The rise and fall of bad boy footballer Jermaine Pennant: Ex-wonderkid made his Arsenal debut HUNGOVER, was first Premier League star to play on a TAG for drink driving and lied to his Hollyoaks star ex when his Akita dog ‘massacred’ her cat
- The former Premier League ace once commanded an £80,000-a-week salary
- Pennant burst onto the scene as a teen and becoming a £2m signing at just 15
- But after a spell in prison and string of controversies, he now faces bankruptcy
- Birmingham County Court reportedly issued a one-year bankruptcy order on him
Jermaine Pennant’s bankruptcy came after he frittered away his fortune and talent during a £80,000-a-week career that promised so much but would be ignominious because of a spell in prison and playing in the Premier League with an ankle tag.
The former footballer appears to have run out of money just two weeks before he turns 40 having battled demons in his private life including problems with alcohol, womanising and years battling a gambling addiction that has left him £1million in debt.
But there has been some good news for the fallen footballer, having found love with model and actress Jess Impiazzi after a string of other failed relationships.
One of those was with Hollyoaks actress Jennifer Metcalfe, whose designer cat was killed by the footballer’s Akita dog and covered up with the help a team of cleaners and a friend who buried the body.
Jermaine Pennant’s bankruptcy came after he frittered away his fortune and talent during a £80,000-a-week career. He is pictured with girlfriend model and actress Jess Impiazzi
But years of controversy – including a spell in prison – saw him becoming the first player in the Premier League to play with a tag. Now he has apparently lost his fortune
Nottingham-born Jermaine burst on to the scene as a teenager and became a £2million signing at just 15, making his debut for Arsenal as a 16-year-old.
He scored a hat-trick on his full Premier League debut aged 20. He later admitted he was out partying until 6am on the day of the game and won the match for his team hungover.
Despite his extraordinary start, he only made five full starts for Arsenal in seven years, and was shipped out on loan to various clubs where his personal problems continued.
In 2005 he was jailed for three months for drink driving while disqualified after crashing his friend’s Mercedes into a lamppost. After 30 days in prison he was released and his club Birmingham City stood by him. He became the first player to play in the Premier League with an electronic tag on his ankle.
His football career continued with a big money move to Liverpool, earning him even more cash and even a Champions’ League winners medal before falling out of favour. On one highly paid spell at Real Zaragoza in Spain, he forgot he had a Porsche, leaving it with a key on the seat outside a station.
After the penny dropped he picked it up later with five months of parking tickets to pay.
As a youngster, a hungry Jermaine Pennant burst onto the football scene with Arsenal, signing a £2million deal at just the age of 15 (pictured)
But he was jailed in 2005 for three months after being convicted of drink-driving. Pennant pictured heading to court before being jailed in February 25, 2005
Birmingham County Court has reportedly issued a one-year bankruptcy order to the ex-Premier League star, who owes money to creditors including HMRC and councils. He is pictured in London on December 6, 2022
His love life has also been rocky, particularly with ex-wife Alice Goodwin, with whom he had an on-off relationship.
Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalfe was also one of his girlfriends. He later admitted that his dog had killed her cat and he hid it from her by asking a friend to bury the cat and paid cleaners to hide the mess.
One lover, glamour model Amii Grove, became irate about his cheating after she found a pair of knickers in their bed. She then locked him out of their £1.1million, threw £30,000 of his designer clothes out of the window, and smashed up his beloved X-Box.
After 15 clubs in 19 years Mr Pennant’s football career ended without the achievements many had expected when he became England’s great hopes as a 16-year-old. After retirement he earned cash on the last series of Celebrity Big Brother and media commitments, including one occasion where he was accused of being drunk on Sky Sports News.
Today it emerged that Birmingham County Court has reportedly issued a one-year bankruptcy order to the ex-Premier League star, who owes money to creditors including HMRC, councils, banks and utility companies.
The 39-year-old’s media company Jermaine Pennant Ltd, which was set up following his TV appearances on shows such as Celebrity Big Brother, was dissolved in 2020.
Rocky love life: Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalfe was also one of his girlfriends. He later admitted that his dog had killed her cat
Another one of Jemaine’s former lovers, glamour model Amii Grove, became irate about his cheating after she found a pair of knickers in their bed
But despite a string of failed relationships, Jermaine has found love with model and actress Jess Impiazzi
Last year his abandoned mansion was gutted by flames again for a second time in less than a month in November after it was taken over by a drugs gang and turned into a cannabis factory.
Five crews from Widnes, Penketh, Speke and Lymm fought through the night to tackle the blaze with relief crews from Frodsham and Chester also dispatched.
It came after firefighters rushed to the ex-Liverpool, Arsenal and Birmingham player’s former home on October 13 following reports of a blaze, which ripped through the property and destroyed the roof.
Merseyside Police were also in attendance and cordoned off the road while firefighters worked.
The former Arsenal and Leeds United star, 39, bought the five-bedroom mansion in 2006 when he joined Liverpool and lived there for three years before moving to Spanish side Real Zaragoza.
He then rented the home in the affluent Cheshire village for a further decade as his footballing career saw him move several times – including stints in India and Singapore before he finally retired in 2017.
A fire ripped through the property in November 2022 – the second time its been on fire in a month
Jermaine Pennant pictured with his girlfriend, Jess Impiazzi, earlier this year. Jermaine bought the house in 2006
But the property has stood empty since 2020 after Pennant split from his then-partner model Alice Goodwin, 32.
The abandoned home, near Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport, was subsequently converted into a cannabis farm and was subject to a drugs warrant earlier this year – leading to the arrest of a 35-year-old man.
It was not the first time the footballer has abandoned an expensive purchase. In 2011 he completely forgot he owned an expensive Porsche after he left it at Zaragoza train station in Spain for five months with the keys on the seat.
He also has a history of drink abuse, having been convicted three times for driving under the influence of alcohol.
In 2005, Pennant was jailed for three months for drink-driving while banned after crashing into a lamppost while more than twice the legal limit, and driving off with the post dragging underneath his car.
When he was initially questioned by police, he told officers that he was his Arsenal team-mate at the time, Ashley Cole.
Fast life and fast cars: Jermaine loved driving in high-powered sports cars, spending his football cash on new luxury motors
But his antic behind the wheel would get him into trouble with the courts after being caught drink-driving. He is pictured arriving at London’s swanky Mayfair Hotel in his Ferrari
As well as being jailed in 2005 he was also given a suspended prison sentence while playing for Stoke in 2012 after admitting to drink-driving. He is pictured at court in 2005
While playing for Stoke in 2012, Pennant was given an eight-week jail sentence, suspended for a year, and disqualified from driving for three years after admitting to drink-driving.
He became a star after scoring a hat trick for Arsenal on his full Premier League when the world was at his feet.
Pennant said later he believed he wouldn’t be picked for any of Arsenal’s remaining fixtures and instead went out partying the night before their game with the Saints.
Much to Pennant’s surprise, Arsene Wenger decided to throw the then 19-year-old into the mix not knowing of the teenager’s escapades just hours before.
Pennant told FourFourTwo: ‘I’d been out the night before and had a big night, because I really didn’t think I would be playing, never mind starting the game.
‘I’d never started a game for Arsenal and I didn’t think that’d change, especially as Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and Ray Parlour were all in the squad. I was guaranteed to be on the bench.
‘I thought, ‘Sod it’, went to an FHM party and got home at around 6am. I couldn’t believe it when I saw my name in the starting line-up! I was still so hungover when I was playing; I just did everything in my power not to embarrass myself.
Jermaine Pennant pictured with Chloe Ayling on Celebrity Big Brother in August 2018
During the series, Jermaine is seen giving Chloe Ayling a raunchy kiss on the thigh
Cuddling up: Jermaine is pictured snuggled next to Dan Osborne on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018
‘I can’t believe I scored. It was just a huge relief – I thought, ‘OK, you can take me off now. Please, Arsene!’ I felt so sick and I could feel the vodka still bouncing around in my stomach. You could smell it on my breath, too.
‘I did OK to score a hat-trick: it shows I had talent, though it helps when you’re playing with Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira. That was the first game of Arsenal’s 49-game unbeaten run.’
Pennant was never shy of controversy during his career but he did play well at times during his stint with Liverpool.
The 2006-07 campaign was arguably the best of his career and the player was annoyed to agonisingly fall short of an England call-up.
He scored his first goal in January 2007 with a memorable volley against Chelsea and would even go on to start the Champions League final against AC Milan – and was voted as Liverpool fans’ Player of the Match.
However, he was sent off against Porto in the Champions League in September and his form would decline over the 2007-08 season which led to a decline in minutes.
Horror: Jermaine Pennant has admitted his dog killed his then-girlfriend Jennifer Metcalfe’s cat in a gruesome ‘massacre’
Oh dear: The ex-Arsenal star confessed that his pooch, Shadow, attacked Jennifer’s expensive Persian pet while the couple were on holiday
Nightmare: Instead of telling Hollyoaks star Jennifer about the tragedy, the 35-year-old ‘panicked’, got his friend to bury the cat and paid cleaners to cover up the bloody scene (pictured with Shadow)
Awful: Jermaine said his friend sent him a photo of the ‘horrendous, distressing scene’, which featured ‘blood all over the carpets, the wall, on the banister’
After starting the first nine games, he only made four more league starts that season.
He fell out with Rafael Benitez, spent the 2008-09 season on-loan at Portsmouth who were relegated from the top flight and left Liverpool at the end of the season.
The controversies continued off the pitch.
In 2018 he admitted his dog killed Jennifer Metcalfe’s cat in a gruesome ‘massacre’.
The ex-Arsenal star confessed that Shadow attacked his then-girlfriend’s expensive Persian pet while the couple were on holiday.
Instead of telling Hollyoaks star Jennifer about the tragedy, he ‘panicked’, got his friend to bury the cat and paid cleaners to cover up the grisly scene.
The footballer made the confession in an extract from his new autobiography, Mental: Bad Behaviour, Ugly Truths and the Beautiful Game, which was obtained by The Mirror.
He explained that Jennifer brought her two Persian cats with her when she moved in with him.
The duo always had to make sure his dog, an Akita, was always outside when the cats were around.
The attack struck when the couple were on holiday and his friend Sam broke the news to him.
Jermaine pictured with Alice Goodwin during the National Reality TV Awards in 2018
‘He said, “Shadow’s killed the cat. I mean, J, he’s absolutely massacred it. That back door onto the patio, it wasn’t locked, and he must’ve forced it open,” ‘ Jermaine recalled.
The athlete added that Sam sent him a photo of the ‘horrendous, distressing scene’, which featured ‘blood all over the carpets, the wall, on the banister’.
‘I was feeling sick and panicking like mad. Myself and Sam came up with this story that the cat had escaped,’ he went on.
The footballer revealed that the duo hired a professional carpet cleaner, painter and decorator to completely repaint the walls and get new wallpaper.
‘I had to tell Jennifer we couldn’t go home straight away, and had to ask Sam had to bury the dead cat far away and very deep,’ Pennant explained.
The former Liverpool winger then pretended to Jennifer that the cat had got away.
The brunette beauty was ‘upset for ages’ and printed off endless missing posters all around Liverpool which offered a reward.
Jermaine added that he had never told the story in public before as he knows Jennifer would be ‘absolutely devastated’ and would ‘never forgive him’.
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