football and how it rarely left his side. Pennant, who grew up in a crime and drug-infested neighbourhood, credits football for saving him from a life of crime. When he was 14, he moved away from home and was living with YTS players who were 16, 17 and 18. Notts County provided Pennant a safe haven. Club career Arsenal Pennant was signed at age 15 by Arsenal from Notts County for £2 million, a record transfer fee for a trainee at the time. Pennant's career seemed promising following his move to Arsenal. He made his debut aged 16 years and 319 days against Middlesbrough in the League Cup on 30 November 1999, making him Arsenal's youngest-ever first team player, surpassing Gerry Ward's long-standing record by two days; Pennant's record has since been surpassed by Cesc Fàbregas. He continued to make League Cup appearances over the next few seasons, but had to wait two-and-a-half years for his league debut, as a substitute against West Ham United on 24 August 2002 in the Premier League. At first, Pennant became homesick. After that subsided, he began to get sick from not playing. It affected him greatly. He played for Arsenal for seven years and only made five starts, including a hat-trick on his full league debut against Southampton on 7 May 2003. He said in 2018 that he did not expect to start that match, and had been drinking until 6 in the morning the night before. However, these were also his only Arsenal league goals and he did not manage to secure a regular place in an Arsenal side that went on a run of 49 consecutive games without defeat. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger appeared to have eventually lost patience with Pennant, who had a history of turning up late to training. Between 2002 and 2004, Pennant spent time on loan at Watford and Leeds United. Pennant received regular first-team action at Leeds, who were relegated at the conclusion of the 2003–04 season. Birmingham City Pennant was loaned to Birmingham City for the second half of the 2004–05 season. He made a good start at St Andrew's, providing Walter Pandiani with the winning goal against Southampton on his debut. Pennant then stated he wanted to make his loan move permanent. On 1 March 2005, he was arrested and convicted for drink-driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance. He was handed a