Jermaine Paul Alexander Beckford (born 9 December 1983) is an English footballer who plays for Leicester City as a striker. He started his career as a trainee at Chelsea. Beckford has also played for Wealdstone, Uxbridge, Carlisle United, Scunthorpe United, Leeds United, and Everton.

Beckford originally began his career in the Chelsea youth team, coming through the ranks at the same time as Carlton Cole. Rejected by Chelsea, he was signed up by Isthmian Premier League side Wealdstone and played part-time whilst also working as a windscreen fitter for the RAC. His very impressive goal scoring record attracted a lot of attention from Football League sides and reportedly more than 30 clubs showed an interest in the prolific striker, with many sending scouts to watch him play for Wealdstone. He had a trial with Championship side Crystal Palace, before signing for Leeds United in March 2006 for an undisclosed fee, having scored 35 goals in 40 games for Wealdstone that season.

He first featured the following week at Elland Road, when he made his debut as a substitute in a home draw against Crystal Palace on 21 March. He played on four more occasions for Leeds' first team that season. He joined Carlisle United on a month's loan in October, scoring against Millwall on his debut. After completing his loan spell, he returned to Leeds before being loaned out again to League One promotion challengers Scunthorpe United until the end of the season. He played in every single game after his arrival, scoring eight goals, and Scunthorpe finished as champions.