From ‘pineapple head’ to the PFA
JASON LEE ON HIS FANTASY FOOTBALL INFAMY
EVERY Friday night shortly after 11pm in the Nottingham Forest team hotel, Jason Lee and his room- mate Des Lyttle would settle in front of the television and turn on BBC2.
It was Fantasy Football League time, the cult comedy show hosted by Frank Skinner and David Baddiel which, on an almost weekly basis, featured Lee, the 6ft 3in dreadlocked striker whose haircut and misfortune in front of goal they poked fun at.
Infamously, Baddiel wore a pineapple on his head and painted his skin black as he imitated Lee during sketches where Skinner would dress as Forest boss Frank Clark. The mocking saw the player become a target for opposition supporters.
Now, 25 years on from the show’s launch, Sportsmail has tracked down one of its most recognisable personalties. We find the dad of four — minus the dreadlocks — in an office in Manchester where he works in equalities and education for the PFA.
He looks as if he could still be playing, toned and lean and defying his 47 years despite two decades and more than 600 games battling with centre halves.
But his career will be best remembered for two years in the Premier League with Forest and the notoriety brought about by a pair of merciless comedians.
‘I loved it,’ says the Londoner. ‘I can’t sit here now and say I didn’t, although I changed my opinion slightly later.
‘But at the time I watched it with my room- mate and we laughed. If I’d had a bad game the week before I’d be like, “I should be on tonight”, and I didn’t mind.
‘For me to be recognised in the first place was because I was playing at the highest level. I didn’t just get there, I grafted, I came through all four leagues and my hard work outweighed my talent.
‘And the more stick I got, the more stubborn I became. Every ground it was the song, “He’s got a pineapple on his head…”.
‘I thought, “You know what, I ain’t cutting this off for you, that would look like I’m giving in. Instead, I’m going to score a goal and ruin your weekend”. And I went on a run where I scored six in seven.
‘The thing was, it got to a point where I really wanted to change my hairstyle. It was ridiculous, for more than a year I kept it out of defiance.
‘I was offered deals for adverts and all sorts and they did invite me on the show, but I didn’t want to go on and be like, “This is great, everyone is taking the p*** out of me”. I didn’t want to be part of that, I just wanted to be remembered for playing football.
‘Eventually, it got to the point where I cut my hair off and it was my way of saying to everyone, “It’s gone, I’m moving on”.’
One of Lee’s first games after his chop was at Chelsea, where Baddiel was a season-ticket holder.
‘I was on the bench and every time I warmed up I was getting stick, of course I was, it was Baddiel’s team,’ he recalls.
‘I was saying, “Come on gaffer, put me on, I’m on my way out of the club, I know that, but come on…”.’ Chelsea were leading 1-0 though Gianluca Vialli when, in injury-time, Lee chased a hopeful punt into the area and caught it on the half-volley.
His eyes widen as he traces the arc of the lob which floated over goalkeeper Kevin Hitchcock and clipped the post before hitting the back of the net.
‘ What a great way to shut people up,’ says Lee. ‘Their fans were like, “Anyone can score, but not this guy…”. It was nice to have the last laugh.’ Did they show that on Fantasy Football? ‘Did they hell!’ he laughs.
But there were darker moments, such as the effect it had on his family. It is one of the reasons why his thoughts on the show are more balanced today than they were as a carefree young footballer.
‘They were very defensive about it,’ he says. ‘There would be racial stuff. In the end, I would tell them not to come. It can’t be nice, supporting your child or partner and seeing him get so much abuse.’
Has Lee ever met Baddiel and Skinner to discuss the impact it had? ‘Never,’ he says. ‘It’s not an avoidance thing, I just never have. If I did there’d be no animosity, but I’d ask them if they realised the significance of what they were doing.
‘It was, looking back, a form of bullying. I work in equalities now, and it can affect different people in different ways. I don’t think people appreciate the possible harm it can cause. Not everyone has the make-up to deal with that, and they shouldn’t have to.
‘With me, there was always something — if it wasn’t my hair, it was the colour of my skin or my height, and it made me resilient.
‘What did they expect me to do? Give up my career? I was always going to continue and I played until I was 40 — I have to remind people of that.
‘The easiest thing for someone to say is, “He’s s***”. But you’re not, you’ve made a success of yourself to be at that top level in the first place.’
Lee was still a teenager when he left Charlton to sign for Lincoln City — ‘I was away from my barber and that’s when my hair started to grow!’ he explains — and he established himself as a professional with 21 goals in the old Division Four.
‘Leaving London in the early Nineties, I found it very hard to deal with the racial element and the brutality of the game. It was GBH, some of the stuff, and I retaliated a lot. I missed a lot of games and you learn, “I have to find another way to deal with these things”. It was the best education.’ That is why Lee is better placed than most when it comes to helping the next generation of footballers.
He does not, however, always like what he sees and hears inside the academies.
‘I love what I do, but it’s hard to break down the egos,’ he says. ‘Players now are rewarded without achieving anything. The contracts only represent potential. It should be more incentive-based, that’s the way it was for me. I will ask them, “What do you want to get out of your career? Do you want to be remembered?”.
‘I wrote it down when I was a teenager, I made a promise to myself — make my debut, get a pro contract… Now, I fear they worry about the money and the cars first. So I try to remind them there is more to it than talent, it’s about hard work and doing all you can to get the very best out of yourself, like I did.’
“It got to a point where I really
wanted to change my hairstyle but I kept it out of defiance” “It was, looking back, a form of bullying. I see that now as I work in equalities”