed for those over the river, where he struggled with his relationship with Clough. 
He ended up at the Lane and even though we were relegated a couple of times, he still shone through as a good player.

After he left football, he moved to America and it was there that he got tangled in an assault charge which he denied, but he couldn’t cope with the suspicion. He fled back to the UK and was unfortunately found dead after he hung himself. Even in the note he left he still denied the charges.

 

His case was famous for a couple of reasons. Firstly the way he came out. Relevant because for the last few days people have been discussing the role of trash newspapers such as the Scum. Caroline Flack, took her own life and the paper contributed to their stress she finally gave into.

When the paper paid Fash for the interview, they, as they always do, sensationalised his coming out and it ultimately left him a broken man. His brother, John Fashanu, known for his Wimbledon antics, ostracised his brother because of his sexual pretences and spoke badly of him on a regular basis.

Secondly, as the first openly gay footballer. Headlines may change, but we are still at the stage where it is so difficult for a player to live his life as he chooses and coming out in football is unheard of. The world has moved in a lot in the past 40 years, but in the same breath, it has hardly moved on at all.

A lovely guy who I met quite a few times as he was a friend of the family. Caring, generous and just a nice guy. But he struggled to be accepted for who he was in a closed culture of football.

He should be remembered for the goals he scored and the fact he was sold for a million pounds ( which back then was an unthinkable amount! ) not the tragic end to his life.

 

 

 

 

https://news.sky.com/story/justin-fashanu-britains-first-out-gay-footballer-to-be-inducted-into-hall-of-fame-11936867

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

 

[heraldmagpie]

Well deserved, by the way the NEP always does separate articles of for Forest and Notts.

[Joshua]

I remember seeing a documentary made by his brothers daughter [I think], the game could do with more openly gay footballers but I don't think we will whilst some fans are short minded and bullies. It's an easy tag to target for some.

It's good that Justin is being honoured.

[B&Wstripes]

It's about time in my book!

[Chris Website URL Visit Site 𝕏 fmcj10 Instagram fmcj10]

Him coming out sort of caused him more trouble than it was worth, I feel sorry for him, nobody should have been treated like he did. I know, he wasn't treated very well at Nottingham Forest, not only due to his sexuality (which some team mates knew about) but because of his skin colour and price tag.

This is something which is long due.

[NottsTastic]

Good news! It’s deserved and time a black player like Justin Fashinu has been recognised.

[upthepies]

This is good to see, Justin deserves credit for his football honours.

[Countyman]

A good honour, I wonder if Notts will put him in their hall of fame next?

[allardyces tash]

Notts should have hung onto him longer, he was a good finisher and worked hard to create chances. I'm pleased that he's being honoured.

[liampie]

my dad [forest fan] told me that he was a good striker, even tho it did not work out at forest it was not due to his ability. its a shame he was haunted by politics and nasty people. his brother sounds like a ****head, hanging off the media attention.

[Feral Fox]

11 hours ago, liampie said:

my dad [forest fan] told me that he was a good striker, even tho it did not work out at forest it was not due to his ability. its a shame he was haunted by politics and nasty people. his brother sounds like a ****head, hanging off the media attention.

Correct on all accounts. He was a good striker. Not the best, but he was solid and had a good eye for goal.

Forest we’re still Stuck in the Middle Ages at that point ( have they even moved on now! ) and their treatment of Justin was disgusting. He used to tell my uncle, who he was mates with, some awful stories of his treatment there. Clough really couldn’t cope with the fact Justin was gay and treated him like crap.

And correct on the last point. John Fashanu was too concerned with his own public image to be thinking about the way he was treating his own brother. His ego was massive at the time.

[liampie]

4 hours ago, hissingdwarf said:

Correct on all accounts. He was a good striker. Not the best, but he was solid and had a good eye for goal.

Forest we’re still Stuck in the Middle Ages at that point ( have they even moved on now! ) and their treatment of Justin was disgusting. He used to tell my uncle, who he was mates with, some awful stories of his treatment there. Clough really couldn’t cope with the fact Justin was gay and treated him like crap.

And correct on the last point. John Fashanu was too concerned with his own public image to be thinking about the way he was treating his own brother. His ego was massive at the time.

i am aware of how they would not let him use the changing facilities and how he would have to train by himself. its very sad, my uncle used to work at forest as a coach back in the day.

[CliftonMagpie]

I hate seeing the Notts fans on social media asking if this is only due to him being gay! It’s sick. He’s someone who deserves to be there because without that £1m fee, black players may have had a harder time being acknowledged or treated fairly.

plus he was a good goal scorer, if Forest had treated him better who knows where he’d have ended up.

[cheeky~k8]

Good player, just a shame he ended his life short. In todays day and age i would hope he would of got on much better but im sure he has helped so many people years later.

[DangerousSausage]

This is a lovely gesture. As well as being openly gay (no other player has come out since him, and probably for a reason too), he was a highly talented, high-profile black player in an era when black footballers were still seen by many as being a bit exotic and were subjected to more widespread prejudice than is the case today. He didn't have it easy at all.

I'm proud that our club accepted him and treated him well, although it is a shame that we didn't really have any successes to celebrate during his time with us.

[themightymagpies]

Jimmy and Justin became good friends, but his career took a difficult turn possibly due to abuse given to him over the years.

[Feral Fox]

8 hours ago, liampie said:

i am aware of how they would not let him use the changing facilities and how he would have to train by himself. its very sad, my uncle used to work at forest as a coach back in the day.

Sad, but true. Used to get dog crap shoved in his stuff regularly. Ignored by most staff, instructed to by Clough.

Remember him once saying Clough didn’t realise he was in the next room and Clough said “If he wants to be a Nonce, we’ll treat him like a fu”£#@g nonce. 
apologies for the language all, but it’s important to see how badly he was treated.

 

 

[liampie]

brian clough never gave him a chance, how different things may be if he did. i find it annoying how forest celebrate him now, even norwich treated him badly to some degree. racist chants from the stands, he was keen to move from what i know.

there was a video shared on twitter, where justin spoke about why he joined notts.

i believe he had a very high iq too, it comes across by how well spoken he was.

[cheeky~k8]

Its a wonder how he stayed on there with the issues, also understandable why he died so young.

[Nocturnal-Magpie]

Good bit of recognition for Justin, if he hadn’t moved to Forest I think we’d all say he deserved to be in the Hall of Fame sooner.

A far better player than his dirty brother.

[AmericanPie]

Good to see him introduced to the Football Hall of Fame.

He's a player that deserves to be listed as he came into football with Norwich and did very well for them, among other clubs.