Jermain Defoe: Outside The Box

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Can Former England and Premier League striker Jermain Defoe become a Football Manager?

As a player Jermain Defoe scored over three hundred goals for club and country. In this fly-on-the wall series, Outside the Box details the next step of his journey in football

Jermain Defoe: Outside The Box: 7. Pitch Black

7. Pitch Black

BBC Radio 5 Live - Jermain Defoe: Outside The Box, 7. Pitch Black

Jermain tackles racism in football and asks why there are so few jobs for black managers.

Jermain confront football’s ugly past to discover if management is really something he wants to get into by asking why there are so few jobs available for black managers.

In episode seven of Outside the Box, Jermain confronts the game’s ugly past to discover if management is really something he wants to get into by asking why there are so few jobs available for black managers. He tackles the problems in society pertaining to race and wonders whether he really has what it takes to fight racism in football and beyond. 

His journey starts with his mother Sandra, as the pair get together to discuss what it was like for her to watch him play throughout his career, often in environments which were hostile towards black players. She discusses the worst time: a 2004 game in Madrid when England played Spain in which the visitors' black players were relentlessly abused from the crowd, often with monkey chants whenever they touched the ball. They talk about what that was like from a playing perspective and how it felt to be in the stands watching, with Jermain saying that it was the only time in his career when he wished he wasn't on the pitch. 

From there he goes to see one of his heroes, John Barnes, to talk about how racism affected him during both his playing and managerial careers. Barnes talks about what it was like to have bananas thrown at him during games, how he reacted to the National Front sitting near him on a flight to Brazil in which he scored his famous goal for England, how racism has never left the game, and how it affected his career as a manager with a lack of opportunities because of the colour of his skin. 

Finally Jermain talks to Troy Townsend. The father of Jermain’s former Tottenham and England teammate Andros, he’s also Head of Player Engagement at football's equality and inclusion organisation, Kick it Out. The pair discuss how far the game has to go, what needs to be done in society, and look back on how the England trio of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were treated in the aftermath of the Euro 2020 penalty shootout defeat to Italy.

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