Cameron Jerome

Jerome was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire,[2] and is of Grenadian descent.[4] As a youth, Jerome played for Stile Common, alongside Anthony Griffith, Fraizer Campbell, and Reuben Noble-Lazarus; who all went on to enjoy careers as professional players.[5] Griffith and Jerome also played for Yorkshire Counties.[5] Jerome later joined home town club Westend Juniors before moving on to Huddersfield Town as a junior, then moved on via Grimsby Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough to gain a contract at Cardiff City, after being recommended by reserve team manager Paul Wilkinson.[6] Jerome played under Wilkinson in Grimsby's youth system, but after Wilkinson left Blundell Park to take up his position with Cardiff in October 2003, Jerome was released by replacement Neil Woods for being a disruptive influence.[7]

Described by the BBC as "one of Cardiff's rising stars", Jerome made his debut in a 0–0 draw with Leeds United on 2 October 2004, as a substitute for Andy Campbell. He scored his first professional goal in his second senior appearance in League Cup tie against Bournemouth,[8] before going on to score seven goals in 32 appearances in the 2004–05 season, and was in a good run of form in the 2005–06 season, finishing top scorer for Cardiff with 20 goals.

His hot form earned him a contract with second-city club Birmingham City. The move not only benefitted Jerome but also helped Cardiff as they used the transfer money to sign Michael Chopra, Stephen McPhail and Glenn Loovens.

Jerome playing for Birmingham City in 2008

Jerome signed for Birmingham City on 31 May 2006, for a transfer fee reported as an initial £3 million, potentially rising to £4m.[9] Jerome made his debut as a 66th-minute substitute against Colchester United at St Andrew's on 5 August. However, it was a debut to forget, as he was sent off within five minutes of entering play elbowing an opponent in the face.[10] He netted his first goal for Birmingham against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on 12 September.[11]

Jerome scored his first Premier League goal after 32 seconds of the away match against Derby County on 25 August 2007; his second goal of that game confirmed Birmingham's first win of the 2007–08 season.[12] He finished the season as Birmingham's second top goal scorer with 7 goals in 33 games as Birmingham were relegated. However, the Blues immediately bounced back in the 2008–09 season by finishing second in the Championship. Jerome's 10 goals in 45 appearances were only bettered by veteran partner Kevin Phillips in the Birmingham attack. He scored the first goal in the West Midlands derby match against Wolverhampton Wanderers as Birmingham won 2–0.

In July 2009, Jerome signed a new five-year contract with the club.[13] He scored a spectacular first goal of the 2009–10 season to give his club a 2–1 lead against Liverpool, described as "the kind of goal that only the likes of Gerrard usually scores at Anfield";[14] he "fended off the irritation of Mascherano and unleashed a thunderous shot which dipped over keeper Reina."[15] Jerome hit a purple patch as the Blues notched up a club-record fifteen consecutive games unbeaten in the Premier League, scoring crucial goals against Stoke City, Manchester United and two versus Blackburn Rovers. His tenth goal of the season, a header from James McFadden's cross, came in a 5–1 defeat away to Manchester City.[16] Two weeks after the final game of the season, Jerome's goals total rose to 11 when he was awarded an extra goal by the Dubious Goals Committee for his attempt against Burnley, which had originally been given as an own goal by Brian Jensen.[lower-alpha 1]

Jerome was a 92nd-minute substitute as Birmingham won the 2011 League Cup, defeating favourites Arsenal 2–1 at Wembley Stadium.[22]

On 31 August 2011, the last day of the transfer window, Jerome signed a four-year contract with Premier League club Stoke City for an undisclosed fee, believed by Sky Sports to be £4 million.[23] He scored on his Stoke City debut in the UEFA Europa League against Dynamo Kiev to earn his side a 1–1 draw away from home.[24] He scored against Maccabi Tel Aviv in a 3–0 win but was then sent off for two bookable offences.[25] Jerome scored his first League goal for Stoke against Wigan Athletic on 31 December 2011; it was his first league goal for more than 13 months.[26] He was used in a squad rotation system by manager Tony Pulis, something which he admitted he would have to accept.[27] He continued to make an impact as a substitute, scoring against West Bromwich Albion and Everton.[28] However, he began to vent his frustration at his lack of starts.[29]

The 2012–13 season began with Jerome again on the bench and almost joining Blackburn Rovers on loan.[30] In a rare appearance, against Newcastle United on 28 November 2012 coming on as a substitute, he provided an assist for Jonathan Walters and then scored the winning goal.[31][32] On 29 December, Jerome "lashed into the top corner from 30 yards" to score Stoke's third goal in a 3–3 draw with Southampton in the final minute of the match.[33] He scored his third and final goal of the season in a 2–1 win against Reading on 9 February 2013.[34] Stoke ended the season in 13th position with Jerome making 30 appearances of which nine were starts.[35] At the end of the season Tony Pulis was replaced by Mark Hughes and Jerome criticised Pulis' lack of squad rotation. – "There's no guarantees [for places under Hughes] but before in the old regime, there was a guaranteed XI who played. No matter what happened, how you trained or if you came on and did well in the games you were involved in, you were still never going to start."[36][37]

On 5 August 2013, Jerome admitted an FA charge of breaching betting regulations.[38] He was fined £50,000 and was also severely warned as to his future conduct by the FA.[39]

On 2 September 2013, Jerome joined Crystal Palace on loan for the 2013–14 season.[40] He made his debut for the club on 14 September, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for Dwight Gayle in a 2–0 defeat away at Manchester United.[41] After a poor start to the season Ian Holloway left Palace by mutual consent and Tony Pulis was appointed manager on 23 November. Despite Jerome criticising Pulis towards the end of his time at Stoke, he started and scored against his former club Cardiff City on 7 December.[42] In total Jerome played 29 times for the Eagles scoring twice as they finished in 11th position.[43][44]

Left to right: Jonny Howson, Jerome, Timm Klose and Jacob Murphy. Norwich City defensive wall v Wigan Athletic, September 2016

On 20 August 2014, Jerome joined Championship club Norwich City for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £1.5 million.[45] He scored his first goal for the club on 13 September in a 4–2 away victory over Cardiff City. His goal was the fourth of Norwich's second-half goals, in a game which they came from 2–0 behind to win.[46] Jerome scored twice in a 3–0 win three days later away at Brentford.[47] He scored another two on 20 September against former club Birmingham City, taking his tally to five goals in four league matches.[48] He scored his sixth goal on 4 October in a draw with Rotherham United that kept Norwich top of the table.[49] He added another two on 31 October as Norwich beat Bolton 2–1.

After an impressive first season at Norwich, Jerome was voted third in the club's annual Player of the Season competition.[50] Norwich finished third, just short of automatic promotion, and qualified for the playoffs. They reached the final against Middlesbrough, and Jerome scored the opening goal in a 2–0 victory for the Canaries.[51] Jerome had an effective game, frustrating Middlesbrough with his frequent pressing, and was named man of the match.[52]

On 6 August 2016, Jerome scored in the 4–1 win away to Blackburn Rovers on the opening day of the 2016–17 season.[53] On 21 August, he scored Norwich's only goal in the East Anglian derby, which ended in a 1–1 draw at Portman Road.[54] Jerome scored his 16th and last goal of the season in the 7–1 thrashing of Reading on 8 April 2017.[55]

On 16 January 2018, Jerome joined Derby County on a one-and-a-half-year contract. The fee, officially undisclosed, was reported by Sky Sports as £1.5 million.[56] He scored his first goal for Derby in a 3–0 home win against Brentford on 3 February,[57] and finished the season with 6 from 20 appearances, including a goal in the play-off semi-final, as Derby failed to gain promotion.[58][59]

On 31 August 2018, Jerome joined Turkish Süper Lig club Göztepe for an undisclosed fee.[60] His first goal for the club opened the scoring in a 3–2 home win against Konyaspor on 30 September.[61]

On 9 October 2020, Jerome returned to England following his release from Göztepe. Milton Keynes Dons manager Russell Martin moved to bring his former teammate to the club on a free transfer of an undisclosed length.[62][63]

Jerome made his league debut for the club the following day in a 2–1 defeat to Portsmouth,[64] and scored his first goal for the club a week later in a 2–0 home win over Gillingham.[65]