Jermaine Lloyd Pennant was born in a crime and drug-infested neighbourhood, The Meadows area of Nottingham, on the 15th of January 1983. Raised by his drug dealer dad Gary who eventually became a drug addict, but was also a semi-professional footballer, he inspired Jermain to play football which he says saved him from a life of crime. When he was 14, Jermain moved away from home and was living with Youth Training scheme players who were 16, 17 and 18, breaking through at Notts County, with then manager Allardyce bringing him in to train with the first team. He was widely tipped as the greatest player of his generation when making his debut as a professional at the age of 15 at Notts County, then of the Second Division which is now League One. It was in January 1999 that the winger burst on to the scene as a teenager when he left Notts County and became a £2million signing for Arsenal at just 15 without his agent's consent. Jermaine recalls, "One day an agent turned up, literally out of the blue. He wasn't my agent at the time. My agent had always been Sky Andrew. But, he said I have two teams you can go to right now. Tottenham or Arsenal. So, my father said come on, we're going into London and we're going to speak to Arsenal. I was just like okay then. I literally just got in this Range Rover and shot down the M1 and went to Highbury." His father Gary was highly influential and would not take heed of the agent's apprehensions that Jermaine needed to stay in school, he just didn't want to know. Jermaine made his debut for the Gunners as a 16-year-old, the world’s most expensive teenager, in the League Cup against Middlesbrough, making him their youngest-ever first team player. It wasn't until the 2002-03 season that he tasted Premier League football but the end of that campaign was a memorable one for several reasons as he made his full debut for the Gunners in a 6-1 thumping win over Southampton on the 7th of May, 2003. Jermain admitted that he had been out partying until 6am on the day of the game before he scored a hat-trick. He said, "I had never started for Arsenal before and I didn’t think that would change, especially as Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and Ray Parlor were all in the squad. I couldn’t believe it when I saw my name in the starting line-up!" The winger said he could even feel the vodka bouncing in his stomach as he helped the Gunners thrash Southampton 6-1 at Highbury. This game though showcased his undeniable talent with the English media all over the 19-year-old and hailed him as 'The Next David Beckham' for his dangerous set pieces and playing in the same right midfield position. Had he been given more opportunities and found the discipline required to thrive in the unforgiving world of professional football, perhaps his story would have been different. Instead, his career became an all-too-familiar tale of a young footballer succumbing to the pitfalls of fame and fortune, a life marked by alcohol, excess, and recklessness.
After the hat-trick, he was on the bench for the next game and having thought he would just kick on at Arsenal it never happened, and he got more and more frustrated and lost interest. He said, "I thought this is going nowhere", and he only managed 26 appearances for the Gunners in all competitions, failing to live up to his potential. Arsène Wenger appeared to have eventually lost patience with a player who had a history of turning up late to training so between 2002 and 2004, Pennant spent time on loan at Watford and Leeds United. He was then loaned out to Birmingham City during the 2004-05 season which saw him jailed for drink driving offences, and after serving 30 days he wore an electronic tag in a match against Tottenham Hotspur. However he still managed to have a successful Premier League career, the highlight being a £6.7 million move from Birmingham to Liverpool in 2006. His time at Liverpool was perhaps his brightest spot, as playing alongside the likes of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, he was part of a Reds side that reached the 2007 Champions League final. Though they eventually succumbed to AC Milan, his performance in that match again demonstrated his potential. Sadly it was fleeting and, frustrated at being ignored by England, his stint at Liverpool following a loan spell at Portsmouth, never quite managing to recapture that zenith and he left Anfield was just three goals in 81 matches. His football journey then took him to clubs such as Real Zaragoza, Stoke City, Pune City, and Wigan Athletic, among others. These moves were marred by inconsistent form and off-field issues which saw his career gradually fade, culminating in a move to non-league Billericay Town in 2017 before retiring by August 2019.
Overall his career was a huge disappointment to what was expected but incidents off the field, such as alcohol and poor attitude cost him, making him a huge waste of talent and another failed wonderkid.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/07/footballs-nearly-men-denilson.html
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