Watch as Wee Phillie gets TV scoop with Jermain Defoe's return to Sunderland AFC
DJ and presenter Wee Phillie beat the national TV channels at their own game with an exclusive scoop on Jermain Defoe’s return to Sunderland AFC.
Phillie – real name Phil Monk – is part of YouTube channel SAFC Fan TV, and decided to try his hand at the classic transfer deadline day outside broadcast as the window closed last night, Monday, January 31.
Phil headed down to the Academy of Light from his home in Fulwell – and was rewarded with the first word with the returning star.
"It was just spur of the moment,” he said. “We were running a streaming show because we were expecting Jermain Defoe to be announced and we were just following Sky Sports News.
"It must have been about half nine and I thought ‘I might as well have a run out to the academy’.”
Hopes of an interview were not high, however: “At this point, we thought Jermain was already in the academy because lads who had been there earlier said they had seen a car pull in with blacked-out windows,” said Phil.
“Then a taxi pulled up. and stopped at the gates. I could see what looked like Jermain Defoe in the back but he had his mask on and his hood pulled up.
“I knocked on the window, he wound the window down and I asked him if he was happy to be here. He pulled his mask down and said ‘What do you think?’ – then everyone in the car park started to cheer."
The clip soon went viral on social media: “The feedback has been great – we were trending at number two on Twitter at one point, which was unreal,” said Phil.
He reckons Defoe could be the critical difference between Sunderland going straight up or having to settle for the play-offs this season, even at 39: "I think he will score goals for fun in that division,” he said.
“Jermain Defoe is the best finisher I have ever seen at Sunderland, even better than Kevin Phillips.
“It is probably a bit much to ask him to play 90 minutes week in and week out but think what he could so as an impact sub coming off the bench.”