- Jermaine Jenas
Biography
The hard-working England international midfielder arrived at White Hart Lane from Newcastle United in August 2005.
Since then, Jermaine’s consistent performances has become an integral part of the Spurs engine room.
In his maiden campaign, ‘JJ’ was a key member of the side that earned a top five Premier League finish, scoring seven goals along the way.
Another eight goals during 2006-07 proved that Jermaine was one of our main goalscoring threats from midfield.
But arguably his best season to date was the 2007-08 campaign, when his six goals in 45 appearances played a key role in our run to the Carling Cup Final at Wembley in February 2008, where we defeated Chelsea to claim our first trophy in nine years.
Two of those goals came in each leg of the memorable semi-final against North London rivals Arsenal, during which Jermaine was the outstanding player.
In July 2008, he signed a new five-year contract at the Club, and continued to impress with four goals in 39 appearances during the 2008-09 season.
Jermaine made his name at hometown club Nottingham Forest, whom he captained at 17, before a high-profile switch to Premier League Newcastle in February 2002, aged just 18. He made 149 appearances for the Toon, scoring 12 goals.
He was first capped at senior level by England as a 19-year-old in a friendly defeat against Australia at Upton Park. Despite only coming on as a half-time substitute, he was still awarded the Man of the Match award.
Jermaine has since gone on to win over 20 caps for his country, without ever really being a regular at international level – much due to the staunch competition he faces from messrs Gerrard and Lampard in his position.
He did, however, score the first goal of Fabio Capello’s reign as Head Coach in a friendly win over Switzerland at Wembley in February 2008 and regained his place in the Three Lions fold after a year out of the frame, playing 90 minutes in a friendly defeat against Brazil in November 2009.
A combination of injuries and the form of Tom Huddlestone, Wilson Palacios and later Luka Modric in central midfield restricted JJ to 23 appearances including 13 starts in all competitions in 2009-10.
Jermaine Anthony Jenas (born 18 February 1983 in Nottingham) is an English football midfielder, currently playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Premier League. He is of mixed Afro-Caribbean and English descent.
Club career
Nottingham Forest: Jenas began his career at Nottingham Forest where he immediately impressed during the 2001–02 season. After a single season at the City Ground, which produced four goals in 33 games, Jenas was sold to Newcastle United for £5 million in February 2002.
Newcastle: Despite an impressive first season with Newcastle United, in which he won the 2002–03 PFA Young Player of the Year award, Jenas failed to repeat his initial form with the club and his two subsequent seasons were disappointing considering his early promise.
Known for his strong “box-to-box” play and ability to score from midfield, Jenas’ last two years with Newcastle were marked by a series of inexplicably bland displays. The goals dried up and so did the energy, leading to Jenas starting fewer games.
Despite temporarily regaining his form and gaining the vice-captaincy under new manager Graeme Souness early in the 2004–05 season, Jenas’ form dipped again with only two goals in 48 appearances.
Rumours of his unhappiness were confirmed early in the 2005–06 season by manager Graeme Souness, when he revealed Jenas was not enjoying life at Newcastle, and the player reportedly compared life at the club to living ‘in a goldfish bowl’. He was sold to Tottenham Hotspur on transfer deadline day of 31 August 2005 for an initial fee of £7million, . He scored a total of 12 goals in 152 appearances for Newcastle United.
Tottenham Hotspur: Scoring seven goals from midfield, as Tottenham qualified for the UEFA Cup. He marked his return from a 13 match injury lay off by scoring the second goal in Tottenham’s 3–1 FA Cup 4th round win over Southend United. Under new manager, Juande Ramos, his form improved greatly and played in 1–1 draw and the 5–1 victory over rivals Arsenal in both legs of the semi-finals of the Carling cup, scoring both of the opening goals in each match. The final saw Jenas set up the winning goal for Jonathan Woodgate in the 2–1 Carling Cup victory against Chelsea on Sunday 24 February 2008.
Jenas signed a new 5-year contract with Tottenham on 29 August 2007, keeping him at the club until 2012.
Under manager Juande Ramos, Jenas initially produced occasional impressive performances, due in part to the new regime but also to some personal words of encouragement from the Spaniard… His improvement earned him a call-up to Fabio Capello’s first England squad, with him starting in a friendly against Switzerland, a game in which he scored the first goal.
On 30 July 2008, Jenas signed a 1-year contract extension to his 5-year contract, keeping him at Tottenham until 2013. A few days later, Jenas was named as Spurs’ new vice-captain, following the departures of Robbie Keane and Paul Robinson. In December on Boxing Day against Fulham Jenas made his 100th league appearance for Tottenham. He scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over West Brom. He was the only player of the Tottenham squad to hit the bar in the Sky Soccer AM crossbar challenge in May 2009.
International career: Jenas has played internationally for England from the Under-15 level up to the national team, where he made his debut against Australia on 12 February 2003.
Despite struggling with injury towards the end of the 2005–06 season he recovered sufficiently to be named in the 2006 World Cup squad. He scored his first England goal on 6 February 2008, in Fabio Capello’s first game in charge, a friendly against Switzerland at Wembley.
Personal life: Jenas attended The Becket School, in Nottingham, for his education. His father was born with the surname Genas but had it changed by deed-poll as he wanted the initials “D.J.”. Jermaine is nicknamed “J.J.”. He dated Sabrina Keogh, who accompanied him to the World Cup in Germany in 2006, for over six years. In November 2007, Sabrina gave birth to the couple’s first child, a daughter named Sancha Natasha. Unfortunately the relationship was not to last and Jermaine and Sabrina split up in late 2008. He announced his engagement to part-time model Ellie Penfold in August 2009, a year after meeting in a London nightclub.
Jermaine Jenas and Ellie Penfold Announce Their Engagement In OK!
Footballer Jermaine Jenas and fiance Ellie Penfold feature in OK! magazine and talk candidly about their recent engagement, where they first met, what type of wedding they’d like and why Ellie can’t wait to start a family.
To read the interview and to see additional pictures click
On how they met:
Jermaine: It was about a year ago in a club. I was sitting down and I turned around to see this lady and I thought to myself, ‘Yes Please!’ I plucked up the courage to speak to her but she didn’t give me the time of day.
Ellie: He was trying to talk to me the whole night!
Jermaine: I eventually got her number though. I found out she lived two minutes away so I was well happy!
On the proposal:
E: He proposed in Cannes. We went out for dinner and he suggested a walk along the beach but there were people everywhere. We eventually found a quiet spot and he just walked up to the sea and took a deep breath — I wondered what he was doing!
J: I was plucking up the courage! It was a nightmare because it was during the film festival so there were people everywhere! When I found a spot, I just did it and she said yes.
E: I was crying my eyes out!
J: That day Ellie was getting phone calls all day because I’d already asked her dad so they all knew it was coming! It was a nightmare!
On how they celebrated:
J: Exactly the way we met! It was really emotional, so we had a bottle of wine, called our parents and fell asleep.
E: We’re planning on having an engagement party in September.
On the most romantic thing Jermaine has ever done for Ellie:
E: He took me to Paris for Valentine’s Day. And he’ll leave notes everywhere before training and he sets reminders in my phone saying: ‘I love you!’
J: I’m going to get killed for this!
On if either of them get jealous:
J: I’m very jealous. I can’t stand any guys going anywhere near her!
E: I am too! If I go to the toilet, I’ll come back and a girl will be poking him and trying to talk to him — all my friends become like his bodyguards. I just try to ignore it.
On recently moving in together for the first time:
J: I’ve had to clear out my wardrobe and move to another room. But apart from that it’s been fine!
On Jermaine introducing Ellie to his 22 month old daughter Sancha Natasha:
J: I told her about my little girl very early on and they have a great relationship — that’s so important to me.
E: I’ve seen what a great dad Jermaine is so I can’t wait to start a family with him. I want 4 kids.
On if they’ve set a wedding date yet:
E: We’re aiming for 2011. I’d like all my family and friends to be there in a big country house. Oh and I’d like Amy Winehouse to sing! I’d a big dress. I liked Jordan’s but I wouldn’t go that far!
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- Jermaine Jenas
On who will be on the invation list:
J: Well obviously I’ve got a lot of friends in the [football] game, most of my team mates like Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch. Also, Ashley and Cheryl Cole have been friends of mine for a few years now so they’ll come.
On who out of the other footballer girlfriends and wives Ellie has met:
E: Only Abigail Clancy. We bumped in to her and Peter in Sardinia and she was really funny and lovely.
J: She met Claudine Keane too, because were in Paris for Valentine’s Day at the same time so we put our tables together and had a right laugh!
On Ellie’s engagement ring:
J: Ellie’s mum and I went to pick the diamond and I designed it. It was proper stressful taking it to Cannes — I had to hide it in a sock in my hand luggage. Then she kept going in to the hotel safe and I was stressing so badly that she’d find it!