Martin Offiah

Martin Offiah
MBE
Offiah at Wicked 10th Birthday 2016
Personal information
Full nameMartin Nwokocha Offiah[1]
Born (1965-12-29) 29 December 1965 (age 58)[a]
Hackney, London, England
Playing information
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight14 st 5 lb (91 kg)
Rugby league
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1987–91 Widnes 145 181 0 0 724
1989 Eastern Suburbs 12 9 0 0 36
1991 St George Dragons 14 11 0 0 44
1992–95 Wigan 159 186 1 3 749
1993 Eastern Suburbs 1 0 0 0 0
1996–99 London Broncos 48 36 0 0 144
2000–01 Salford City Reds 45 23 0 2 94
Total 424 446 1 5 1791
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1992–96 England 5 8 0 1 33
1988–94 Great Britain 33 26 0 0 104
Rugby union
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1996–97 Bedford Blues 14 8 0 0 40
2001–02 London Wasps 8 5 0 0 25
Total 22 13 0 0 65
Source: [3][4][5][6]
Martin Offiah in 2016

Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE (/əˈfiə/ ə-FEE-ə (original pronunciation), /əˈfaɪə/ ə-FYE-ə (commonly used)); born 29 December 1965)[a] is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.[7] Offiah was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2013. He scored over 500 tries during his rugby league career, making him the third-highest try scorer (and top try-scoring English player) of all time,[8] and now features in a statue of great rugby league players outside Wembley Stadium.[9]

He was a Great Britain and England national representative winger, and due to his running speed he was nicknamed "Chariots" Offiah after the film Chariots of Fire while playing amateur rugby union at Rosslyn Park.[10] Offiah played for English rugby league clubs Widnes, Wigan, London Broncos and Salford City Reds, and in Australia for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and St. George clubs.

It is believed that the England rugby anthem "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" was first sung at Twickenham while Offiah was playing in the Middlesex Sevens in 1987.[10]

Since retiring Offiah has appeared on several reality TV shows.[11] In May 2023, he was appointed official Ambassador of Wigan Warriors.

  1. ^ Martin Offiah at ESPNscrum
  2. ^ Martin Offiah [@martinoffiah] (28 December 2015). "I'm 50 tomorrow" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Statistics at yesterdayshero.com.au". yesterdayshero.com.au. Archived from the original on 31 January 2010.
  4. ^ "Statistics at rugby.statbunker.com". rugby.statbunker.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". Rugby League Project. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Player Summary: Martin Offiah". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  7. ^ "An Audience with Martin Offiah – The Old Courts". theoldcourts.com. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  8. ^ Heppenstall, Ross (29 October 2021). "Martin Offiah remembers sickening racial abuse endured during his career". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  9. ^ Wilson, Andy (15 September 2001). "Offiah bows out with grace". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Why is Swing Low, Sweet Chariot the England rugby song?". BBC News. 19 June 2020.
  11. ^ Hadfield, Dave (8 September 2009). "Offiah seals deal for record-breaking teen". The Independent. London. Retrieved 12 May 2010.


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