Simeon Jackson in Gillingham colours |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Simeon Alexander Jackson | ||
| Date of birth | 28 March 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Kingston, Jamaica | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Norwich City | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Sunoco FC | |||
| ASPIRE Academy | |||
| Dulwich Hamlet | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2008 | Rushden & Diamonds | 88 | (40) |
| 2005 | → Raunds Town (loan) | 8 | (5) |
| 2008–2010 | Gillingham | 101 | (35) |
| 2010– | Norwich City[A] | 48 | (15) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006–2008 | Canada U-20 | 7 | (0) |
| 2009– | Canada | 25 | (6) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 January 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Simeon Alexander Jackson (born 28 March 1987) is a professional footballer who plays for Norwich City.
He has previously played for Rushden & Diamonds and Gillingham. Jackson was born in Jamaica but plays internationally for Canada.
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Jackson was born in Kingston, Jamaica but grew up in Mississauga, Ontario. He played for his local team in Canada, Sunoco FC.[1] He was invited to have trials with Gillingham, but was rejected by the club.[1] At the age of 15, he moved to England and lived with his grandmother in Croydon.[1]
He joined Rushden & Diamonds in 2004 and was the club's top scorer in the 2006–07 season, scoring 20 goals. The next season he was top scorer for the Diamonds in the league, scoring 16 goals, despite leaving for Gillingham in January. He was joint 8th top scorer in the league that season.[2] In 2005, he had trials with Manchester United and Manchester City.[1][3] Jackson went on a one-month loan to Raunds Town in December 2005.[4] When he left the Diamonds he had established himself as the club's eighth highest goalscorer, scoring 43 goals in just over 100 games in all competitions.
In January 2008, he signed with Gillingham, a club he had a trial with as a youth player,[5] for a transfer fee of £150,000 on a three-and-a-half-year contract.[6] He made his debut against Cheltenham Town on 2 February 2008.
On 4 January 2009, Jackson scored an equalising goal for Gillingham in their 2–1 FA Cup Third Round defeat by Aston Villa. His performance led to rumours of a £1,000,000 move to Villa,[7] and helped him win the Football League Two Player of the Month award.[8] He scored both goals as Gillingham beat Rochdale in the 2008–09 play-off semi final,[9] and the 90th minute winner in the 1–0 win against Shrewsbury Town in the final, as Gillingham returned to League One one year after relegation.[10]
Jackson signed for Norwich on 15 July 2010, signing a two-year contract with the club, with the option for another year,[11] in a deal which saw striker Cody McDonald move to Gillingham on loan. He was given the number 10 jersey upon his arrival at the club. He made his debut for the club in a 3-2 home loss to Watford on 6 August 2010. He scored his first goal for the club against Swansea City on 21 August. Manager Paul Lambert has been using Jackson as an impact substitute due to the form and partnership of Grant Holt and Chris Martin. Jackson was given a start against Bristol City, and scored a brace, with a goal in each half at Ashton Gate.[12] Jackson started the next four games again, in favour of Martin.[13] He scored his fourth goal of the season in the 1–0 win over Middlesbrough on 23 October. After a few months of mostly coming in as a substitute again, on 2 April 2011, Jackson scored his first hat-trick for Norwich, coming on as a substitute and scoring three times in the last twenty minutes of the match against Scunthorpe United at Carrow Road.[14] He went on to score the goal which clinched Norwich's promotion to the Premier League, a late winner against Portsmouth.
Jackson made his Premier League debut on 21 August 2011, as a second-half substitute for Chris Martin in the second game of the season against Stoke City, the game finished with a Kenwyne Jones stoppage time header which resulted in a 1–1 home draw for Norwich.[15] Following his Premier League debut, Jackson began to struggle finding minutes in the team, he did not play a minute of football in the league until 1 October as a second half sub against Manchester United.[16] Jackson made his first start in the Premier League on 26 November in a 2–1 victory over Queens Park Rangers, this was the first time a Canadian international had started in the Premier League since David Edgar on 24 May 2009 with Burnley.[17] Jackson scored his first Premier League goal on 20 December against Wolverhampton Wanderers when he converted a Steve Morison cross one minute after being subbed on.[18] Jackson came on as a second half sub against Fulham on 31 December and scored the game tying goal in second half injury time to earn a 1-1 home draw.[19]
Jackson qualified for Canadian citizenship by virtue of his years of residence there as a child, and currently has twenty-six caps for Canada, scoring six times. He also has seven caps for the Canadian Men's Youth (U-20) team. His first game was a friendly against Brazil in May 2006, and he played in all three of Canada's games at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup,[20] his last games at that level. On 14 November 2008, he received his first call up for the Canadian senior squad for a match against his country of birth, Jamaica.
On 30 May 2009, Jackson made his debut for Canada against Cyprus, scoring the winning goal in the 53rd minute of a 1–0 victory.[21] His second game for Canada came in a friendly match at home to Guatemala in a 3–0 victory on the 30 May 2009, he then played the country of his birth Jamaica in a 1–0 victory in first match of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Jackson helped Canada reach the quarter-final stage of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the USA, playing in all four of Canada's games in the tournament.
On 18 December 2009, Jackson was named the 2009 Canadian Player of the Year.
National team coach Stephen Hart decided in the friendly versus Peru to experiment by using Jackson as a right winger. With a solid performance at BMO Field Hart continued to use Jackson out wide for future Canada match ups. On 8 October 2010, Jackson scored his second international goal with a chip in a friendly against Ukraine.[22] On 7 October 2011, Jackson scored a hat-trick against Saint Lucia in a game that finished in a 7–0 away victory for Canada. Jackson became only the second ever Canadian to score a hat-trick in World Cup qualifying joining the former striker Alex Bunbury.[23] In early December, Jackson was shortlisted for the 2011 Canadian Player of the Year along with Dwayne De Rosario and Josh Simpson, it was announced on 14 December that he had finished in second place losing out to De Rosario.[24]
Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 May 2009 | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus | Cyprus | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly match |
| 2 | 8 October 2010 | Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine | Ukraine | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly match |
| 3 | 6 September 2011 | Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel, Bayamón, Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 7 October 2011 | Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, Saint Lucia | Saint Lucia | 1–0 | 7–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 5 | 7 October 2011 | Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, Saint Lucia | Saint Lucia | 2–0 | 7–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 6 | 7 October 2011 | Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, Saint Lucia | Saint Lucia | 4–0 | 7–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| Canada national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2009 | 8 | 1 |
| 2010 | 5 | 1 |
| 2011 | 12 | 4 |
| Total | 25 | 6 |
Statistics as of November 15, 2011
On June 1, 2011 it was announced by Umbro that Jackson had signed an endorsement deal following the new partnership between the English sportswear company and the Canadian Soccer Association, making Jackson one of the few Canadian players to have an endorsement deal.[26]
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