Former England striker Jermain Defoe has opened up about the personal tragedies that drove his prolific football career in a new film.
Defoe scored over 300 goals in a career that encompassed spells with West Ham, Tottenham, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Bournemouth and Rangers, as well as netting 20 times for England.
The upcoming documentary, called ‘Defoe: For the love of the game’, will be screened in UK cinemas for one night only on February 29.
Defoe, 41, who is now an academy coach at Tottenham, holds nothing back in the film as he talks about ‘love rat’ tabloid headlines, the murder of his half-brother Jade in 2009, the passing of his father on the eve of Euro 2012, and the sudden death of his 20-year-old cousin a few months later.
It also features the story of his friendship with Bradley Lowery, the terminally-ill six-year-old Sunderland fan with neuroblastoma, who died in July 2017.
A new documentary film about the life and football career of Jermain Defoe is coming out
It charts the striker’s successes on the footbal pitch, including 20 goals scored for England
It also tells of Defoe’s personal life, including his rapport with terminally-ill six-year-old Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery
Meeting Lowery forced Defoe to reconcile with his own past, the film reveals, and confront his true feelings about life and death.
The film features interviews with former team-mates including Joe Cole and Peter Crouch, plus his former coaches Harry Redknapp and Gustavo Poyet.
‘Defoe’ is directed by James Ross and produced by Zig Zag Productions with Danny Fenton the film’s executive producer.
Ross said: ‘As a Spurs fan, working with a legend like Jermain was a dream come true. But though I knew his goals on the pitch, I never expected that by asking him to trace his roots and his career, it would reveal such a complex tale of love, loss, trauma and redemption off the pitch.’
Fenton added: ‘Telling Jermain’s story has been an absolute privilege. The film is a raw and honest account of a man with an undisputed talent who has managed to shine on the field while dealing with unbelievable heartache and pain.
‘As Jermain says, ‘there is more to like than kicking a ball.’
The film charts Defoe’s upbringing in Beckton, east London, after he was born when his mother was just 17.
It shows the emergence of his football talents playing for the renowned Sunday League team Senrab that also provided John Terry and Ashley Cole.
Defoe was prolific throughout his career, especially in two spells with Tottenham Hotspur
A career high came at the 2010 World Cup when he scored England’s winner against Slovenia
It was Charlton who enrolled Defoe at the FA National School of Excellence at Lilleshall in 1997 but he was ‘poached’ by West Ham in a controversy that led to a £1.4million compensation pay-out.
Redknapp tipped Defoe for stardom after a prolific loan spell at Bournemouth in 2000-01 and the following season he was West Ham’s leading scorer in the top-flight.
Defoe joined Spurs for £7m in February 2004 and made his England debut against Sweden the following month, the first of 57 caps.
He excelled at White Hart Lane, netting 64 goals in 176 games during his first spell and 79 in 186 during his second. In between he spent a season-and-a-half with Portsmouth.
His second Spurs spell featured Champions League football before he rounded off his career with Toronto in MLS, Sunderland, Bournemouth and Rangers, continuing to score plenty of goals.
Defoe represented England at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. He was appointed an OBE in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to his charity, the Jermain Defoe Foundation.
Defoe (second left) with Alan Shearer (left), Thierry Henry (second right) and Gabby Logan (right) on Amazon’s Premier League coverage of Arsenal vs West Ham last month
But his personal life has been marked with tragedy. His half-brother Jade -known by his middle name of Gavin – was 26 when he died after being assaulted in Leytonstone, east London in April 2009.
The father-of-three fractured his skull and suffered brain damage after being punched by Christopher Farley, who was jailed for three years.
Defoe’s father, Jimmy, died after a long battle with throat cancer on the eve of Euro 2012. The striker left the England camp in Poland but returned in time to play at the tournament.
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