Martin Offiah facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Martin Offiah
MBE

Offiah at Wicked 10th Birthday 2016
Personal information
Full name	Martin Nwokocha Offiah
Born	(1965-12-29) 29 December 1965 (age 59) Hackney, London, England
Playing information
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
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 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

Martin Offiah in 2016

Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE (born 29 December 1965) is a famous English former professional rugby league and rugby union player. He played during the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. Martin Offiah was added to the Rugby Football League Hall of Fame in 2013.

He scored over 500 tries in his rugby league career. This makes him the third-highest try scorer ever, and the top English try scorer. You can even see a statue of him and other great rugby league players outside Wembley Stadium!

Martin Offiah was a winger for both the Great Britain and England national teams. Because of his amazing speed, he was nicknamed "Chariots" Offiah. This nickname came from the movie Chariots of Fire when he played amateur rugby union. Offiah played for several English rugby league clubs, including Widnes, Wigan, London Broncos, and Salford City Reds. He also played in Australia for the Eastern Suburbs and St. George clubs.

It is believed that the famous England rugby song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" was first sung at Twickenham when Offiah was playing in a rugby sevens tournament in 1987. After he stopped playing, Offiah appeared on several TV shows. In May 2023, he became an official Ambassador for the Wigan Warriors club.

Early Life and Rugby Beginnings

Martin Offiah was born in Hackney, London, England. His parents were from Nigeria. He went to Woolverstone Hall School in Suffolk. There, he was good at fencing, rugby union, and cricket. He even played cricket for the Essex 2nd team. However, he soon realized that rugby was his best sport.

He first played club rugby union for Ipswich RFC and Rosslyn Park. He became a star in rugby sevens and for the Barbarians team. People even started talking about him playing for England in rugby union.

Martin Offiah's Professional Rugby Career

Playing for Widnes (1987–1991)

The coach for Widnes, Doug Laughton, saw Offiah playing in a rugby sevens tournament. He quickly signed Offiah to play rugby league for the 1987–88 season. Another club, St. Helens, was also interested but decided not to sign him. Within months, Offiah became a very popular winger because of his incredible speed and ability to score tries.

At Widnes, he became known as a fantastic winger. He helped the team win both the Championship and the Premiership. In his first season, he scored 42 tries, making him the league's top try scorer. He also broke the club record for most tries in a season. For his great efforts, he received the Man of Steel Award.

In 1988, Offiah was chosen to go on the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour of Australasia. He played in all three Test matches against Australia. During this tour, Offiah raced against two fast Australian players, Dale Shearer and John Ferguson. Offiah easily won the 100-meter race, proving he was the fastest player in rugby league.

In the 1988–89 season, Widnes won the Championship and Premiership again. Offiah was once more the league's top try scorer, with 58 tries in 41 games. He also played in the 1988–89 John Player Special Trophy final.

He then spent the summer of 1989 playing in Australia for Eastern Suburbs. He scored a try in his first game and ended up with nine tries in 12 games. In 1991, Offiah had another time playing in Australia, this time for St George Dragons. He scored 11 tries in 14 games, including three tries in one match against his old club, Eastern Suburbs. Over four seasons at Widnes, Offiah scored an amazing 181 tries in 145 games.

Playing for Wigan (1992–1995)

In January 1992, Offiah joined Wigan for a world record fee of £440,000. This was the highest amount ever paid for a rugby league player at that time.

Playing on the left wing, Offiah formed a powerful team with Gene Miles. In his first season at Wigan, he scored 30 tries in just 15 games. He even set a new club record by scoring ten tries in a single match against Leeds!

Offiah played in many important finals for Wigan. He helped them win the 1992 Lancashire Cup Final. He also played in several Regal Trophy finals, winning in 1992–93 and 1994–95.

In 1992, Offiah went on another tour with the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. Before a match, he had a 100-meter race against an Australian player, Lee Oudenryn. Oudenryn won by a small amount after Offiah seemed to slip at the start.

Offiah played in the 1992 Rugby League World Cup final for Great Britain against Australia at Wembley. Over 73,000 fans watched this record-breaking game. He also played in the 1992 World Club Challenge and the 1994 World Club Challenge, helping Wigan win both.

He won four Challenge Cup titles, five Championships, three Regal Trophies, and one Lancashire Cup with Wigan. He was named "man of the match" twice in the Challenge Cup Final, winning the Lance Todd Trophy. His 90-meter solo try in the 1994 Challenge Cup Final is remembered as one of the best tries ever scored in a final.

In 1995, Offiah played for England in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup Final. England lost to Australia, who kept the Cup. Offiah shares the record for the most tries scored in a single match for the England national team.

Overall, Offiah played 158 games for Wigan, scoring 186 tries. He also scored one goal and three drop goals, totaling 749 points for the club. When he left, he wrote an open letter to the Wigan Observer to thank the fans and the club.

Playing for London Broncos (1996–1999)

After leaving Wigan, Offiah moved back to London and joined the London Broncos. Rugby league changed to a summer season in 1996. During the off-season, Offiah played rugby union for Bedford Blues. He played 14 games and scored 10 tries before returning to the Broncos for the 1997 season.

He was given an MBE honor in 1997 for his achievements. He played for London in their 1999 Challenge Cup Final, where they lost to Leeds. In total, he scored 24 tries in 48 games for the London Broncos.

Playing for Salford Red Devils (2000–2001)

After the London Broncos, Offiah moved to Salford City Reds for the 2000 Super League V season. He stayed for two seasons, playing 45 games and scoring 23 tries. In July 2001, he scored his 500th career try in a win against his former club, London Broncos.

Playing for London Wasps (2001–2002)

He finished his playing career in 2001–02 by playing rugby union for London Wasps. His former Wigan teammate, Shaun Edwards, was the coach there. Offiah played in eight games for the club and scored five tries.

Martin Offiah's Career Statistics

Martin Offiah scored a total of 501 tries during his rugby league career. His 481 tries in British rugby league put him third on the list of all-time try scorers, behind only Brian Bevan and Billy Boston.

Here is a summary of his career totals:

Awards and Honors

Team Honors

• Widnes
  • Championship: 1987–88, 1988–89
  • Premiership: 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90
  • Lancashire Cup: 1990–91
  • World Club Challenge: 1989

• Wigan
  • Championship: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95
  • Premiership: 1993–94, 1994–95
  • Challenge Cup: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95
  • Lancashire Cup: 1992–93
  • League Cup: 1992–93, 1994–95
  • World Club Challenge: 1994

International Honors

• England
  • World Cup Runners-up: 1995

Individual Awards

• Man of Steel: 1988
• Lance Todd Trophy: 1992, 1994
• Rugby Football League Hall of Fame: Inducted 2013
• Wigan Warriors Hall of Fame: Inducted 2016

Special Recognition

• MBE: 1997 New Year Honours

Life After Playing Rugby

After retiring from rugby, Martin Offiah became a familiar face on TV.

• In 2004, he was on the first series of the BBC One show Strictly Come Dancing. He finished in fourth place.
• In 2005, he co-hosted a special show called Strictly African Dancing.
• In 2006, he appeared on a special celebrity episode of The Weakest Link. He won £10,050 and shared it with another celebrity.
• Offiah won Celebrity Come Dine With Me in 2011, which was a special rugby-themed episode.
• He also appeared on the BBC quiz show Pointless twice. In 2013, he won the cash prize with cricketer Philip Tufnell. He donated his £1,250 prize to the Joining Jack Charity.
• In 2014, he was a contestant on Splash!, a diving competition.
• In 2015, he appeared with his son Tyler on Big Star's Little Star, winning £11,000 for charity. He also appeared on All Star Mr & Mrs with his partner Virginia.

From 2008 to 2013, Offiah worked as a rugby expert for Sky Sports. He was a regular guest during the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He also presented a weekly show about Super League on Sky Sports News. He has worked as an agent for several rugby players. Offiah has also appeared many times on the TV show A Question of Sport. In January 2018, Offiah took part in And They're Off! to raise money for Sport Relief.

Martin Offiah is part of the Rugby League Monument outside Wembley Stadium. His bronze statue shows him celebrating a try from the 1994 Challenge Cup final.

Since 2019, Offiah has been an ambassador for Connected Kerb, a company that builds electric vehicle charging stations. He became interested in electric cars after a ride with former England rugby union player Andy Gomersal in 2016. In December 2021, he helped Connected Kerb partner with one of his old clubs, London Broncos. The team wore the company's logo on their kit during 2022.

Personal Life

Martin Offiah has two sons: Tyler (born in 2006) and Phoenix (born in 2009). He has them with his wife, Virginia Offiah, who is a model and photographer. They live in Ealing, West London. Martin Offiah is also the uncle of professional footballer Odel Offiah.