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Former Premier League winger claims he was still drunk when making his Arsenal debut where he went on to score a hat-trick

Charles Jones

Tue 22 April 2025 11:15, UK

Arsene Wenger was a manager obsessed with fine margins when he was at Arsenal.

Indeed, Wenger revolutionised the Premier League with his fresh approaches to players’ diets and training regimes.

Wenger brought an element of professionalism to English football that had never been seen before, and that’s why Wenger is considered to be one of the greats.

However, one player managed to slip through the net and actually play a Premier League game under Wenger while he was still drunk from the night before.

Speaking on Undr The Cosh, Jermaine Pennant has been discussing his debut for Arsenal.

The winger says that he was actually drunk when he made his Arsenal debut, and that debut was one for the ages as he scored a hat-triick in his first ever appearance for the club.

Jermaine Pennant was drunk on his Arsenal debut

Pennant shared the story of his debut for Arsenal.

The winger says that he was out the previous night until around 7:30AM, before heading to Highbury.

Pennant was not expected to start this game, and he initially planned to come off with a hamstring injury after just 15 minutes to mask his inebriated state.

However, that didn’t quite go to plan as he scored a first-half hat-trick for the Gunners, despite not being sober at the time.

“Yeah, I was definitely still drunk, yeah. 100 percent, 100 percents. And when you’re that young though, you can kind of recover kind of a little bit quickly,” Pennant said.

“If I did it now, I’d be out for four weeks. So yeah, I was just thinking, no, what then? The realisations sunk in.

“What have I done? I was like, it’s my debut and I’m half cut. I’m not going to get through this game now.”

“I’m going to look like a, do you know when you’re that drunk and you play football, you fall over, do something stupid? I’ve done it in training before, where I’ve gone out, gone training and you just hide in the corner. I expect no one to pass it to you.

“I was in that state and I’m thinking, this is my debut, at Highbury. I’ve got Thierry Henry, Vieira, Pires, all playing. I’m thinking, oh my, what have I done?”

“I think after about 12 or maybe 15 to 20 minutes, I think I scored. Thierry set me up. The first one, I was playing against Wayne Bridge.

“He’s laid it into me. I was controlling it and I’ve whipped it bottom corner against them. I think it was Shay Given, the goalkeeper, I think.”

“So it’s 1-0. And I’ve gone, oh my God, Jay, get off now. Now’s your time, get off.

“Get off. So I was just waiting for the right opportunity.

“I couldn’t just be jogging around and go, oh, my hamstring.”

“I needed a point where I was full out sprinting.

“So I literally was just waiting for the perfect time. So then I scored another one and I was going, this isn’t real. I was like, Am I floating or what? Is this a dream?”

“So carrying on playing, I was still thinking, right, just get to half time. You score two goals and just say, Gaffer, it’s a bit tight. Can I, you know, maybe bring on Ray Parlour?

“Everything looks good. So playing goes on. So, right, half time now, half time.

“Play goes on, play goes on. I score three goals. So now I’ve got a hat trick in the first half.”

Jermaine Pennant’s Arsenal career in numbers

Pennant had one of the greatest Premier League debuts in history as he scored a hat-trick for Arsenal.

Arsenal have seen some incredible debuts over the years – Mikel Merino had a solid debut this season, while Riccardo Calafiori earned praise after his debut this season too.

However, a hat-trick on your debut is nothing short of magic.

However, those would be the only league goals Pennant scored for Arsenal.

As you can imagine, any player who turns up for their debut drunk wasn’t necessarily the best of professionals, and Arsene Wenger ultimately let the winger go.

Pennant was very talented, as his debut showed, but, as the old saying goes, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

Pennant would carve out a solid Premier League career for himself with Birmingham City, Stoke and Liverpool, and he would play against Arsenal on a number of occasions, even scoring against the Gunners at one point.

Who knows? In another world, Pennant could’ve been a star for Arsenal, but, sadly, the winger didn’t quite manage to make good on the potential he showed so early in his career.