So far, Mzz Kimberley has helped us celebrate Black History Month by telling us about Bayard Rustin & Marsha P. Johnson. Next up, she tells us about her friendship with footballer, Justin Fashanu.

Justin Fashanu (1961 – 1998)

When I first came to the UK, I met this kind man who was so lovely to speak with. He always addressed me as if we had been friends for years, always telling me I was fabulous. As time went on I learned he was a footballer. Being American, I had no idea what ‘football’ was. I remember thinking that maybe he was English but played football in America until I found out that soccer in America is football in England. A lovely friendship started to develop until one day I woke up and read in the papers he was gone.

Justin Fashanu was the first black footballer to attract a £1 millon transfer fee and the first and only footballer to come out as gay in the UK. Despite his bravery, Fashanu was rejected by his family, bullied by his manager and verbally abused by crowds when he played.

Fashanu and his brother John, who also became a professional footballer (and then a TV presenter) were fostered from a children’s home by white parents when they were six and five years old. They grew-up in Norwich and both ended up playing for Norwich City football club.

In 1981 Fashanu made his £1 million transfer to Nottingham Forrest managed by Brian Clough. After a promising start to his career, Fashanu’s performance on the football pitch went downhill, probably due to homophobic bullying from Clough. In 1982 he was sold to Notts County for only £150,000. He moved around non-Premier league clubs throughout the 80s and played for short periods in the US and Canada.

In 1990 Fashanu came out publicly in an interview with The Sun tabloid newspaper. The article was salacious, including claims of an affair with a married Conservative party MP, other footballers and pop stars.

The reaction to Fashanu’s openness about his sexuality, the first black celebrity in Britain to do so, as well as the first footballer, was sadly largely hostile. British newspaper for the black community, The Voice, said that coming out in a tabloid newspaper (but the suggestion was coming out at all) was ‘an affront to the black community… damaging… pathetic and unforgivable’.

And more tragically, John Fashanu condemned his brother saying ‘my gay brother is an outcast’ in The Voice after he came out. Even this year John denied his brother was gay, saying Justin made-up stories to get attention. I must add, his brother John is a complete ASS.

In 1998 Fashanu had started a promising new career coaching US team Maryland Mania, but this was cut short when allegations of assault were made against him by a 17-year-old boy. Fashanu returned to England and committed suicide, leaving a note which said ‘I realised that I had already been presumed guilty. I do not want to give any more embarrassment to my friends and family.’

During a documentary called Britain’s Gay Footballers screened in January this year, Fashanu’s niece (John’s daughter) said: ‘I’m proud Justin was my uncle and that he was brave enough to say what he did. I think my Dad now regrets the harsh way he responded. The game needs more people like my uncle if homophobic barriers are to be removed.’

I hope the LGBT community realise how lucky we were to have such a strong supporter who fought for us when the world was against us.

His name should never be forgotten.