Papa John

Papa John (Real name John Vasco) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for newly accustomed Barclays Premier League club Reddit XI. John Vasco was born on the 28th of August 1994.

Early life
John Vasco was born and raised in Porto where the lands were rich in football thanks to Portuguese club giant FC Porto. John Vasco grew in a bakery that was made famous by his great grandfather Vasco De La Torre who was a club legend for FC Porto. His father, Hugo Vasco, was also a professional footballer at youth level but was forced to retire due to re-occurring injuries.

FC Porto
With ties to his family, John Vasco joined FC Porto's junior academy at the age 12 were he went to play there for 5 Years. John had impressed with his 5 years at the junior academy, praised for his incredible technique and composure on the ball by his coaches, it was to no surprise that FC Porto have offered him a contract at the ripe age of 17. John was actually a Winger at the start, a pacey one at that, he played there for Porto B in that position. At age 19 he had been capped at U-21 level for the first time, By the time he was 21 he had been capped an impressive 28 times scoring 7 and assisting 14 times. John had never made a senior Appearance for FC Porto.

Disaster struck at a friendly vs Kenya's U-17 where coincidently Vasco's  current teammate Uvuvwevwevwe Onyetenyevwe Ugwemuhwem Osas' cousin  Vuvuvuevue Ovayetenyevwe Ugwemuhwem Osas had drop kicked John Vasco's leg after being frustrated by being nutmegged for the 4th time. Vasco's leg had been broken and suffered an ACL and PCL injury. John Vasco had been out injured for a year and a half where FC Porto actually terminated his contract as they had thought he would be as his father and quit football.

Vasco, outraged with his terminated contract and the disloyalty by  FC Porto was determined to not only come back from injury, but to become one of the greatest in Portugal.

Gil Vicente
Vasco was signed by Portuguese Club Gil Vicente in the second division. After struggling playing on the wing during that time, although he still had his incredible technique and composure on the ball, it was apparent that he had lost his blistering pace (not helped with the horrendous diet of cakes and pies available from the bakery from the first year of injury)  he was eventually transitioned on more to the middle of the pitch were he strived, he had managed to get a whopping 21 assists and 9 goals in the league and massively helped his side win the Portuguese second division. He won accolades such as Liga ll player of the year and the Portugese young player of the year award.

Reddit XI
With a Low release Clause of £4m Vasco had attracted alot of  interest from  clubs in Portugal and two foreign clubs. Those foreign clubs were Arsenal and Reddit XI. Vasco, excited of the prospect of Arsenal, was disappointed when he had heard that Wenger was only willing to buy him for 3.9m. had decided to go to Reddit XI.

International
John Vasco made it to the Portuguese team in 2016 after good performances in Reddit XI.

Nickname Origin
John Vasco was nicknamed Papa John by his friends due to his striking resemblance to John Schnatter when he shaves his beard, and that he makes one hell of a pizza. In fact, after winning the league John Vasco's bakery had invited the club player's and staff to some beer and pizzas as a gesture of good will.

Portugal

 * Segunda Liga / LigaPro
 * Runners-up (1): 2013–14 LigaPro

International

 * UEFA Under-21 European Championship
 * Runners-up (1): 2015