Fourteen years since his demise, Justin Fashanu remains one of football’s most politicised yet least understood figures – despite conducting his entire adult life in the media spotlight.
Rounding up the coverage of his death for the Gay Times (June 1998), Vicky Powell noted that “scarcely have there ever been obituaries so devoid of feeling, compassion or warmth” as those for Justin. In the aftermath, he was portrayed as “the Walter Mitty of football” (Guardian), a “predatory gay man” (Sun) and “the architect of his own downfall” killing himself to escape “torment over his homosexual lifestyle” (Mail). Only the Independent and the Times placed Justin in any social context, the latter concluding that “he might have had a less troubled life had his talents been made for a more forgiving arena”.
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