Students join Spurs and England football legend Jermain Defoe for launch of his new podcast

Students joined former Tottenham Hotspur and England legend Jermain Defoe as he launched his new BBC podcast on his quest to be become a football manager.

The ex-striker spoke to students from the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL) about the podcast called Outside The Box for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds on a visit to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Around 20 Creative Media Production and Music diploma students attended the talk, which was part of a podcast and social media masterclass run by the BBC Young Reporter Scheme.

Jermain made 363 appearances for Spurs and scored 143 goals – making him the club’s sixth highest goal scorer – and won 57 senior caps for England and scored 20 goals.

He retired from playing professionally while at Sunderland in March 2022 and returned to Tottenham as a Club Ambassador and Academy Coach in the summer.

Jermain said: “Management was on my mind towards the end of my career. You get to that stage where you start to think realistically about how long am I going to play for and what will I do next?

“I’d started back at Tottenham as a coach at the academy when this opportunity came about. I’ve done a bit of media and a few podcasts and enjoyed being interviewed, but in terms of actually having my own podcast, that was something completely different.

“The concept was such a good idea. I thought I can go round and speak to managers I played for and pick their brain about what it takes to be a manager, the ups and downs, and what to expect. I’ve enjoyed it to be honest, it’s been really good.”

James Peacock, Managing Director of production company Folding Pocket, which made Outside The Box, and Junior Producer Joseph Sam, explained the process of making a podcast and gave students advice on their productions.

BBC Sport Presenter Liam Loftus, who interviewed Jermain, was later joined by Producer Olivia Portas. Both were in Qatar to cover the FIFA World Cup and shared their tips on filming and creating social media posts and reels.

Creative Media Production student Teti Purwanti, 47, said: “I’m a Spurs fan and it was amazing to meet Jermain Defoe in person and hear about his new podcast and career.

“It was great to have chance to learn more about podcasting and hear from people who work in the media about how they started. I’ve gained so much knowledge about how to create podcasts from coming up with ideas and scripting to presenting and recording. I made a podcast while at college, and it’s really inspired me to make more in the future.”

Daniela-Elena Moise, 20, who is studying the same course, said: “My ambition is to work in social media for a company or as an influencer. I began using it when I was young and started gaining followers, and that really motivated me to think I would like a career in social media one day.

“It was good to learn more about how you can really engage people on social media and potentially go viral. A lot depends on what you post, it can be something funny, sad or motivational. There’s no limits. Hearing from other people how they got there was really inspiring and gives you confidence to achieve your dreams.”

The students were also given a tour of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, courtesy of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, where they had the chance to see the club’s trophies, visit the players’ dressing rooms and the press room, walk up the tunnel, stand pitch side and sit in the dugout.

Find out more and apply for Creative Media here and Music courses here.

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