Jermain Defoe's Biography

Who is Jermain Defoe?

Defoe's first professional club was Charlton but he never appeared for them before he was signed by West Ham in 1999.

It took a while before Jermain Defoe made an impact at West Ham and before he left Upton Park he was loaned out to Bournemouth in the then 2nd division, now League 1. Whilst there he broke the record for scoring in consecutive league games, scoring in 10 games in a row. This record still stands in English professional football, running through every league.

Immediately after West Ham were relegated, Defoe had put in a transfer request but he stayed with the Hammers long enough to score 15 goals before, in 2004, he moved to Spurs for £7m plus Bobby Zamora.

Jermain Defoe soon became a firm favourite with the White Hart Lane fans, scoring on his debut against Portsmouth. He added 6 more to his total that season, finishing with statistics of 7 goals in 14 games.

In the 2004-05 season, Defoe scored 13 Premiership goals and 9 goals in 7 games in cup competitions.

Although Jermain Defoe had not been a regular in the Spurs side in the 2005/6 season, Martin Jol and others were surprised that the striker had been left out of the England squad for the 2006 World Cup. Defoe did, however, make the standby list.

Jermain Defoe used to go out with David Beckham's sister, Joanne.

Jermain Defoe is a Big Brother fan and, in June 2007, he was the first Premiership footballer to appear on Big Brother's Little Brother when he went on the show with his fiancee Charlotte Mears.

On 31 January 2008, Jermain Defoe was transferred from Spurs to Portsmouth. Earlier in the day, Defoe had been left out of Fabio Capello's first England squad.

However, it was not long before Jermain Defoe returned to White Hart Lane. In January 2009, Defoe was signed by Harry Redknapp, who himself had switched from Portsmouth to Spurs.

Very soon after his return to Tottenham, Defoe picked up a foot injury in training. The Daily Mail had photos of his new girlfriend Chantelle Houghton accompanying him to hospital.

However, in July 2009, Jermain Defoe was dating a different former Big Brother housemate, Imogen Thomas. However, in November 2009, it was reported that Imogen Thomas and Jermain Defoe had broken up.

In August 2009, it was revealed that Jermain Defoe was suing the police for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. Essex Police had stopped Defoe in his Range Rover and arrested him on suspicion of driving while disqualified.

On 23 June 2010, Jermain Defoe's 23 minute goal saw England beat Slovenia 1-0 and ensured their progress to the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup.

In March 2017, at the age of 34, Defoe was recalled to the England squad, having had a successful spell at Sunderland.

At the end of the 2016/17 season Defoe left Sunderland and joined Bournemouth on a free transfer.

In June 2018, he was awarded an OBE.

In January 2019, he joined Scottish club Rangers on loan.

In 2020, whilst still a player at Rangers, Defoe revealed how he wanted to go on to be a manager.

Subsequently, Jermain Defoe and Troy Deeney hosted the BBC 5 Live podcast, Defoe & Deeney Football Firsts.