Content warning: Suicide. Justin Fashanu began his career as an apprentice with Norwich City, having impressed as part of their academy, and signed his first professional contract in December 1978 aged just 17. Fashanu became the first black footballer to command a £1 million transfer fee when he made the move from Norwich City to Nottingham Forest in 1981. Fashanu became the first openly gay professional footballer when he made a public announcement in the Sun newspaper in October 1990. He stated that his fellow players generally accepted him well following his announcement, but he was nonetheless aware of malicious jokes made about his sexual orientation, and came to be a target of constant crowd abuse because of it. After moving to the US in 1998 he was questioned by police when a 17-year-old boy accused him of sexual assault. Fashanu fled to England where he tragically took his own life in May 1998. According to the note he left, he feared he would not get a fair tria...
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