Jermaine Pennant’s old house stood empty in 2020 after his split with his girlfriend Alice Goodwin and there were reports it had been turned into a cannabis factory by a gang, before being hit by two fires in the same month
Jermaine Pennant’s old mansion, which was abandoned and reportedly taken over by a drugs gang, has now been transformed into a “dream house”.
Former Liverpool star Pennant bought the five-bedroom Tudor home in Hale, Cheshire, for around £1million in 2006 and lived in it for three years before he joined Spanish side Real Zaragoza and rented it out for the next decade.
It stood empty in 2020 after Pennant’s split with his girlfriend Alice Goodwin and there were reports it had been turned into a cannabis factory by a gang, before being hit by two fires in the same month.
Steve Leonard and wife Tina bought the house for £575,000 at auction and have since been plotting a huge renovation job to restore the property to its former glory.
Leonard, who runs a property portfolio, has been hard at work for the last 18 months trying to improve the run-down house but always believed he could turn it around despite some calling on him to sell up.
“I remember sitting on the garden wall after the sale went through,” he told the Liverpool Echo. “There was muck everywhere, there was ash. You name it; all around us, it was there. And me and Tina looked at each other and said, ‘we’ve done it’.
“I knew we could fix it. Loads of people told me to knock it down and I wouldn’t do it. The house is nearly 100 years old and I hate things getting damaged. It just needed restoring with as much character kept as possible. We’ve totally renovated it from the roof to the walls and floors.”
Leonard spoke of how he visualised owning the house and said the only way he could afford to buy the huge property was by putting in the gruelling hours to build it back up himself.
He added: “We walked past this house everyday on our early walk and, it sounds corny, but the amount of times we said, ‘one day we’ll get it’.
“I worked 80 to 90 hour weeks for years and years to get to where we are now. I always knew one day I’d have an amazing house. It doesn’t have to cost millions and I haven’t cut corners on anything.
“I couldn’t have afforded this if I hadn’t done most of it myself. No way I could have afforded it.
“We’ve loved doing it. There’s obviously days when it’s hard but it’s so worth it. Even if someone dangled the biggest carrot in the world, there would only be the slightest chance we would sell it. Otherwise this is our forever home. It’s a dream house.”
Pennant is best known for his three-year stint with Liverpool, where he played 81 times before moving to Real Zaragoza in 2009.
In Spain, he infamously left his Porsche at a Spanish train station for three weeks after rushing off to England to secure a move to Stoke City in 2009, costing him around £400.
Pennant was confirmed as bankrupt in 2023 amid a life and career filled with controversies, including battles with alcoholism, gambling and difficulties with his love life.
He has spoken of how he was hungover when he scored a hat-trick on his full debut for Arsenal as a 16-year-old in 2002 and three years later he was jailed three months for drink driving – becoming the first player to play in the top flight with an ankle tag.
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