Christian Kai John Forino-Joseph (born 26 April 2000) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. Born in England, he plays for the

Saint Lucia national football team The Saint Lucia national football team, recognized as St Lucia by FIFA, represents Saint Lucia in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Saint Lucia Football Association, the governing body for football in ...

. He is a product of the Brentford Academy and played his first senior football with

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

clubs Wingate & Finchley and

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

Club career

Early years

A defender, Forino-Joseph began his youth career with spells in the Soccer Chance Academy, the Brentford Academy and

Cheshunt Cheshunt (/ˈtʃɛzənt/ CHEZ-ənt) is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, situated within the London commuter belt approximately north of Central London. The town lies on the River Lea and Lee Navigation, bordering th ...

U18. After a break from football to focus on education, he signed his first professional contract with the U23 team at League Two club

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in July 2018. Forino-Joseph was released when his one-year contract expired and joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Premier Division club Wingate & Finchley in September 2019. He made 20 appearances and scored one goal during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

-affected 2019–20 season. Forino had a spell at

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''GCE Hire Fleet Ltd. United Counties League'') is an England, English association football, football league covering an area including the English Counties of the United Kingdom, ...

Premier Division club

during the first half of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, which was again abandoned early due to COVID-19.

Wycombe Wanderers

After a trial period, Forino-Joseph signed a one-year contract with

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

on 27 April 2021. Following the club's relegation to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

shortly after he arrived at

Adams Park Adams Park is a Association football, football stadium in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Built in 1990, it is the home ground of the local Wycombe Wanderers F.C., Wycombe Wanderers Football Club in EFL League One, League One, with a c ...

, he had a long spell out injured and undertook a lengthy course of conditioning with the club's Development Squad physiotherapist. Forino-Joseph made his senior debut with a start in a 3–1

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

group stage defeat to Aston Villa U21 on 31 August 2021. His second appearance came with a start in a

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

first round match versus

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

on 6 November and he scored the first senior goal for the club in the 2–2 draw. In April 2024, Forino was allegedly racially abused by

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

fans. He was offered a new contract by Wycombe at the end of the 2023–24 season.

Bolton Wanderers

On 14 June 2024, it was announced that Forino-Joseph would join EFL League One side

on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract set to be activated on 1 July 2024. In September 2024 he suffered a hamstring injury. He underwent surgery in October, and was expected to be out for 3 to 4 months. On 1 April 2025, he scored his first goal for Bolton in their

local derby A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and th ...

with

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

at the

Brick Community Stadium The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic association football, football club. The stadium is ...

. The goal in the latter stages of the game handed Wanderers a 1-0 victory and was their first win over Wigan in ten years. Forino-Joseph later dedicated his goal to the Bolton fans.

International career

Forino-Joseph was eligible for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

, and in December 2022, pledged his international allegiance to Saint Lucia. He received his first call-up to the Saint Lucia national team in November 2023.

Personal life

In 2021, Forino-Joseph gave up a place at

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in order to become a professional footballer. He is of Saint Lucian and Italian descent.

Career statistics

Honours

Wycombe Wanderers *

runner-up: 2023–24 Individual *

Player of the Month: December 2021

References

External links

Chris Forino-Joseph
at wycombewanderers.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Forino-Joseph, Chris 2000 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Islington People from Islington (district) Saint Lucian men's footballers Saint Lucia men's international footballers English men's footballers Saint Lucian people of Italian descent English people of Saint Lucian descent English people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people Men's association football defenders Brentford F.C. players Cheshunt F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Wingate & Finchley F.C. players Loughborough University F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Isthmian League players United Counties League players English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen