CLUB FOOTBALL

Like most professional footballers, Jermain Defoe gained his appetite for the sport as a child, joining Sunday League club Senrab before moving to Charlton Athletic aged 14 and then West Ham United at 16. He soon became a popular player and was loaned out to AFC Bournemouth where he scored 10 consecutive goals in 10 matches. In 2004, he would move to Tottenham Hotspur.

He stayed at Tottenham for four years where he then moved to Portsmouth. However, after just one year, he had returned to Tottenham, where he stayed until 2014, joining Toronto FC. He would then return to England in 2015 to play for Sunderland and then AFC Bournemouth again in 2017. He was then loaned out to the Scottish Rangers where they won the Scottish Professional Football League in 2021. Jermain announced his retirement in March 2022, aged 39.

His club career impressed many top managers, including Harry Redknapp who said:

“He’s done great. I sent him out to Bournemouth to get some experience playing league football and he’s coped marvellously. To score 10 goals in 10 games is a terrific achievement. He’s a bright lad who’s full of confidence. Nothing knocks him, he’s a typical goal-scorer. If he misses, he’ll be there the next time looking for a goal. He’s a kid with a big future.”

Whilst at Tottenham, he received the club’s Player of the Year award for 2004, as voted for by season ticket holders and Spurs members. He was also named the Premier League Player of the Month for August 2009 whilst with the club.

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL

As well as his impressive club career, Jermain was a talented striker for the England team, playing in the Euro 2012, the qualifying matches for the 2006, 2014 and 2018 World Cup, and in the main games of 2010 World Cup. Across 57 appearances, Jermain scored 20 goals, including at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

OUTSIDE FOOTBALL

Jermain’s charitable nature came out in 2014 when he befriended Bradley Lowery, a terminally ill six-year-old football fan, and assisted with fundraising efforts for the Bradley Lowery Foundation. He often took Bradley out onto the pitch at the start of matches as a child mascot, and even after his death in 2017, Jermain has stayed in close contact with his family.

Jermain is a popular personality on social media with a following of over 1.5 million across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, bringing his fans into his personal life now he is no longer seen on the football pitches.

After his retirement, Jermain became a club ambassador and academy coach for Tottenham, helping to inspire and teach the next generation of young footballers.

JERMAIN DEFOE FOUNDATION

In 2013, he launched the Jermain Defoe Foundation with an aim to support the vulnerable, homeless and abused children in his family’s home of St Lucia. Since its launch, the foundation has expanded and now supports children in many more surrounding Caribbean Islands and in the UK.

Since 2013, the foundation has helped with the building of a library in St Lucia following Hurricane Tomas, fundraising for the people of the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian and for Dominica after Hurricane Maria, funding two children’s home in St Lucia for those who have been abused, abandoned or neglected, as well as creating a football academy on St Lucia for vulnerable children.

The foundation also supports children and charities in the UK including raising money for the treatment of neuroblastoma and other life-threatening illnesses, and promoting the fundraising efforts for children requiring specialist drugs and support.

In 2018, he was awarded an OBE for services to the foundation.

SPEAKING TOPICS

– Football at Club and International Level

– Mental Resilience

– Peak Performance

– Perseverance and Endurance

Call +44 1753 439 289 or email Great British Speakers now to book England and Tottenham Hotspur Footballer Jermain Defoe for your corporate event.

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