49 Facts About Jermaine Pennant

Jermaine Lloyd Pennant was born on 15 January 1983 and is an English retired professional footballer who played as a winger.

Jermaine Pennant earned promising reviews in the youth team at County and Arsenal signed him in 1999.

Jermaine Pennant struggled to make much of an impact at the North London club and spent time on loan at Watford, Leeds United and Birmingham City before joining the latter permanently.

Jermaine Pennant joined Portsmouth on loan before leaving to join Spanish side Real Zaragoza in 2009.

Jermaine Pennant then spent time playing in India with Pune City before returning to England to sign a short-term contract with Wigan Athletic.

Jermaine Pennant returned to England once more signing for EFL League Two side Bury, before retiring in non-league football with Billericay Town in 2017.

Jermaine Pennant's father Gary was a semi-professional footballer who inspired Pennant to play.

Jermaine Pennant recalls how as a child his favourite toy was a football and how it rarely left his side.

Jermaine Pennant, who grew up in a crime and drug-infested neighbourhood, credits football for saving him from a life of crime.

Jermaine Pennant made his debut aged 16 years and 319 days against Middlesbrough in the League Cup on 30 November 1999, making him Arsenal's youngest-ever first team player, surpassing Gerry Ward's long-standing record by two days; Pennant's record has since been surpassed by Cesc Fabregas.

Jermaine Pennant continued to make League Cup appearances over the next few seasons, but had to wait.

Jermaine Pennant played for Arsenal for seven years and only made five starts, including a hat-trick on his full league debut against Southampton on 7 May 2003.

Jermaine Pennant said in 2018 that he did not expect to start that match, and had been drinking until 6 in the morning the night before.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger appeared to have eventually lost patience with Jermaine Pennant, who had a history of turning up late to training.

Between 2002 and 2004, Jermaine Pennant spent time on loan at Watford and Leeds United.

Jermaine Pennant made a good start at St Andrew's, providing Walter Pandiani with the winning goal against Southampton on his debut.

Jermaine Pennant then stated he wanted to make his loan move permanent.

Jermaine Pennant was handed a three-month prison sentence by the courts.

Jermaine Pennant was released from prison after serving 30 days and wore an electronic tag in a match against Tottenham Hotspur.

On 18 September 2007, Jermaine Pennant was sent off against Porto in Liverpool's opening UEFA Champions League match of the season.

Jermaine Pennant played 13 league matches for Portsmouth without scoring a goal.

Jermaine Pennant was not offered a new contract by Liverpool following his return, and he subsequently became a free agent when his contract expired on 1 July 2009.

On 9 July 2009, Jermaine Pennant passed a medical and signed a three-year deal at Real Zaragoza.

On 31 August 2010, the final day of the summer transfer window, Jermaine Pennant agreed a four-month loan deal with Premier League side Stoke City.

Jermaine Pennant made his Stoke debut as a substitute in the home match against Aston Villa on 13 September 2010.

Jermaine Pennant expressed his desire to stay at Stoke after his loan spell.

Jermaine Pennant went on to have an up-and-down season as he played in 40 of the club's 59 fixtures, helping the side reach the round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League and the quarter-final of the FA Cup.

However, with the arrival of Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Michael Kightly, Jermaine Pennant was unable to force his way back into Tony Pulis' plans, and on 12 October 2012, he moved to Wolves on an emergency three-month loan deal.

Jermaine Pennant did not have the best of spells at Molineux, making just ten starts and was jeered by some of the Wolves support for some poor performances, and returned to Stoke in January 2013.

On 6 November 2014, Jermaine Pennant joined Indian Super League side Pune City.

Jermaine Pennant played seven times for Pune as they finished in sixth position.

Jermaine Pennant returned to England and joined Championship club Wigan Athletic on 21 February 2015 until the end of the season on a free transfer.

Jermaine Pennant played 13 times and scored three goals, all of which were free-kicks, but was unable to help prevent Wigan suffering relegation to the third tier.

Jermaine Pennant was offered a new contract with the club, but chose not to accept.

Jermaine Pennant went on to score against Home United and against Warriors.

Jermaine Pennant returned to English football in January 2017 on a short-term contract with League One club Bury.

Jermaine Pennant had a trial spell with Scottish Premiership club Hibernian during July 2017, but the club decided against offering him a contract.

Jermaine Pennant then signed a two-year deal with Isthmian League Premier Division side Billericay Town.

On 28 December 2017, Jermaine Pennant left Billericay Town, after just four months, having made 13 appearances league and 2 in the FA Cup.

Jermaine Pennant was sent off for punching Niko Kranjcar in a match against the Croatia under-21s.

Jermaine Pennant is one of only two English players to have played in a UEFA Champions League Final, but never to have represented England at senior level, the other being Jamie Gittens.

Jermaine Pennant had been described by former Newcastle United left-back Jose Enrique as a player with similar style to that of Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott.

Jermaine Pennant was able to use skill to beat opponents' full backs.

In February 2004, Jermaine Pennant was given a 16-month driving ban after being caught drink-driving in Paddington, West London.

Jermaine Pennant was released on parole after 30 days and immediately returned to playing for Birmingham City, although he had to wear an electronic tag at all times, including while on the pitch.

Jermaine Pennant was reported to have forgotten he owned the car.

Until January 2008, Jermaine Pennant was dating Hollyoaks actress Jennifer Metcalfe.

In May 2010, Jermaine Pennant became engaged to Lara Murphy, with whom he had a son named Trey who was born in August 2010.

The relationship with Murphy ended when his son was one year old, when Jermaine Pennant left her for glamour model Alice Goodwin.