Ex-England star Jermaine Jenas: ‘I’ve not found peace with his career’

Jermaine Jenas was born in February 1983 in Nottingham. He began his career at Nottingham Forest, making his debut aged 17 in January 2001. After establishing himself in the Forest first team as a central midfielder he was signed by Newcastle United in 2022, where he won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in his first full season.

He made his full England debut on February 2003 aged 19 and went on to earn 21 caps for his country over the following six years. In August 2005, Jenas was sold to Tottenham Hotpsur for an initial fee of £7 million. During his time at Spurs he won the League Cup (2008) but injuries became an increasing problem. After loan spells at Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, he finished his career with a move for Queens Park Rangers in 2013, before injury forced his retirement the following year.

While recuperating from injury, Jenas began working as a football pundit, becoming an increasingly familiar figure on BT Sport and Match of the Day. In recent years, he has branched out to other TV presenting roles including a regular slot on The One Show.

Speaking to The Big Issue for his Letter to my Younger Self, Jermaine Jenas reflects on encountering racism as a child, his youthful obsession with football and an unlikely second career

At 16, I had one passion and that was football. For a lot of athletes, that is what separates us from our friends. Our focus, our drive, our determination, our sacrifice and also the luxury of knowing what we want to do. Getting there and doing it is the difficult part. But the plans were set out in my mind and I was putting that into practice in terms of work and discipline and not going to parties, not drinking all the time.