Martin Offiah

Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE (/ɒˈfiə/ O-fee-ə (original pronunciation), /əˈfaɪə/ ə-FYE-ə (commonly used)); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. 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. Offiah was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2013, and now features in a statue of great rugby league players outside Wembley Stadium.

He was a Great Britain and England international winger, and due to his running speed he was nicknamed "Chariots" Offiah after the film Chariots of Fire. Offiah played rugby union before moving to English rugby league club Widnes in 1987. He later played for Wigan, London Broncos and Salford City Reds, and in Australia for Eastern Suburbs and St. George. After rugby union turned professional, Offiah also had short spells playing for Bedford and London Wasps.

Since retiring Offiah has appeared on several reality TV shows. In May 2023, he was appointed an ambassador of Wigan Warriors.

Offiah was born in Hackney, London, England to Nigerian parents of Igbo origin, and attended Woolverstone Hall School near Ipswich, Suffolk, where he represented the school at fencing and played rugby union and cricket. He played cricket for the Essex 2nd XI but soon realised his main talent was for rugby union.

He first played club-level rugby union for Ipswich RFC and Rosslyn Park. After starring on the rugby sevens circuit and for the Barbarians, there was talk of an England future for Offiah.

Inc. 1989 summer stint at Eastern Suburbs & 1991 summer stint at St. George Dragons

Offiah was spotted by Widnes coach Doug Laughton playing in the Middlesex Sevens, and was signed by the club 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; at Widnes he forged a 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, 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.

He 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). Offiah easily won the race from Shearer and Ferguson.^{[citation needed]}