Justin Fashanu, UK’s first openly gay footballer, to be inducted into Hall of Fame

Justin Fashanu, the first openly gay professional footballer in Britain, will be posthumously inducted in the National Football Museum's Hall of Fame in Manchester. Fashanu was also the first black footballer to command a £1 million transfer fee for his transfer from Norwich City to Nottingham Forest in 1981.

Fashanu will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame in Manchester on February 19 and his niece Amal, who also runs The Justin Fashanu Foundation, will receive the award on what would have been his 59th birthday. Speaking to Sky Sports, Amal said that she is extremely honoured and so is her family. 

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Turbulent years

Fashanu came out publicly as gay in The Sun newspaper in 1990 but went through turbulent years afterwards including allegations of sexual assault and eventually committing suicide in 1998.

After moving to the United States, a 17-year-old accused him of sexual assault and an arrest warrant was issued at Howard County in Maryland. But Fashanu left the US for Britain and committed suicide a month later. In his suicide note, Fashanu maintained that the act was consensual and he feared that he won’t get a fair trial because of his homosexuality.

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Calling it a huge week for LGBT sport in Britain, Netizens hailed the decision and said that the accolade was long overdue. 

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