 | This article'slead sectionmay be too short to adequatelysummarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead toprovide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(June 2013) |
 Paintsil withFulham in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Paintsil[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-06-15)15 June 1981 (age 43) | ||
| Place of birth | Berekum,Brong-Ahafo,Ghana | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Full back,defensive midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Kaizer Chiefs (assistant manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–1999 | Berekum Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2000 | Berekum Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Liberty Professionals | 10 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | Berekum Arsenal | 12 | (1) |
| 2002–2004 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 46 | (0) |
| 2004–2006 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 46 | (4) |
| 2006–2008 | West Ham United | 19 | (0) |
| 2008–2011 | Fulham | 75 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | Leicester City | 6 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 9 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Santos | 17 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 | Maritzburg United | 34 | (0) |
| Total | 274 | (5) | |
| International career | |||
| 2001–2013 | Ghana[3] | 89 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2016– | Kaizer Chiefs (assistant manager) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Paintsil (born 15 June 1981) is aGhanaian former professionalfootballer who was an assistant coach atKaizer Chiefs in theSouth African Premiership. He played club football forBerekum Arsenal,Liberty Professionals,Maccabi Tel Aviv,Hapoel Tel Aviv,West Ham United,Fulham,Leicester City,Santos andMaritzburg United as well as internationally forGhana.
His family name isPaintsil but at birth it was registered asPantsil in error. This then subsequently appeared on hispassport and his registration with thePremier League.[4]
A player comfortable at right back or in midfield, Paintsil had stints in his native Ghana withBerekum Arsenal andLiberty Professionals and a brief spell with Polish sideWidzew Łódź before moving to Israeli clubMaccabi Tel Aviv in 2002.
Pantsil joined Israeli clubMaccabi Tel Aviv in 2002, where he was a member of the team that won both the Israeli title and reached the Cup semi-final.[5] He made 46 league appearances[6] and five appearances in theChampions League.
In December 2004, he transferred to rivalsHapoel Tel Aviv[7] helping them to second place in the league in 2006[5] and to win the Israeli State Cup in May 2006.[8] He made 42 appearances for Hapoel, scoring three goals.[6]
After the 2006 World Cup, Israeli internationalYossi Benayoun recommended Paintsil toWest Ham United managerAlan Pardew as the Premier League club was in need of a right-back.[7] 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.[9] In August 2006, West Ham completed the signing of Paintsil after a work permit was granted.[10] Paintsil was given the number 14 shirt at West Ham and competed for a place in the side withTyrone Mears andJonathan Spector.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 the2008 Africa Cup of Nations.[11] 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 toFulham with a view to a move.
On 15 July 2008, Paintsil and teammateBobby Zamora completed their moves toFulham for a combined transfer fee of £6.3 million.[12] He became a first team regular during the 2008–09 season, helping theCottagers 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 managerMartin Jol announced that Pantsil had played his last game for Fulham and that he would not be returning for the 2011–12 season.[13] He was released by Fulham in June 2011.[14]
On 21 July 2011, Paintsil joined Leicester City on a free transfer.[15] He became managerSven-Göran Eriksson'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 in November 2011 and had not played for Leicester since October 2011.[6][16]
On 12 August 2012, Paintsil returned toIsrael by signing atHapoel Tel Aviv for one season.[17]
Paintsil joinedSantos in theNational First Division on 10 October 2013[18] after failing to agree terms withPremiership teamPolokwane City.[19]
On 8 July 2014, Paintsil joinedMaritzburg United.[20] On 29 January 2016 he was released by Maritzburg United, following a falling out with managerErnst Middendorp on disciplinary grounds together with teammateAshley Hartog.[21][22]
On 24 June 2016, Paintsil retired from football.[23]
Paintsil was a member of the Ghana Under 21 team who were runner-up in theFIFA World Youth Championship inArgentina in 2001 and played for the senior team in theAfrican Cup of Nations inMali in 2002 andEgypt in 2006.[7] He was also a member of the Ghana 2004Olympics football team who exited in the first round inGreece, having finished in third place in Group B. Paintsil played in all the matches of Ghana's national team in the2006 World Cup finals, where Ghana were beaten byBrazil in the second round.[7]
Following the first and second goals in Ghana's 2–0 victory over theCzech Republic on 17 June 2006, he celebrated by waving anIsraeli flag, he also waved as the final whistle blew. This action provoked some protests in his native countryGhana and theArab world.[24] Afterwards the Ghanaian Football Association issued an apology, and said of Pantsil "He was naive".[25]He was a member of the Ghanaian2010 World Cup team that reached the quarter-finals in South Africa before losing toUruguay.[26] He played in all five games. On 13 June 2010, in a World Cup group-stage match againstSerbia, another variation of his name appeared on his jersey,Panstil.[27]
On 27 June 2016, Paintsil became the new assistant manager atKaizer Chiefs.[28]
Paintsil's family reportedly received repeated death threats in Ghana.[citation needed] His younger brother Mark fled toIsrael on a tourist visa. His visa expired and he was jailed whilst applying forpolitical asylum 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."[29] 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.[30] 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.[31]
In September 2024, Paintsil was involved in a car crash along withOtto Addo andFatau Dauda after their vehicle was damaged as it avoided a head-on collision with a pick-up truck that veered into their lane. TheGhana Football Association issued a statement shortly after the incident confirming that all three individuals were in stable condition.[32]
| Paintsil – appearances for Ghana | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
2001 | 1 | 0 | |
2002 | 7 | 0 | |
2003 | 1 | 0 | |
2004 | 0 | 0 | |
2005 | 5 | 0 | |
2006 | 12 | 0 | |
2007 | 7 | 0 | |
2008 | 15 | 0 | |
2009 | 10 | 0 | |
2010 | 9 | 0 | |
2011 | 9 | 0 | |
2012 | 7 | 0 | |
2013 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 89 | 0 | |
| Correct as of 6 February 2013[3] | |||
 | This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "John Paintsil" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Fulham
Ghana
Individual
Ghana squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
