John Paintsil

John Paintsil (born 15 June 1981) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who was an assistant coach at Kaizer Chiefs in the South African Premiership.

[4] A player comfortable at right back or in midfield, Paintsil had stints in his native Ghana with Berekum Arsenal and Liberty Professionals and a brief spell with Polish side Widzew Łódź before moving to Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2002.

In December 2004, he transferred to rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv[7] helping them to second place in the league in 2006[5] and to win the Israeli State Cup in May 2006.

[6] After the 2006 World Cup, Israeli international Yossi Benayoun recommended Paintsil to West Ham United manager Alan Pardew as the Premier League club was in need of a right-back.

[10] Paintsil was given the number 14 shirt at West Ham and competed for a place in the side with Tyrone Mears and Jonathan Spector.

On 15 July 2008, Paintsil and teammate Bobby Zamora completed their moves to Fulham for a combined transfer fee of £6.3 million.

[17] Paintsil joined Santos in the National First Division on 10 October 2013[18] after failing to agree terms with Premiership team Polokwane City.

[20] On 29 January 2016 he was released by Maritzburg United, following a falling out with manager Ernst Middendorp on disciplinary grounds together with teammate Ashley Hartog.

[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 with Otto Addo and Fatau Dauda after their vehicle was damaged as it avoided a head-on collision with a pick-up truck that veered into their lane.

Pantsil playing for West Ham United in 2008
Paintsil with Fulham in 2008
Paintsil playing for Leicester City
Paintsil playing for Ghana's national team during the FIFA World Cup 2010