Jermain Defoe Age, Height & Biography

Jermain Defoe is an English former professional footballer who scored goals wherever he played during a career lasting more than two decades. Born in Beckton, London, in 1982, the striker scored 163 Premier League goals and 20 goals in 57 appearances for England. He played for West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, Sunderland and Rangers, and he was recalled to the England team at the age of 34, three years after his previous cap.

Quick Facts

Who Is Jermain Defoe?

Jermain Defoe was a natural goalscorer, a quick and clinical striker who made a habit of scoring from the edge of the penalty area. He is one of only a handful of players to have scored more than 150 Premier League goals, with 163 to his name, the joint-eighth-highest total in the competition’s history. He scored 124 goals in total for Tottenham Hotspur across two spells at the club.

For England, Defoe won 57 caps and scored 20 goals between 2004 and 2017. He scored the winning goal against Slovenia at the 2010 World Cup to send England into the last 16, and he was recalled to the national team in 2017 at the age of 34, scoring on his return against Lithuania. Off the pitch he became known for his friendship with young Sunderland supporter Bradley Lowery, who died in 2017, and he was a pallbearer at the boy’s funeral.

Early Life & Background

Jermain Colin Defoe was born on 7 October 1982 in Beckton, East London. He played youth football for Senrab, the famous East London youth team, before joining Charlton Athletic’s academy at the age of 14. In 1999 he moved to West Ham United, where he signed his first professional contract, and he made his senior debut later that year.

Defoe spent part of the 2000-01 season on loan at Bournemouth, where he made a huge impression, scoring 18 goals in 29 appearances and finding the net in 10 consecutive league matches. He returned to West Ham and became a regular in the first team, but after the club were relegated from the Premier League in 2003 he asked for a move, and in January 2004 he joined Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of 7 million pounds.

Career

Defoe scored 64 goals in 143 appearances in his first spell at Tottenham, and in January 2008 he joined Portsmouth for 7.5 million pounds, scoring 15 goals in 31 appearances for the south-coast club. He returned to Tottenham in January 2009 for 15 million pounds and spent five more seasons at White Hart Lane, including a famous five-goal haul against Wigan Athletic in November 2009. He scored 124 goals in total for Spurs across his two spells.

In February 2014, Defoe joined Toronto FC in Major League Soccer, scoring 11 goals in 19 appearances, before returning to England with Sunderland in January 2015. He was Sunderland’s top scorer in each of his two full seasons at the club, scoring 15 goals in 2015-16 and 15 again in 2016-17, as the club were relegated from the Premier League. In July 2017 he joined Bournemouth, and in January 2019 he moved to Rangers in Scotland.

At Rangers, Defoe initially joined on loan before making the move permanent in 2020, and he was part of the squad that won the Scottish Premiership in the 2020-21 season, going unbeaten in the league under Steven Gerrard. In March 2022, aged 39, he announced his retirement from football. Later that year he returned to Tottenham Hotspur as a coach in the club’s academy, beginning the next chapter of his career in the game.

Facts About Jermain Defoe

• He scored 163 Premier League goals, the joint-eighth-highest total in the competition’s history.
• He scored 124 goals in total for Tottenham Hotspur across his two spells at the club.
• He scored five goals in one game for Tottenham against Wigan Athletic in November 2009.
• He was recalled to the England team in 2017 at the age of 34, three years after his previous cap.
• He was a pallbearer at the funeral of young Sunderland supporter Bradley Lowery in 2017.

Frequently Asked Questions