John Paintsil (born 15 June 1981) is a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian former 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 was an assistant coach at

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) is a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premiership. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Kings" or "Chiefs" in Zu ...

in the

South African Premiership The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL after its governing body, is a professional soccer league in South Africa and the highest level of the South Afr ...

. He played club football for

Berekum Arsenal Berekum Arsenal Football Club is a Ghanaian football club based in Berekum in the Bono region of Ghana, about 30 minutes drive west from Sunyani. Founded in 1995, They are currently members of the Division One League. CAF Cup In 2006, the c ...

Liberty Professionals Liberty Professionals Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Dansoman, Accra. History Liberty Professionals was founded in 1996 by Accra-based businessmen Felix Ansong and Alhaji Sly Tetteh. The club was one of the earli ...

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as football, basketball, w ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, Santos and Maritzburg United as well as internationally for

. His family name is Paintsil but at birth it was registered as Pantsil in error. This then subsequently appeared on his

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

and his registration with the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

Club career

Early career

A player comfortable at right back or in midfield, Paintsil had stints in his native Ghana with

and

and a brief spell with Polish side

Widzew Łódź RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-wh ...

before moving to Israeli club

in 2002.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

Pantsil joined Israeli club

in 2002, where he was a member of the team that won both the Israeli title and reached the Cup semi-final.Player Profile: John Pantsil
Ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 22 June 2007. He made 46 league appearancesSoccerbase: John Pantsil
, Racing Post. Retrieved 22 June 2007. and five appearances in the Champions League.

Hapoel Tel Aviv

In December 2004, he transferred to rivals

Player Profiles: John Pantsil
, West Ham United Official site. Retrieved 22 June 2007. helping them to second place in the league in 2006 and to win the Israeli State Cup in May 2006. He made 42 appearances for Hapoel, scoring three goals. John Paintsil

West Ham United

After the 2006 World Cup, Israeli international

Yossi Benayoun Yossi Shai Benayoun (; born 5 May 1980) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Israel and England and captained the Israel national team. Born in Dimona, he is sometimes nicknamed ...

recommended Paintsil to

manager

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who most recently managed Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup ...

as the Premier League club was in need of a right-back. Pardew took Pantsil with the rest of the squad on their pre-season tour of Sweden. Impressive performances by Paintsil during West Ham's Swedish tour allowed him to gain favour with Pardew. In August 2006, West Ham completed the signing of Paintsil after a work permit was granted. Paintsil was given the number 14 shirt at West Ham and competed for a place in the side with Tyrone Mears and

Jonathan Spector Jonathan Michael Paul Spector (born March 1, 1986) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. In his 16-year career playing first-team soccer he played over 400 games for club and country, and helped the United States win the ...

. He made only five appearances for West Ham during the 2006–07 season and in the summer of 2007 was weighing up his options in order to ensure his place in the Ghana national team for the

2008 Africa Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated with the Confede ...

. However, the defender remained at West Ham and in July 2008, with the majority of his 24 games for West Ham being substitute appearances, Paintsil was given permission to speak to

with a view to a move.

Fulham

On 15 July 2008, Paintsil and teammate

Bobby Zamora Robert Lester Zamora (born 16 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. Zamora began his career at Barking Abbey School. Then he moved to Football League club Bristol Rovers, but was soon signed by Brig ...

completed their moves to

for a combined transfer fee of £6.3 million. He became a first team regular during the 2008–09 season, helping the ''Cottagers'' to a record seventh-place finish. His performances improved as the season progressed and he retained a regular starting place in the 2009–10 season. In June 2011 new Fulham manager

Martin Jol Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany and England, as well as earning three caps wi ...

announced that Pantsil had played his last game for Fulham and that he would not be returning for the 2011–12 season. He was released by Fulham in June 2011.

Leicester City

On 21 July 2011, Paintsil joined Leicester City on a free transfer. He became manager

Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager. After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...

's eighth signing of the summer. Paintsil was released by Leicester in May 2012 having made seven appearances in all competitions. He had made no appearances since the appointment of new Leicester manager,

Nigel Pearson Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English association football, football coach (sport), manager and former professional player. He last managed EFL Championship, Championship club Bristol City F.C., Bristol City. During his playi ...

in November 2011 and had not played for Leicester since October 2011.

Hapoel Tel Aviv

On 12 August 2012, Paintsil returned to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

by signing at

for one season.

Santos

Paintsil joined Santos in the

National First Division The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...

on 10 October 2013 after failing to agree terms with Premiership team

Polokwane City Polokwane City Football Club is a South African professional football club based in the city of Polokwane in the Limpopo province that currently plays in the first tier South African Premiership. The team plays its home matches at the Peter Mok ...

Maritzburg United

On 8 July 2014, Paintsil joined Maritzburg United. On 29 January 2016 he was released by Maritzburg United, following a falling out with manager

Ernst Middendorp Ernst Middendorp (born 28 October 1958) is a German football coach who coaches Cape Town Spurs. Apart from coaching in Germany, Middendorp has coached football clubs in Ghana, South Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, China, Iran and Cyprus. He has also ...

on disciplinary grounds together with teammate

Ashley Hartog Ashley Hartog (born 1 September 1982, in Cape Town, Western Cape) is a South African football striker who last played for Engen Santos. Club career FC Fortune Hartog began his career with FC Fortune, later known as Western Province United. ...

. On 24 June 2016, Paintsil retired from football.

International career

Paintsil was a member of the Ghana Under 21 team who were runner-up in the

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in 2001 and played for the senior team in the

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

in 2002 and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in 2006. He was also a member of the Ghana 2004

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

football team who exited in the first round in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, having finished in third place in Group B. Paintsil played in all the matches of Ghana's national team in the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

finals, where Ghana were beaten by

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in the second round. Following the first and second goals in Ghana's 2–0 victory over the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

on 17 June 2006, he celebrated by waving an

Israeli flag The flag of the State of Israel ( ; ) was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. It consists of a white background with a blue Star of David in the centre and two horizontal blue stripes at the ...

, he also waved as the final whistle blew. This action provoked some protests in his native country

and the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

world. Afterwards the Ghanaian Football Association issued an apology, and said of Pantsil "He was naive". He was a member of the Ghanaian

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

team that reached the quarter-finals in South Africa before losing to

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. He played in all five games. On 13 June 2010, in a World Cup group-stage match against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, another variation of his name appeared on his jersey, Panstil.

Managerial career

Kaizer Chiefs

On 27 June 2016, Paintsil became the new assistant manager at

Personal life

Paintsil's family reportedly received repeated death threats in Ghana. His younger brother Mark fled to

on a tourist visa. His visa expired and he was jailed whilst applying for

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

pending immigration status decisions. According to Mark, the rest of the family is in Britain and cannot go back to Ghana. He was quoted as saying "I cannot return to Ghana because I truly fear for my life. My sister, after returning to Ghana, joined my brother and parents in London immediately, and now I am in prison and there is nothing I can do." John is also famous for his lap of honor at home matches, he sometimes only wears one sleeve on his left arm in the winter, leaving his right arm bare by simply cutting off the other sleeve. During an interview with The West Ham Way, Paintsil revealed that a dream where he played particularly well with one long and one short sleeve led to him adopting this unusual habit. In September 2024, Paintsil was involved in a car crash along with

Otto Addo Nana Otto Addo (born 9 June 1975) is a Ghanaian Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former association football player. He is the manager of the Ghana national football team, and previously worked as a talen ...

and

Fatau Dauda Abdul Fatawu Dauda (; born 6 April 1985), known as Fatau Dauda, is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Dauda began his football career in 2004 with Ghana Division 1 League club Okwawu United, and i ...

after their vehicle was damaged as it avoided a head-on collision with a pick-up truck that veered into their lane. The

Ghana Football Association The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is the sports governing body, governing body of association football in Ghana, based in the capital city, Accra. Founded in 1957 to replace the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast Football Association whi ...

issued a statement shortly after the incident confirming that all three individuals were in stable condition.

Career statistics

International appearances

Honours

Player

Maccabi Tel Aviv *

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

: 2002–03 Hapoel Tel Aviv *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards ...

: 2006 Fulham *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

runner up: 2009–10 Ghana *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

Bronze Medal:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Individual *

CAF Team of the Year The CAF Team of the Year is an annual football award given by the Confederation of African Football during the CAF Awards. In 2007, the CAF did not choose the team of the year, but rather the best ten players of the last fifty years. The ten play ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

References

External links

* * *
Ghana Football Association
nbsp;– official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paintsil, John 1981 births 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Berekum Arsenal F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Fulham F.C. players Ghana men's international footballers Ghana men's under-20 international footballers Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in England Ghanaian men's footballers Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players Israeli Premier League players Leicester City F.C. players Liberty Professionals F.C. players Living people Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Durban City F.C. (2024) players Olympic footballers for Ghana People from Berekum Premier League players Santos F.C. (South Africa) players West Ham United F.C. players English Football League players 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen