Martin Offiah

Martin Offiah
MBE

Personal information
Full name	Martin Nwokocha Offiah
Born	(1966-12-29) 29 December 1966 (age 50) Hackney, London, England
Playing information
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	14 st 5 lb (91 kg)
Rugby league
Position	Wing
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 34 0 0 136 2000–01 Salford City Reds 45 23 0 2 94 Total 424 444 1 5 1783 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1988–94 Great Britain 33 26 0 0 104 1992–96 England 5 8 0 2 34
Rugby union
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2001–02 London Wasps 11 3 0 0 15
Source:

Martin Nwokocha 'Chariots' Offiah MBE (born 29 December 1966) is an English former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain and England national representative winger, due to his running speed he is nicknamed "Chariots" Offiah after the film Chariots of Fire. Offiah played for English clubs Widnes, Wigan, London and Salford, and in Australia for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and St. George clubs. He scored 501 tries during his rugby league career, making him the third-highest try scorer of all time. Since retiring Offiah has also provided commentary for Sky Sports rugby league coverage and worked as a player agent.

Offiah was born in London to Nigerian parents, and attended Woolverstone Hall School near Ipswich, Suffolk, where he represented the school at fencing and played rugby and cricket. He played cricket for the Essex 2nd XI but soon realised his main talent was for rugby. He first played club-level rugby union for Ipswich R.U.F.C. and, after starring on the rugby sevens circuit and for the Barbarians, there was talk of an England future.

Offiah was spotted by Widnes coach Doug Laughton playing in the Middlesex Sevens and was "brought North" to play rugby league for the 1987–88 season. Alex Murphy had been interested in acquiring Offiah from rugby union, but the board of directors at St. Helens infamously referred to Offiah as an "uncoordinated clown" and the interest was not followed up with action. Within months, he became the most talked about winger since Billy Boston for his lightning speed and try scoring, and it was at Widnes where he forged his reputation as a devastating winger, helping the team win both the Championship and Premiership. He ended his début season with 42 tries, making him the league's top try scorer, and also breaking the club record held by Frank Myler for most tries scored in a season. He received the Man of Steel award for his efforts, and was also rewarded with a place in the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour of Australasia, where he played in all three Tests of the Ashes series which was lost to Australia. While on tour with the Lions, Offiah took part in a 100-metre match race at Wentworth Park in Sydney against Australian flyers Dale Shearer and John Ferguson (Ferguson replaced Greg Alexander who was forced to withdraw through injury). Confirming his standing as the fastest player in rugby league, Offiah easily won the race from Shearer and Ferguson.