Mick Jenkins (footballer)

Mick Jenkins (born 22 October 1962) is an ex-professional footballer and former manager of Conference South side Bognor Regis Town.

Playing career

Jenkins started off as a trainee at Portsmouth. His long association with Havant Town and Waterlooville saw him play for both sides as well as Bognor Regis Town. It was at Bognor Regis Town that Jenkins ended his career. The former defender was a year into his career as a player at Nyewood Lane, where he moved in 1994 after a long spell at Waterlooville, when he snapped his cruciate ligament. Bognor and Jack Pearce in particular stood by him and gave him time to recover and try to get fully fit again to rejoin the first-team squad. But the injury was too bad, and Jenkins had to abandon his attempts to get back into playing through the Sussex County League and go into coaching.^[1]

Management

His first role was as assistant manager to Dick Semark at Fareham Town in 1996. They moved as a management team to Havant Town in 1997. When Dick Semark left in 1998, Jenkins continued as assistant manager under new manager Billy Gilbert. In 1998 Havant Town merged with Waterlooville to become Havant & Waterlooville and play at Havant Town's West Leigh Park ground.

Havant & Waterlooville

After Billy Gilbert left Havant & Waterlooville, Jenkins and Liam Daish were appointed joint-managers in April 2000. Jenkins and Daish guided the Hawks to notable successes in the FA Cup where they reached the first round, the first and second of four occasions achieved by the club. In 2000–01, Havant & Waterlooville lost 2–1 at home to Southport of the Conference North, and 3–2 away to another Conference side, Dagenham & Redbridge in 2002–03. The 2002–03 season was also notable for the Hawks' FA Trophy run when Havant & Waterlooville 'giant-killed' Forest Green Rovers en route to the semi-final where Hawks lost 2-1 on aggregate to Tamworth. During a five-year stay in the Southern League Premier Division, Havant & Waterlooville's best season came in 2001–02, finishing third after leading the table during September. In the 2003-04 season the club struggled and this led to the pair being dismissed in January 2004. However the club recovered and finished 12th in the Southern League and qualified for a place in the re-structured Conference South.^[2]

Weymouth, Dorchester and Bognor Regis

When Jenkins moved to Weymouth to work under former Portsmouth team mate Steve Claridge in January 2004, Shaun Wilkinson followed. Jenkins remained at Weymouth until May 2006. Shortly afterwards he took the manager's job at Dorchester Town in August 2006. Although he guided the Magpies to a 17th-place finish in the Conference South and avoided relegation, this was not enough to stop him from being let go at the end of the season in June 2007 by a new shareholder. Jenkins then had a year off football until June 2008 when he was appointed manager of Bognor Regis Town. He resigned as manager on 3 January 2009.

Havant and Waterlooville and Winchester City

After leaving Bognor Regis Town Jenkins became a director at Havant & Waterlooville. After Jim Fallon moved from A.F.C. Totton to become a director at Havant & Waterlooville Jenkins became assistant manager at Winchester City F.C. under Guy Butters in July 2012. “Wherever I’ve been in football I’ve worked with knowledgable people like Liam Daish at Havant, Steve Claridge at Weymouth, Steve Johnson at Dorchester and Andy Awford at Bognor and I see Guy in that mould,” said Jenkins. “I know him ever so well, going back to his Pompey playing days, and I look forward to working with him.”^[3]

References